Citizens may play a role in wind energy development through financial participation. They can chose from different types and levels of financial involvement.
Joining cooperatives, or limited liability companies, or some other kinds of partnership, citizens will assume the responsibility of ownership/shareholders, and will take a role in the governance process; as creditors, lenders or financiers, they assume a form of indirect active participation in the wind project.
Finally, citizens can benefit from a number of different passive participation forms: as individuals, they can obtain land lease payments or special electricity tariffs; as a community they may obtain compensation payments, in-kind benefits, municipal ownership of the plants or tax revenues from the operation of the windfarm.
The WinWind project showed that active financial participation requires a significant degree of engagement and information; while passive financial participation is more accessible, although it requires the local authorities’ great commitment to grant that the profits generated by wind energy are equally and transparently shared by the entire community.
Find out more
The WinWind project highlighted citizens’ financial participation as a relevant aspect of social acceptance. Here below further readings:
On government financial support and public policies for citizens participation:
Screening of technical and non-technical regulations, guidelines and recommendations page 34
On active and passive financial participation, definitions and concepts:
Synthesis & comparative analysis of best practice case studies for promoting the social acceptance of wind energy pages 54-56
Comparative analysis of national regulative frameworks:
Screening of technical and non-technical regulations, guidelines and recommendations pages 37-44