Fosen Vind is an onshore mega wind project with six wind farms in the Trøndelag County, Central Norway, and one of the to be the biggest  wind power project in Europe with a  capacity of 1GW [2, 5]. However, two of the windfarms Storheia (Åfjord) and Roan (Fosen), are particularly harming Sami reindeer herders , because the farms would be built on their traditional, culturally and environmentally important pastures [2,3]. In concrete, reindeer herders in Norway argued that the sight and sound of wind turbines would frighten off  reindeer grazing  and thus jeopardises age-old traditions. TheSami and  their land and cultures should not be expropriated for such a project [3].

Because traditional Sami reindeer herding is a form of protected cultural practice, the ambitious wind project is void according to the country’s Supreme court [2,3,4]. Further, “Their construction has been declared illegal, and it would be illegal to continue operating them,” a representative of Sami headers stated [2].

Since the 2016, when the project started to be planned and soon implemented, Sami people and activists have been protesting against it [4, 5]. The people indicated that the project violates national and international law, including the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; "Reindeer herding in the Southern Sami area is the bearer of the Southern Sami language and culture,” one of the activists argued [4]. Then, activists alo mentioned how limiting the size of the winter pastures will make reindeer herding unsustainable [4]. Hence impacted will be forced to give up their cultural heritage and even cultural survival [4].

There were two court cases, one after the other[11].  "A local court of appeal in June 2020 found that the Sámi had lost their grazing land as a result of the two wind parks, and ordered Fosen Vind to pay the herders what was considered a strikingly large sum of money: 90 million NOK (10 million USD) to buy fodder for the animals for the foreseeable future. Interestingly, both the Sámi and Fosen Vind appealed that sentence to the supreme court. For the former it was a matter of principle: they thought the concession was outright illegal as it violates their rights as native people, and found a financial settlement insufficient. Fosen Vind, on the other hand, considered the compensation excessive and disproportionate. The Norwegian government, worried that the case might set a precedent and deter potential foreign investors from applying for wind concessions elsewhere, sided with the joint venture company in its appeal.

The Supreme Court has now overturned the local ruling on the grounds that the concessions for the wind farms are invalid and should never have been granted" (Peroni, [11]). . The judges cited international law, saying that “in those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist,” the latter should not be denied the right “to enjoy their own culture.”[11]. 

Despite the efforts by Sami people,  the project continued without public consultations willing to hear their concerns, the people took their case all the way to the Supreme Court of Norway [7]. On 11 October 2021, the Supreme Court ruled "that the wind farm development will have a material negative effect on the reindeer owners’ scope for practising their culture in Fosen". [2,3,4,6,7]. In this decision further, "the Court of Appeal (had previously) determined a considerable amount of compensation for the winter feeding of penned reindeer and held that the right to cultural enjoyment was thus not encroached upon" [7].

On the other hand, Statkraft company  (backed in practice by the state of Norway, a major shareholder) argued that the added wind energy will be important for increasing the country’s electrification and for selling electricity to Europe. “Renewable production of energy will be increasingly important in the future when fossil fuels are gradually replaced”. According to the company, renewable energy has started to replace fossil fuels in the transportation sector of the country. The country plan, further,  is to export electricity to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Russia and the Netherlands via cross-border links to other electrical networks [3]. 

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court  found that Sami rights have been infringed and that the decisions on granting operating licences and expropriation ordinances are therefore invalid [7]. Noway has ratified ILO Convention 169. The Court quoted the ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also ratified by Norway.  The court clearly concluded that "the construction infringes the right to cultural practice, but peoples claim was not upheld in a decision by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in 2013. The matter was brought before the courts and Fosen Vind was still granted permission to commence constructions, and the two wind farms were completed in 2019 and 2020, respectively [7]". Now, they have to be torn down [2]. Ot appropriate remediation must be found. 

The wind energy complex is being developed by Fosen Vind, a joint venture between StatKraft (52.1%), Nordic Wind Power (40%), and TrønderEnergi (7.9%) with an estimated investment of NOK 11bn ($1.3bn). [10]. Norwegian state-owned power company, Statkraft, is responsible for the execution of the Fosen Vind project. Construction on the project started in 2016 and full operational capacity of 1GW was expected to be achieved in 2020 [2]. Yet, the effort of local Sami people and activist, about 150 turbines may be torn down after licences to operate are declared non-valid by the Norwegian Supreme court [1].