Environment Group

Workshops from the NSC Environment Group Conference

Wind energy - How and Where ?

Blankenberge, 6-9 November 2002

Workshop A - 1st session

The workshop concentrated on two main areas:

The involvement of the local and regional level in planning and decision-making

Acceptance and participation by the public

The four speakers from the presentations in the morning attended the workshop, which gave delegates the opportunity of asking further questions. From the presentations it became apparent that use of wind energy will increase over the coming years. However, the EU imports 50% of its fossil fuels today, and this figure is expected to rise to 70% in 2010. Considering that most of this comes from the Middle East and Russia and bearing in mind the rather unstable political situation in the world today, it was felt that the EU ought to be more self-sufficient and to concentrate on having as local a supply of energy as possible, which would also be seen as being more reliable.

Denmark is in the forefront when it comes to utilizing wind energy around the North Sea and it would be appropriate to learn from their mistakes and successes. Some examples were the need to involve the public at an early stage and that the consultation has be real, i.e. that the planners are prepared to change their plans, if there is something, which the local community strongly objects to. The examples from Denmark showed several cases where the place or appearance of wind farms had been changed, in order to take into account concerns of the local community.

The alternative to this open planning process is a closed process. Obviously, an open planning process can take considerably longer, but it appears that it is time well spent, as it is more likely to result in an acceptance from the local community. Some planners may find it daunting to face a group of people in an open meeting about a proposed wind park. It was, however, pointed out that members of the local community need to be informed, so they can base their judgement on facts rather than on misconceptions, such as the amount of noise, flashing, environmental impacts, etc.

It was generally felt at the meeting that the local community had to gain something from having a wind farm nearby, before it would be generally accepted. There may be some social and economic gains to be had from the erecting and servicing of a wind farm as local people could be employed, but the most lucrative way was seen to join a co-operative and actually obtain some of the profit from the production. Besides the local community, local, regional, national authorities and the EU must also be seen to gain something and a win-win situation must be created.

It is evident that there is no integrated plan around the North Sea when it comes to off-shore wind farms and the workshop would like to write a statement encouraging national governments to consult with each other before granting permission to off-shore wind farms.

When Denmark first started erecting wind mills/farms, there was no clear strategy as to where they should be placed and it all became rather haphazard. This is, for example, the situation in Scotland today, where councils currently are responding to each application without an overall plan. It was felt that the national government must take this lead and maybe even set certain targets to be fulfilled locally. In that way, the councils would know what was expected of them and would be able to include potential new wind farms in their development plans.

A discussion followed as to how to convince the sceptics among the general public that wind energy is a good thing. It was pointed out that they have to know the alternatives, which may be, for example, rising sea levels and the uncertainty of oil supply from the Middle East. If oil prices are high, they are more likely to accept alternative energy sources.

Workshop A - 2nd session

Only politicians attended this workshop and to a large extent it continued from the first session.

The politicians pointed out that many valuable points had been raised in the first session and that there appeared to be a role for the NSC to play. They would like the workshop to result in a statement, which would be directed mainly at national governments. Most of the time in the workshop was spent on the content of the statement.

It was agreed to focus on both inland and offshore wind energy, as not all NSC regions have direct access to the North Sea.

At the Ministerial Conference in Bergen in spring 2002, environmental ministers signed the Bergen Declaration, which in chapter 9 deals with wind energy. The delegates felt that they would like to support the Bergen Declaration and to continue the process started. It was agreed that the statement should deal with two aspects: the planning process and energy sources and that it should concentrate on the regional level, encouraging a more active involvement of the regions and more self-sufficiency of energy. The statement should also stress the need for an active dialogue and involvement of the local and regional level in the implementation of national policies. The statement should also stress the importance of an early consultation with the public, as there can otherwise be problems of getting an acceptance from the public.

The statement will be forwarded to the NSC Executive Committee for comments before being sent to the Environment Ministers. Link to the statement.

Possible interreg project proposals were also discussed:

One project could deal with the planning method describing how to find successful sites, how to implement wind farms, best practice with consideration of local objections and how to gain acceptance from the public.

Another interreg project could deal with local renewable energy sources, which could examine how to bring benefits to the local community and how money earned from wind energy can be brought back into the local community.