Wind energy acceptance

Abstract

The number of wind energy projects in Europe has increased rapidly in the last decade and this growth is expected to continue. In the Netherlands there is a similar increase in the amount of wind energy projects. Wind energy projects, as large-scale infrastructural works and building projects, have numerous effects on the surrounding communities. The most prominent challenge in onshore wind energy realisation in the Netherlands was identified as a lack of acceptance by the local community and the potential for this lack of acceptance to result in resistance. This research focusses on acceptance of wind energy on a local level. However, acceptance can be a complex issue. There are multiple actors, technical characteristics, economic factors and institutional boundaries involved. To analyse this complexity, this research explores which impacts are perceived by local residents of a wind park; impacts as noise nuisance and shadow flicker. Literature suggests links between perceived impacts and the local context of a wind energy project. Local factors, like the height of the turbines, could influence local residents experience on for example noise nuisance. This research extends on these possible relations and aims to research how characteristics of a wind project and perceived impacts of local residents could relate. A case study of 18 Dutch wind energy projects was executed. For each project one or two interviews with a stakeholder were conducted on the perceived impacts of local residents. The data was combined with desk research on the characteristics of the wind parks. For each case study was further analysed how project characteristics and perceived impacts of residents could relate. Multiple possible relations were identified between characteristics and perceived impacts. Examples of these are turbine characteristics as distance to residents, height of turbines, the presence of other wind parks nearby and obstruction lighting. Additionally, regional characteristics as accumulation of existing regional impacts, regional property prices, regional stress and the if the wind park is located in a silent area were indicated as influential in some case studies. Institutional factors have been attributed to influence the process. These included the administrative division, decision making power and legal guidelines. Furthermore, measures to reduce or compensate impacts were also named as influential. These include the extent of financial participation and a standstill provision. Two general characteristics influencing wind energy acceptance in general were identified. These were if the wind park was located on an industrial site and if the wind park was a repowering project. In some cases, the characteristics could relate to other characteristics or perceived impacts relate to other perceived impacts. For example, interviewees stated the concerns for housing value decrease were directly related to concerns for shadow flicker, noise nuisance and visual impact. Even on a case level, multiple relations were mentioned and could have both negative as positive effects. On a broader level, a cross-case examination was done to discover the importance of the perceived impacts and what possible relations were frequent in Dutch wind energy project. While the exploratory research has its limitations, it discovered that acceptance is complex and depended on multiple factors. Relations as for example height turbines resulting in more visual impact that were mentioned in literature did not occur in every project. Some relations can be negative or positive depending on the project context. Furthermore, perceived impacts could be related to other perceived impacts and multiple characteristic might influence one perceived impact. This creates a complex web of interrelations where some relations appeared in the case studies but others are still unknown. This research show that further research is needed generate profitable knowledge on this complex topic. With the results of the thesis, a number of limited recommendations are done for local residents, policy makers and project executors. One of these recommendations is to implement a local approach to a case project and take the unique characteristics of the project into account. This includes integrating existing regional impacts to estimate which impacts could cause the most concerns. Additionally, consulting with local residents is an important step to fathom local wishes and preferences. Local residents might be willing to trade in time for extra benefits or need a technical implementation as a standstill provision. More insight in the perceived impacts of local residents can help in providing participation measures or structure the process.