“We don’t want your wind turbines. […] Get out! » It is an understatement to say that a wind of anger blew through the picturesque and usually quiet village of Orliac, in Dordogne, on Wednesday November 6. A public meeting was to be held there in the evening, under the village hall, about a wind farm project planned for the area. Barely started, the meeting, which had attracted nearly 80 people, was stopped.
Signs in the village of Orliac to demonstrate against the Iberdrola project.
Stéphane Klein / SO
In twenty minutes, with boos, invectives and loud voices, opponents of these wind turbines, many of whom came from the surrounding localities, put an end to the attempts of the company Iberdrola France, the project leader, to engage in consultation with the local population and with the support, among others, of acoustic and environmental experts. “We don't want consultation because it's not possible,” declared Bruno Lallier, mayor of the neighboring town of Doissat, who had already been invited, with several of his counterparts, to the press conference which preceded the public meeting.
Stéphane Klein / SO
Mayors opposed to this wind farm project. From left to right: Daniel Maury, elected in Campagnac-lès-Quercy; Bernard Faget, in Marnac; Régis Loez, in Mazeyrolles; Christian Eymery, in Prats-du-Périgord; Maryse Durand, in Sainte-Foy-de-Belvès and Bruno Lallier, in Doissat.
Image problem
“The basic premise is that it’s ugly, that it makes noise, that it destroys everything”
Most of the people present in Orliac on Wednesday evening participated in the mobilization orchestrated by the Vent Debout Périgord Noir association against the Iberdrola project.
This world leader in energy wants to install five to ten wind turbines, 165 meters high, on 400 hectares spread over five municipalities: Orliac, but also Prats-du-Périgord, Sainte-Foy-de-Belvès, Salles-de -Belvès and Mazeyrolles. The energy capacity of this future park would range between 15 and 33 MW and could supply electricity to around 5,440 homes, or nearly 12,000 inhabitants.
Stéphane Klein / SO
One of the plots of the implementation project, where a wind measuring device was installed.
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Stéphane Klein / SO
Before the start of the public meeting, opponents of the project distributed posters to participants.
In Périgord, until now, no wind project has been completed. Without a doubt, local protest has a lot to do with it. “The basic premise is that it’s ugly, that it makes noise, that it destroys everything… The image they have of it is terrible,” Valérie Boyer, public affairs manager, confided to Orliac from Iberdrola France.
Stéphane Klein / SO
Valérie Boyer, from the Iberdrola company, tried in vain to speak in the face of a hostile audience.
Fire risk
In this perched village in the Périgord Noir, surrounded by forests, the anti-war also highlight the fire risks: “With blades nearly 200 meters high, the Canadairs will no longer be able to intervene in the event of a fire,” argues Bruno Lallier. Obviously, they are also afraid of real estate devaluation and the consequences for tourism.
But there are not only opponents of the wind farm in Orliac. At this public meeting, some supporters were discreet, like the first magistrate of the commune, Christian Ventelou. As a farmer, he sees in this project the guarantee for him of a financial income and, in turn, the assured future of his farm: “I want to pass on my activity and that can help the one who comes after me to get started. You have to try everything to survive,” he says.
“Since you arrived here, things have been a mess: there are people here who no longer speak to each other,” said Patrick Vivies, second assistant at Orliac, apostrophizing the Iberdrola representatives. Here as elsewhere, the population is divided, tossed by contrary winds.
And it continues…
The sudden end of the public meeting in Orliac does not mean the end of the Iberdrola project. “We are going to install a measuring mast and studies will be launched, probably at the beginning of 2025,” indicated Lolita Grandgérard, project manager, on site at the end of the heated discussions.
