Willingness to wind - A panel data study of public policies and municipal factors determining the deployment of wind power in Swedish municipalities

Abstract

In 2009 the Swedish government adopted a national planning goal of 30 TWh wind power by 2020, implying a large expansion is needed from the current level of 7 TWh. The municipal territorial planning monopoly implies that the municipalities have a high degree of independence in the decision of installing wind power. This has led to large differences between municipalities; some have a large amount of installed wind power while others have none. This thesis uses panel data from the period 2003-2011, with the aim of analyzing the effect of national policy instruments, market conditions and municipal specific factors on the deployment of wind power in Swedish municipalities. We find a significant effect off two policy instruments, the Green Certificate System and the EU´s Emission Trading Scheme. The results show that more wind power is installed in municipalities with a left wing political majority and a successful tourism industry, but appears unrelated to other municipal factors, such as wind capacity. Our findings suggest that social conditions affect the deployment of wind power, not favorable physical conditions.