The Swedish Government has decided that Wind power should have a higher contribution to the electricity generation in Sweden. Their goal is that, by 2015, the yearly production by Wind power should generate 10 TWh. In year of 2006, the 760 wind mills in Sweden generated only 0,936 TWh. Despite good wind conditions in a large extend of Sweden's land- and coast areas, the slow rate of new wind mills establishments will likely result in unattainable goals.
The major problem for new establishments of wind mills is the extensive and complicated permission process. An expert group of environmental studies (Expertgruppen för miljöstudier) was commissioned by the Government to make a report concerning the problems with the expansion of wind power in Sweden. This report (Medvind i uppförsbacke, En studie om den svenska vindkraftpolitiken) was published in 2005 and works as starting point and reference for my study.
The aim of this study is, through examination of legal cases and applications, specify problems that occur in the permission process of new wind mills in Sweden. This study consists of two parts. The first part is a case study of five permission processes followed by interviews with the companies/persons that applied for permission. The second part is a comparison of my conclusions with the conclusions drawn in Medvind i uppförsbacke, En studie om den svenska vindkraftpolitiken
The five chosen cases have all been subject to trial in the Swedish Environmental Court of appeal. In three of the cases establishment was granted. The length of the permission process varied from 3 to 8 years and one case was still in the process after 8 years of applying.
In many aspects the result of this study agrees with the conclusions from the report, Medvind i uppförsbacke, En studie om den svenska vindkraftpolitiken. Both studies show that municipalitys have great power in the physical planning and establishment of wind mills are rarely granted without their approval. Another problem is the difficulty to estimate impacts of wind mills. The estimation of impacts has in several cases turned from approved to non-approved as the process moves further in the legal system. The most noticeable impact of wind mills is the visual disturbance and generation of noise and shadows that affect people in the close environment. This study show that the disturbances of wind mills often weights heavier than the environmental advantages when going through the permission process. In future projects, great effort should be put in placing and design but ...
