Argyroupoli and Vrilissia residents strongly oppose plans for new electricity substations in their areas, but 2004 Games organisers say their fears are unfounded.
Summer in Athens can be an electrician’s nightmare. With thousands of air-conditioning units operating at the same time, power outages are known to leave swathes of the city in the dark for hours.
During the 2004 Olympics, a blackout of even seconds could spell instant embarrassment for Greek organisers.
“Attica’s summer blackouts are a reflection of distribution problems, not a lack of energy,” says Athens 2004 technology general manager Dimitrios Beis. “There aren’t enough power substations to keep voltage constant.”
To stave off power glitches during the Games, organisers made plans for five substations to improve electrical power distribution to Olympic venues and other priority points (such as hospitals) –in Korydallos, Faliro, Hellenikon, Argyroupoli and Vrilissia.
Two of them, in Argyroupoli and Vrilissia, are already under attack from local communities fearing the potential threat of electromagnetic emissions. Vrilissia residents also want to keep the project from eating into a local park.
Environmental concerns
“Nobody doubts the need for power sufficiency, but we cannot accept the destruction of our environment,” says Vrilissia Mayor Argyris Dinopoulos. He says that the Public Power Corporation (PPC) will build “a substation with ‘80s technology to save money”.
The Athens 2004 Organising Committee (ATHOC) counters that plans for the substation have already been agreed with Dinopoulos’ predecessor, who was voted out in the October 2002 municipal elections.
In Argyroupoli, the substation’s proximity to a residential area forced the government to reduce the planned facility’s maximun voltage from 400,000 volts (400kV) to 150kV. But the municipality is still determined to oppose its construction.
“The project is being carried out without our consent. For one thing, we haven’t even seen an environmental impact study,” says Argyroupoli Deputy Mayor George Kalogeras.
Riot police recently moved into both sites to keep the construction work going. On one occasion in Vrilissia, they had to use teargas to disperse irate residents.
Police-run station?
“They’ll have to keep the riot police during the Games as well,’ says the Vrilissia mayor. “If that station ever operates, we’ll cut the wires,” he tells the Athens News.
Olympic organisers need all five substations ready by May 2004. “We’ll have a serious problems if any of these stations are not built,” says ATHOC’s Beis. He notes that the Vrilissia station will funnel electricity to the Olympic Stadium, all venues in east Attica (which include the rowing venue in Schinis and the equestrian facilities at Markopoulo) and the suburban railway. The Argyroupoli station affects the entire Attica grid.
Substations are also vital in reducing the recovery time after a blackout, which could strike at any time.
“Chances of a blackout caused by faulty equipment can never be completely eliminated,” says Beis. “That is why you need a strong power grid. When you reduce this infrastructure, fixing problems takes longer,”
For their part, PPC officials say the municipalities’ objections are incomprehensible. “Power facilities have been located in Argyroupoli for 30 years, when that area was wilderness,” says PPC network construction and maintenance manager Dimitris Stavropoulos. “If the local fear emissions so much, why did they build their houses near them in the first place?”
Stavropoulos also rejects health hazard fears as lacking scientific proof, and says the stations will meet all necessary state regulations. “Holding a blow-drier to you head subjects you to 100 times the level of emissions from one of those substations,” he says.
“Vrilissia and Argyroupoli are expanding districts, and their electricity needs are rising,” says PPC spokeswoman Maria Beskou. “The metro will soon reach Argyroupoli. How will this demand be met without new facilities?”
During the Games,organisers plan to smooth over blackouts by gradually neting out power first to priority venues (such as hospitals) before seeing to other needs. They’re also hooking vital Olympic sites (such as broadcasting and sports venues) to power generators already contracted at a cost of 26 million euros, “Our planning remains the same,” says Beis. “There will be uninterrupted power supply everywhere, with adequate backup in place.”
(By John Hadoulis from Athens News, 09/05/03)