Congested spaces, contested scales – A review of spatial planning for wind energy in Ireland

The regional heterogeneity of wind power deployment: an empirical investigation of land-use policies in Germany and Sweden

“…Specifically, there is a statistically insignificant correlation between previous wind power experience and new capacity additions in the German probit model while, for the Swedish sample, the corresponding correlation is statistically and economically significant. The result for Sweden supports previous work (Ek et al 2013), while the German results, in part, contradict the recent findings of Goetzke and Rave (2016). In the German case, however, there is a statistically significant impact in the truncated model.…”

“…This notwithstanding, the sign of this relationship is a priori unclear. High levels of previous capacity expansions could also impair new investments, because suitable and profitable sites have become scarcer as a result (Goetzke and Rave 2016), and/or due to conflicts at sensitive sites.…”

“…It is, however, also necessary to address the economic significance of the key variables influencing regional wind power outcomes. In this respect, Goetzke and Rave (2016) provide an interesting counterfactual analysis for Germany, employing the full dataset of actual observations in a baseline assessment. With its two-tier approach, however, a corresponding analysis is very complex in the context of the Cragg specification, in particular when (as in our case) the independent variables are elements of both vectors, i.e., k and b (see also Burke 2009).…”

“…Although our empirical analysis does not explicitly test this hypothesis, the results for Sweden appear consistent with this notion. Similarly, Goetzke and Rave (2016) hypothesized that, in Germany, left-of-center state governments would be more supportive of wind power expansion, e.g., through less restrictive planning requirements, than right-of-center coalitions. Still, in this case the estimated coefficient was statistically insignificant.…”

“…This law introduced a technology-specific feedin premium guaranteed over the first 20 years of the lifetime of the plant. This support scheme was further strengthened in 2000, when the premium was replaced by a fixed feed-in tariff, which increased investment certainty (e.g., Goetzke and Rave 2016). In addition, support levels have been significantly higher in Germany compared to Sweden.…”