Social Acceptance-Related Patterns of Wind Energy in Six European Countries

Renewable energy plays an important role in contributing towards the transition to the low emission society, yet in many regions energy projects have resulted in increasing societal polarisation. Studying the area of wind power onshore, we aim to identifying differences and similarities in acceptance-related patterns of wind energy and providing a systematic overview of key similarities and differences between social acceptance drivers and barriers in six European countries. Based on a literature review and insights from Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland and Spain, we highlight six categories that contribute to shape community acceptance of specific wind energy projects: (1) environmental, (2) economic, (3) societal, (4) process related and (5) contextual factors as well as (6) individual characteristics. We find that both policy and corporate activities targeting particular acceptance factors modify how these impacts are perceived. Examples of such measures include activities aimed at increasing transparency (e.g. sharing of project relevant information) and inclusiveness (e.g. identifying and interacting with all relevant stakeholders) to enhance the perceived procedural justice, and the establishment of a benefit sharing scheme (e.g. a community fund, local contracting and local ownership) to enhance perceived distributional justice. Regulations that ensure a minimum degree of community ownership may also increase social acceptance. The findings contribute to improve the understanding of the forces, factors and relationships at play between policy frameworks and perceptions of wind energy under different conditions. The research is part of the WinWind project funded by the European Commission via Horizon2020.