Regulator Warns 3,000-hectare Parkano Kangaslammi Project Would Harm Birds and Residents

Finland’s Permit and Supervision Agency has concluded that the planned Parkano Kangaslammi wind and solar project, about three kilometres west of Parkano town centre, would cause major negative environmental and social impacts, YLE reported.

The project, proposed by Pohjan Voima Oy, covers roughly 3,000 hectares of mostly drained peatland and commercial forest. The environmental impact assessment outlines up to 19 wind turbines and as much as 148 hectares of solar panels, with a smaller option of 11 turbines and about 99 hectares of panels. Turbine hub-to-tip heights could reach up to 300 metres. Planned electricity transmission works would include 12–28 kilometres of new 110 or 400 kV overhead lines to connect to Fingrid’s planned Kristiinankaupunki–Nokia route at Kuivasjärvi or Luomankulma, or to Caruna’s Teiharju–Parkano line at Paununperä.

The regulator found the most significant harms would fall on bird populations, including directive species, and on local residents’ living conditions, amenity and recreational use. Landscape impacts could be locally significant, and some layout options would produce notable noise. For the transmission routes it flagged risks to valuable nature sites, areas reserved for state protection and ecological connectivity, and warned of cumulative effects with other regional wind projects that increase pressure on species such as the golden eagle and on the wider landscape. During consultation it received 14 formal statements and 21 opinions. Several other wind projects in northern Pirkanmaa have already sparked public debate.