Wind power in the forest landscape – lessons learned and questions ahead

The excursion gathered around twenty participants: researchers from WindyForests, the project’s reference group and local stakeholders. The aim was to collect experiences and perspectives on wind power in forest landscapes and to give participants the opportunity to contribute input to the project’s continued work.

During the day, the group visited the Högaliden wind farm, the Svartberget research station, the ICOS climate research station and SLU’s forest field trials at Åheden. Presentations from wind power companies, landowners, a local community association and researchers alternated with discussions. Here we summarise the main themes raised and the questions we take with us.

WindyForests is funded by the research council Formas and led by SLU, with participants from Umeå University, Uppsala University and RISE.

Permitting processes out of step with technology

Permitting processes for wind power take a long time, while technology develops rapidly. Högaliden clearly shows how these clash. The wind farm has 25 turbines with a total height of 200 metres. Before it was built, the company had to apply for an amended permit in order to install fewer but larger turbines than originally planned.

As technology advances, turbine heights continue to increase. For the adjacent planned wind farm Högaliden 2, Holmen Energi has applied for a permit for turbines of up to 300 metres. When it takes many years from application to construction, the turbine models on which the permit is based risk becoming outdated. The result may be new reviews and even longer processes.

Interests related to security and preparedness

Society as a whole has an increased focus on security and preparedness, and this is clearly noticeable in the wind power sector too. It has become harder to get clear answers at an early stage about whether a project is compatible with the interests of the Swedish Armed Forces. Decisions can come late and may even change during the process.

The basis for these decisions is moreover often classified. This makes it difficult for developers to know what could be adjusted for a project to be approved. Participants discussed whether security clearance of certain personnel could provide greater insight, but it is uncertain whether this would actually make the process easier. The question of how defence interests and other societal interests can work together better emerged as one of the most pressing issues.

At the same time, the increased focus on security and preparedness could also open up new opportunities for wind power. Local energy preparedness and energy security are increasingly requested in consultation processes, but at present there are no conditions for offering local electricity supply from wind power in, for example, a crisis or war. If technical and organisational solutions are developed that make it possible to maintain local electricity supply even when the wider grid is unavailable, wind power could become a more attractive option from a preparedness perspective.

Local benefits – opportunities and questions of fairness

Wind power can bring significant local value. In Botsmark and Åkullsjön, the local community association Båfu was formed so that the communities could have direct contact with the wind power companies. Community benefit funds have since financed a range of projects for the common good of the area. Högaliden also has locally employed operations staff working from an operations office in the wind farm, something that sets it apart from many other wind farms.

At the same time, the question of fair compensation for nearby residents sparked discussion. Compensation models differ between wind farms, and parts of the compensation are determined through negotiations between those affected and the companies. This raises questions about power and inequality, and about how differences in who gets what can lead to mistrust.

The changing role of landowners

With growing experience of wind power projects, it has become clearer what requirements landowners need to place on companies wishing to lease their land. This concerns both the preparatory work the companies carry out and how they take other interests into account and conduct consultations.

At the same time, a growing number of landowners have started developing their own wind power, a trend that is interesting to follow. When the same company owns both the land and the turbines, the conditions change. This could open the way for better coordinated landscape planning, where forestry and wind power are planned together rather than separately.

Reindeer husbandry and cumulative effects

For reindeer husbandry, access to grazing is crucial. Wind turbines disturb the reindeer’s grazing peace and can make reindeer migrations more difficult. Several current projects therefore have agreements to temporarily shut down the turbines when reindeer are being moved.

Reindeer easily scatter within the wind farms, which places greater demands on herders to gather them. Sometimes the reindeer move into other Sami reindeer herding communities’ (samebyar) areas to avoid the wind farms, or need supplementary feeding when they cannot graze there. The greatest disturbance occurs during the construction phase, but the unrest often persists even when the wind farm is in operation.

A recurring message was that it is the cumulative effect of wind power, forestry, roads and other exploitation, together with climate change, that affects reindeer husbandry the most, not any single wind farm. Yet projects are assessed one by one. This suggests that planning needs a landscape perspective.

Wind power and forestry affect each other

Wind power and forestry share land and affect each other in several ways. Today, forest management is mainly taken into account during the planning phase. Specific adaptations are rarely made during operation. The roads built to the wind farms are compensated through lease agreements, but they also benefit forestry.

The interaction goes deeper than that, however. The structure of the forest affects how wind speed varies across the landscape and thus how much electricity the turbines produce. The turbulence behind the turbines can in turn affect the local climate in the forest.

Within WindyForests, researchers are modelling this interaction using atmospheric models, laser scanning data and AI. They are investigating both how different forest management approaches affect wind power potential and whether wind turbines can increase or decrease the risk of wind and frost damage in the forest. The modelling will be linked to the project’s landscape modelling, with the aim of gaining a comprehensive picture of how different values and interests in the forest landscape interact, and of finding opportunities to reduce conflicts and increase synergies at the landscape level.

At the Åheden field trials, participants were shown examples of forestry with and without clear-cutting, in the form of final felling, selection cutting and gap cutting. The discussions focused on how the choice of management method affects the landscape’s different values. These include biodiversity, timber production, reindeer husbandry and climate, but also the conditions for wind power.

Legitimacy and local acceptance – more than technology and permits

Previous research has shown that wind power is driven by several strong societal goals. These include the climate transition and the need for fossil-free electricity, regional development through investment and jobs in rural areas, and a more secure and self-sufficient energy system.

At the same time, opposition is often about legitimacy, justice and competition for land. This may concern a lack of local influence, an uneven distribution of benefits and costs, unclear responsibilities in the permitting process, or the rights of reindeer husbandry and the Sami people.

WindyForests will examine how actors and decision-makers view these drivers and barriers, as well as possible ways forward. The project will also study how coherent policy is, both between different political levels, from the EU to municipalities, and between different sectors.

During the excursion, participants described a wide range of reactions in local communities, from positive to more critical. One suggestion for addressing concerns was to let people who have lived near wind power meet those facing a new development.

Living Labs – collaboration on rural terms

WindyForests will run three Living Labs, geographically spread across southern, central and northern Sweden. In each lab, researchers and local actors will meet over roughly a year, through interviews and a series of joint workshops. Together they will describe the current situation, formulate visions for the landscape and develop possible ways forward. The project’s modelling will then show what these pathways could mean for the forest, wind power and other values in the landscape.

This approach has several advantages. The basis for decision-making becomes broader when local and experience-based knowledge meets scientific knowledge. It creates better conditions for a fairer distribution of benefits and burdens, for identifying where wind power can and cannot be established, and for finding synergies rather than increasing polarisation. When actors get to know and trust each other, implementation can also become smoother.

At the same time, there are particular challenges for collaboration in rural areas, where the Living Lab concept has so far been used far less than in cities. Research shows that sparse settlement, an ageing population, long distances to authorities and different traditions of citizen participation can make it harder to bring together and retain a broad group of participants. It takes time to get to know the place and build trust.

An important message from the excursion participants was that the composition of actors in the Living Labs needs to be balanced. Participants also emphasised the value of learning from each other’s experiences, for example through excursions to existing wind farms.

Reflections along the way

The day showed how closely intertwined the issues addressed within WindyForests are. A late decision from the Armed Forces, a negotiation about compensation, a new road through the forest and a reindeer herd changing grazing grounds are all connected within the same landscape. No single actor can solve them alone, and no single perspective is enough to understand them.

WindyForests spans the technical, political, human and ecological aspects of wind power development in forest landscapes. The excursion brought all of these together in a single day: from wind measurements and permitting processes to community benefit funds, reindeer grazing and forest management. It thus offered a foretaste of the questions the project will continue to work on.

WindyForests would like to thank all participants and contributors for a rewarding day.