Tourists join Bornholmers in condemning planned windfarm

Concern that 150-metre high wind turbines will destroy island’s natural beauty coming from all corners

Tourists from both Denmark and abroad have joined residents of the Danish island of Bornholm in letting the municipality know they are not happy with a plan to erect nineteen 150-metre tall wind turbines at six locations across the island.

Bornholm Municipality has received 214 objections to the plan, and 30 of those came from tourists.

“You cannot destroy the nature that tourists come to enjoy and then believe that the tourists will still come,” wrote Carina Larusson, a Swede who has been coming to Bornholm since 1962.

Too many, too big
Hanne Schou was born on Bornholm, but now lives elsewhere in Denmark. She uses the island as an annual holiday destination.

“It is a pity that such a beautiful recreational area such as Bornholm will be filled with such large turbines,” she told P4 Bornholm.

Tourists from as far away as London, Berlin and the US have expressed their dissatisfaction with the windfarm plans.

Although the plan to build the turbines has been on the table for a while, it has only recently become clear how many there were, where they were going to be located and how large they are going to be.

Big contract for DONG
Meanwhile in related news, Danish energy company DONG has won a contract to build a massive windfarm off the coast of Zeeland in the Netherlands.

Once the windfarm is operational in 2023, it will provide enough power for five million homes.

The windfarm will be the biggest in the area.