Attityder och delaktighet vid etablering av vindkraft till havs

Abstract

The political objectives on national and international levels towards a larger proportion of renewable energy require considerable planning activities on a local level. These activities inevitably must relate to the local community and its various groups; their culture, economy, social activities as well as their views on environmental problems and nature values. This applies to all energy plants. Wind power has previously been regarded as small-scale in character, as it has often been built as small groups of windmills. In recent years, wind power projects on a larger scale have been developed and established, making wind power more significant for the local community and its inhabitants. The present report is based on a study of views expressed by locals as regards a special kind of wind-power plant, namely large-scale, offshore wind power. The report aims at examining the coordination between different stakeholders; decision-makers, communities and entrepreneurs concerning two wind power projects: Lillgrund in The Sound (Öresund), and Utgrunden II in the Kalmar Strait (Kalmarsund). The report is intended to provide an understanding of attitudes and perceptions of risks and possibilities of various local stakeholders in these two cases. Conceptual tools are borrowed from our own studies as well as other researchers’ previous studies of attitudes, values, and forms of public participation. Since the study objective has been to seek the stakeholders’ own formulations of problems and opportunities concerning the projects, we have used a qualitative research design. Three types of techniques have been used to gather information: document analysis, field observations and in-depth interviews. Important to note is that the report is not based on statistical data of public attitudes. Positive as well as negative attitudes towards the two wind power projects have been analyzed in both regions. The positive attitude is mainly based on ethical values (wind is seen as an environmentally sound energy source that we should invest in), and for some also on material values (projects can create jobs and economic growth in the local community). The negative attitude is partly based on aesthetic values (scenery and local nature values are thought to be threatened) and a combination of substantive and ethical values (wind power is seen as unprofitable and inefficient). The analysis shows that there is need for increased knowledge, both through the provision of facts about economic and technical conditions of wind power and, as a reversed mediation of knowledge, by better understanding of local stakeholders’ conceptions of wind power projects. Criticism of wind power is largely based on a view that it could not be an effective way to produce energy, and that it could not possibly bear its own costs. Thus, wind power entrepreneurs should clearly show environmental benefits, profitability and efficiency in a specific project draft. Moreover, negative emotions towards wind power projects are closely associated with aesthetic values. We were able to note that the scale of the projects had given rise to greater hesitation and more concern about visual intrusion. It is therefore essential to take human experience seriously, for example by maintaining a dialogue around each specific project from an aesthetic point of view in order to establish what local values and experiences are thought to be threatened, and how the project might be altered