French environmental agencies and campaigners have welcomed the decision to pause operations at a windfarm in the south of France after up to 300 protected birds were killed by the turbines’ blades.
A court in Montpellier has ordered the shutdown of the 31 wind turbines at the Aumelas wind farm (Hérault, Occitanie) for four months, to protect the lesser kestrel (faucon crécerellette). The bird is expected to be around the turbines during this time.
It is protected as it is at risk of extinction. Between 150-300 birds are thought to have been killed as a result of the windfarm’s operation. The birds regularly crash into the blades, despite the deterrent measures in place, including an electronic ‘scare system’.
Energy company fines
At an initial hearing held in December, the public prosecutor had requested a fine of €750,000 for each of these companies, a six-month suspended prison sentence, and a fine of €150,000 against Bruno Bensasson - chief executive officer of EDF Énergies Nouvelles - as well as a suspension of the wind farm's activity.
In the event, the Montpellier court ordered a fine of €500,000 for each of the 10 companies that manage the windfarm. This includes EDF and multiple subsidiaries, which were found liable for the death of 160 protected birds.
The companies will also have to pay a total of €114,000 to France Nature Environnement Occitanie-Méditerranée, the same amount to its parent company, FNE, plus €74,087, as compensation for ecological damage, in support of the Plan national de sauvegarde du faucon crécerellette (national plan for the conservation of the lesser kestrel).
“We are pleased to see that the courts are prioritising the protection of these species for four months by stopping the exploitation of the park,” said Simon Popy, president of France Nature Environnement Occitanie-Méditerranée.
He claimed that when “faced with this destruction”, EDF and its subsidiaries “did absolutely nothing to limit it”.
“We first advocated action before the civil court…(saying) in 2021 that its behaviour was criminal and could constitute an offence,” he said.
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“I think that with this court decision there is a desire to punish a group strategy that consisted of disregarding environmental law and making a mockery of the environmental impacts of wind turbine operation.”
Other cases
The court is now set to hand down a decision on another windfarm, this time in Bernagues (also Hérault). The decision is expected tomorrow (April 9).
It comes after the Versailles Court of Appeal had already found EDF and its subsidiaries guilty in 2021 for the death of 28 lesser kestrels “due to collisions with the wind turbines” at the same Aumelas wind farm.
Under a European directive any destruction of these protected species is illegal, except in the case of an explicit exemption from the prefect. However, EDF has not requested any exemption. France Nature Environnement believes that EDF is “playing for time”, as it is not at all certain of obtaining the exemption.
France and windfarms
Wind power in FranceHannah Thompson / Canva / Connexion France / RTE
Windfarms first came online in France in the early 2000s.
There are currently around 10,000 wind turbines in France, most of them on land, spread across 2,400 wind farms. More than half of these are in Hauts-de-France and Grand Est, while the remainder are in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Centre-Val de Loire, and Occitanie.
There are three offshore windfarms, with 200 turbines. These are off the coast of Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Brieuc, and Fécamp.
Windfarms are the third-biggest source of energy in France (after nuclear and water, but ahead of solar panels and gas). In 2024, wind power generation amounted to almost 50 terawatts/hour, which represents more than 10% of total household electricity consumption, said network manager RTE.
France is now the third-biggest windfarm energy producer in the European Union, behind Germany and Spain.
France has committed to having 40% of its electricity production come from renewable sources by 2030. Some 95% of the electricity produced in France comes from renewable and nuclear sources.
