1. Research Project: Local acceptance of wind energy:
The effects of different financial participation models on the overall acceptance of wind projects in Switzerland
Pascal Vuichard
Good Energies Chair for Management of Renewable Energies Research Associate and PhD Candidate
University of St. Gallen
Roskilde, March 26, 2018

2. Social acceptance of renewable energy projects in Switzerland
Hydro
Social acceptance of renewable energy projects in Switzerland
Wind 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5
Relative Importance [%]
Hydro Wind
While environmental impact is the #1 concern of Swiss residents, local ownership and distributional justice are important drivers of social acceptance in renewable energy projects in Switzerland.
Source: Tabi & Wüstenhagen 2015 / 2017

3. Experimental design with focus on ownership and distributional justice
Previous research has found evidence to suggest that financial participation and community ownership can positively influence social acceptance of a wind park (Toke, 2005; Hübner et al., ; Aitken et al., 2010; Warren and McFayden, 2010; Langer et al., 2017; Corscadden et al., 2012)
Warren and McFayden (2010) compare public attitudes towards a community-owned wind farm with attitudes towards developer-owned wind farms in Scotland. They note that community ownership amplifies pre-existing positive attitudes and at the same time suppresses negative ones, ultimately resulting in community wind projects being better off in terms of social acceptance (Warren & McFayden, 2010)
However, project leaders may not be willing to discuss the specifications of a community finance model with the local population during the planning process due to lack of confidence (Aitken, 2010)
These conclusions propose that a better understanding of local residents’ acceptance of different specifications of community models is critically important for project developers to make informed decisions

4. Experimental design with focus on ownership and distributional justice
Prototype Swiss „wind park“:
3 wind turbines with18 gigawatt hours of electricity production
Local utility is involved as a partner in the project implementation from the regional side
Procedural justice: various information events have already taken place and regular press statements are released
The environmental impact assessment of the wind farm and the wind measurements were successful
The wind turbines have a maximum overall height of 200 meters
The planned turbines are located on agricultural land and partly in industrial and commercial zones

5. Experimental design: 3 specific financial participation models
Wind park: share
-Full participation: Risk and profit
-Expected dividend 5%
-Share for 500 CHF
-Selling back to local utility possible at any time
Wind park: resource tax
-10’000 per turbine for earmarked fund
-No ownership
Wind park: bond
-Partly participation: Risk and profit
-Fixed and guaranteed interest of 2%
-Bond for 500 CHF
-Selling back to local utility possible at any time

6. What do you want to find out?
Our interest is:
“How exactly should community benefits be designed in Switzerland and what influence do particular models have on the overall acceptance of a wind project”
Which share of the Swiss population is willing to participate financially in wind projects?
Which type of financial participation is preferred by the citizens?
How does the possibility to financially participate influence the overall acceptance of wind projects?

7. How does it fit with Task 28?
New insights on the effects of financial participation models on the overall social acceptance of wind energy projects in Switzerland, which at the moment have a rather difficult state of affairs regarding acceptance and implementation
Novelty of this research project is the specific focus on different financial participation models within social acceptance research. The added value is thus created by testing realistic forms of financial participation, which would be directly applicable in practice
Findings are particularly relevant for practitioners when they design wind farms. The results will be disseminated within a broad range of stakeholders using workshops / lectures / etc.