A solar plant with about 5,000 panels caught fire earlier this week in Sardinia, Italy. Police are investigating suspected arson.
Image: Saper
From pv magazine Italy
A PV system of about 5,000 panels caught fire in Viddalba, Sardinia, on Sept. 8, in what local associations say was a deliberate act.
The system is reportedly owned and operated by Valledonia-based Avru srl, but no confirmation has been received from the company. Surveillance cameras captured two people getting out of a car and setting fire to the solar panels. Police officers are investigating the incident.
The Sassari fire department confirmed the incident to pv magazine Italia and said its personnel worked for several hours after flames broke out around 4 a.m. to extinguish the fire.
Sardinians for Renewable Energy (SAPER) and the Italian Federation of Social Mediators for Renewable Energy (FIMSER) described the incident as “yet another act of violence against renewable energy in Sardinia.”
“Hate campaigns against renewables fueled by false and biased news continue to prey on the population’s fears: that of an invasion and exploitation that in reality exist only in the headlines. Behind this narrative lie powerful economic interests tied to gas, with the aim of maintaining the status quo and leaving Sardinia further behind the rest of Italy and Europe,” the associations said.
The associations said they were concerned not only about material damage, but also “about the climate of hatred that risks fueling copycat attacks. Just read the comments under the articles reporting the fire: too many have expressed satisfaction with the gesture, as if it were something to applaud.”
SAPER and FIMSER called on regional and national governments “to intervene decisively to stop this spiral of violence, before the lives of those who work in this sector every day are put at risk.”
The Sardinia Region, through Industry Councilor Emanuele Cani, expressed “serious concern” about the alleged malicious intent.
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More articles from Massimiliano Tripodo
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