Wind power implementation in changing institutional landscapes: An international comparison
Introduction
Since the early 1970s, several European countries have had policies in place to support the development of renewable energy sources. However, present achievements in these countries reveal remarkable differences. This divergence is analysed by comparing three cases of onshore wind power implementation in the Netherlands, the German state of North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) and England (Table 1).
Section snippets
Existing wind power studies
International comparative studies have addressed technological learning and wind turbine development and how policy support systems have enabled investments in wind power development and wind power market developments (Kamp et al., 2004; Dinica, 2003; Lauber, 2004; Mitchell et al., 2006; Toke, 2005b). A growing number of international comparative studies place the advance of wind power (industry, market, technology) in a broader context of national political, economic, technological and
Multiple cases method
Case-study research involves empirical research in which a contemporary phenomenon is studied within its real-life context, whereby the boundaries of the phenomenon and the context are not clear and evident, and where a number of ‘sources of evidence’ are used (Yin, 1994). Our research concerns a multiple embedded cases design consisting of three separate single case studies. We selected cases that differ in terms of wind energy achievements. While wind power implementation has proceeded
General stakeholders’ evaluations
If we compare those respondents that are actually involved in projects of implementation, we can see that different evaluations apply. In the Netherlands, these respondents criticised the government for a lack of commitment to wind power development, for the exclusive style of policy-making, and for the volatility of policies over the decades. Some associated this with a lack of a sense of urgency with regard to both energy and environmental issues in politics and society. In England the
Financial incentives: mobilising capital and support
Policies providing financial incentives have differed with regard to the type of projects and developers they have facilitated. The feed-in system in NRW was very effective for several reasons, but most significantly it became effective in combination with other support programmes that enabled a diversity of actors to become involved in the development of projects. Financial incentives neither discriminate against smaller and independent initiatives, nor against developers without large
Acknowledgements
We thank Susanne Agterbosch and Volkmar Lauber for valuable comments.
This research was funded by NWO, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.
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