The company “4Wind” in Popes parish “Sārce” intends to create a wind farm with a new approach – namely, involving local residents in the use of the benefits of the wind farm.
The new wind farm envisages the construction of four wind turbines (power plants), as well as the establishment of a “Responsible Wind Energy Fund”, to which a certain part of the wind farm’s profits will be directed and which will be used to improve the quality of life of local people. Such an approach has not yet been used in the development of wind farm projects in Latvia, but has been implemented abroad, the company points out.
“Wind energy is safe for both the environment and people and has many economic benefits. However, the challenge for wind farm development is to benefit local people, who can only indirectly feel the positive effects of wind energy on the electricity market, investment or climate sustainability. We will develop the park together with a special fund, which will direct a certain part of the park ‘s income for further use directly to promote the well – being of the local population, “says Kristaps Stepanovs, 4Wind board member.
“The need to involve local communities in the development of wind farms is also recognized in many places abroad, including Scandinavia. Our goal is to promote the development of socially responsible policy wind farms in Latvia,” explains K. Stepanovs.
4Wind plans to set up a “Responsible Wind Energy Fund”, addressing and involving local opinion leaders in the fund’s board, which would help determine the criteria and procedures for using the fund’s resources. It is not yet determined what part of the wind farm’s profit would be directed to the disposal of the fund, as the park itself is still in the development stage.
It is planned to build four wind turbines (power plants) in “Sārce” wind farm, each with a capacity of 5.6 MW and a total capacity of 22.4 MW. The wind farm corresponds to the spatial plan of the Kurzeme planning region, and the distance from the wind turbine to the nearest house exceeds the permissible distance five times.
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