Governing Growing Wind Power: Policy Coherence of Wind Power Expansion and Environmental Considerations in Sweden, with Comparative Examples from Norway

The report analyzes the governance of land-based wind power in Sweden, focusing on the tension between rapid expansion goals and environmental protection. It details the Swedish concession process, the significant role of the municipal veto, and the use of research programs like Vindval to inform decision-making. A comparison with Norway highlights Sweden's more decentralized approach, which increases local influence but introduces uncertainty for developers.

• Sweden has set an ambitious target under the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RES) to have 49% of its total energy consumption supplied by renewable sources by 2020.
• Land-based wind power is the primary driver of Sweden's renewable expansion; in 2011, 96.5% of all turbines were on land and 92% of wind electricity came from land-based sources.
• The Swedish concession process for large wind farms is characterized by a municipal right of veto, which allows municipalities to block projects regardless of national interest or technical suitability.
• The municipal veto is viewed by developers as a significant risk; Swedish Wind Energy (SWE) estimated in 2010 that the veto stopped at least 380 wind farms with a total capacity of 1000MW.
• Sweden's governance of wind power is highly decentralized compared to Norway, where the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) centralizes the granting of permits and municipalities lack veto power.
• The Renewable Electricity Certificate System, a key tool for expansion, is described as 'neutral' regarding environmental coherence because it lacks specific environmental criteria in its allocation rules.
• Research programs such as Vindval and Vindren provide voluntary guidelines on environmental impacts—such as bird collisions and reindeer herding—which are increasingly used as precedents in court rulings.
• There is a noted knowledge gap regarding the environmental effects of massive wind farms, such as the Markbygden Vind AB project, as most existing research focuses on smaller installations.
• The Swedish Armed Forces act as a significant obstacle to wind power expansion, often preventing developments based on national security interests.

APA

Rudberg, P., Weitz, N., Dalen, K., & Haug, J. J. K. (2013). Governing Growing Wind Power: Policy Coherence of Wind Power Expansion and Environmental Considerations in Sweden, with Comparative Examples from Norway. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-ProjectReport-Rudberg-GoverningGrowingWindPower-2013.pdf

Chicago

Rudberg, Peter, Nina Weitz, Kari Dalen, and Jens Jacob Kielland Haug. Governing Growing Wind Power: Policy Coherence of Wind Power Expansion and Environmental Considerations in Sweden, with Comparative Examples from Norway. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2013. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-ProjectReport-Rudberg-GoverningGrowingWindPower-2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rudberg |first1=Peter |last2=Weitz |first2=Nina |last3=Dalen |first3=Kari |last4=Haug |first4=Jens Jacob Kielland |title=Governing Growing Wind Power: Policy Coherence of Wind Power Expansion and Environmental Considerations in Sweden, with Comparative Examples from Norway |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2013 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-ProjectReport-Rudberg-GoverningGrowingWindPower-2013.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rudberg2013governing, author = {Rudberg, Peter and Weitz, Nina and Dalen, Kari and Haug, Jens Jacob Kielland}, title = {{Governing Growing Wind Power: Policy Coherence of Wind Power Expansion and Environmental Considerations in Sweden, with Comparative Examples from Norway}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-ProjectReport-Rudberg-GoverningGrowingWindPower-2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }