Sami shepherds recently won a surprising and resounding victory against a giant Norwegian wind farm project that Zurich-based EIP has a stake in.
Fosen Vind is one of the largest wind farms in Europe. Around 300 gigantic wind turbine generators produce about 3.6 terawatts of electricity annually - enough to provide about 780,000 households with electricity. It is an important piece of the European climate puzzle.
A unanimous verdict by the Norwegian Supreme Court on 11 October has created a stir well beyond the polar circle when it decided to withdraw the rights for two of the wind farms, Storheia und Roan, saying the 151 turbines violated Sami reindeer herder rights.
BKW Part of Consortium
The surprising ruling means that the judges agreed with the herders, who claimed that their cultural rights had been violated given that the wind farms are located on reindeer grazing grounds.
Paradeplatz-based investment company Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP), in which Credit Suisse (CS) owns a minority share, has an interest in the park through the Nordic Wind Power DA investment company. Swiss energy utility BKW and four other European institutional investors are also part of the consortium.
Other partners are Norwegian energy producer Statkraft, and Trondheim based utility company Trønder Energi.
Continued Operations
«We continue to talk to all the involved parties and are waiting to see what the steps Norway's energy ministry will take after the supreme court judgement,», an EIP spokesperson told finews.com.
Initially silent following the ruling, the ministry last week said it will not take any immediate steps until it thoroughly assesses the case but that it will ensure that obligations under international law towards the Sami as indigenous people will be kept.
It added that the supreme court decision did not directly affect the conditions at the wind farm under the country's energy act. State authorities have to look at the case in more detail and evaluate what the consequences will be. Although much remains unclear, management at Fosen Vind appeared relieved following the statement by the ministry.
EIP has no choice but to wait. The project underwent a stringent licensing process and the Sami were consulted as part of that, it says.
EIP specializes in energy infrastructure investments and counts retirement funds and professional investors among its clients. The ruling shows the unexpected twists and turns its international expansion plans are apt to take.
