Iceland's Environment Minister Gives Green Light to Hydro
Power Project - serious setback for conservation
Copyright 2001 WWF International
December 20, 2001
Iceland's Environment Minister Gives Green Light to Hydro Power Project - serious setback for conservation
Oslo, Norway - The ruling of Iceland's environment minister, Ms. Siv Fridleifsdottir, in favour of the controversial Karahnukar Hydro Power Project, is a serious set-back for conservation in Iceland, WWF said today.
The 700 megawatt Karahnukar Hydro power plant will be the largest ever built in Iceland, and indeed the largest hydro power facility that it is possible to build in Iceland. It will also be one of the biggest in Europe, damming 11 rivers and tributaries and redirecting their courses through 100km of underground tunnels. The largest of these will be 57 sq. km. with up to 75 meter water level fluctuation.
The plant will provide energy to a huge aluminium smelter (420 thousand tonnes per year) in East Iceland, to be partly owned and operated by the Norwegian multinational Norsk Hydro. The environmental damage will be far greater than that of any previous comparable project planned in Iceland.
"WWF demands that Norsk Hydro withdraw from this damaging project," says Rasmus Hansson, CEO of WWF Norway. "If Norsk Hydro wants to promote itself as an environmentally aware company, that's fine - but then it shouldn't participate in a project like this, which will have devastating consequences for the Icelandic environment."
The ruling comes some three months after the Icelandic National Power Company, another partner in the project, appealed a decision by the Icelandic Planning Agency, which ruled against the project as it would have serious consequences for the environment.
"Ms. Fridleifsdottir's ruling has little to do with the environment, or the governing law - and a lot to do with the politics of her government. The decision she overturned was sound, and we're going to see whether we can fight it in court," says Arni Finnsson of the Iceland Nature Conservation Association. All Icelandic environmental organizations have protested the ruling by the minister.
The Karahnukar Hydro Power Project will significantly impact the largest remaining wilderness area in Western Europe due to construction of a number of dams, ditches/channels, diversions, reservoirs and roads. The direct impact area covers some 1000 sq. km. in the highlands north of the Vatnajoekull Glacier. The project will destroy and affect rare oasis of highland vegetation, characterized by dense and diverse plant species.
For more information:
Arni Finnsson, Iceland Nature Conservation Association arnif@mmedia.is
Samantha Smith, WWF International Arctic Programme ssmith@wwf.no