Hydropower, Wind Power and Reindeers: a Historical Discursive Analysis of Energy Justice in the Fosen Case

Abstract

Global efforts to counteract climatic changes have brought to the increased development of sustainable solutions in terms of energy infrastructures. Norway, Europe’s leader in the energy supply, has driven such progress with a long history of hydropower implementations, and, more recently, wind turbines. Fosen Vind is the latest outcome of such an advance. However, the Fosen wind parks have not been welcomed unquestionably. With part of the infrastructure expanding into the indigenous territory of the Saami, the claims have resulted in a national lawsuit. The conflict highlights how indigenous rights and local sensitivities go hand in hand with the environmental solutions. As similar energy projects are expected to be realised in the future, this thesis aims at the exploration of the Fosen Vind clash within the concept of energy justice. It employs a historical discursive analysis of the narratives constructed in Fosen, with a further attention to the ones that have characterised past energy implementations in Norway. Energy justice is approached within its three dimensions: recognitional, distributional, and procedural. Through an extensive theoretical framework, enriching field work, and attentive methodological choices, the findings this thesis brings in the academic realm convey a complex picture of cost and benefit unbalances, lost recognition and procedural deficiencies. However, looking at points of continuity and discontinuity with past energy projects, Fosen Vind also highlights a growing legal power in the hands of the Saami indigenous group. It is argued that there is a ground for strengthening the local participation in future energy developments, and avoid the reiteration of past and current injustices.