Skrekas asks RAE to cancel Evia license
The Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) must revoke the licenses for wind turbines it has approved for Istiaia, in fire-devastated northern Evia, Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas demanded in a letter on Monday.
In a letter to the authority’s president, Athanasios Dagoumas, the minister expressed his surprise at the decision, stressing that the government had “explicitly promised that it will not intervene in fire-devastated areas until the restitution committee has submitted its plans.”
“Instead,” he said, “I have been informed to my surprise that the Regulatory Authority for Energy granted a permit for 13 wind turbines on Mount Telethrio in the Istiaia-Edipsos Municipality, for 25 years’ use,” and called on its president to revoke the decision for any permits and refrain from issuing new ones.
The committee he referred to is headed by former Kalamata mayor Stavros Benos, who is tasked with producing a comprehensive plan for the economic and environmental revival of Evia.
The wildfire that ravaged the northern third of the island of Evia, Greece’s second largest, has been found to be the biggest in terms of area burnt in Greece’s history.
