From ‘Decide, Announce, Defend’ to ‘Announce, Discuss, Decide’? Suggestions on how to Improve Acceptance and Legitimacy for Germany’s 380kV Grid Extension
(2011) In IIIEE Master thesis IMEN41 20111The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
- Abstract
- Germany’s current energy grid was built to match energy production from major power plants
(coal, gas, nuclear). Due to the 2011 decision to exit all nuclear power until 2022 and
ambitious national CO 2 reduction targets, the need to modernise and extend the grid has
received substantial attention. In the past, implementation of grid extension projects had
shown to be slow and raise serious public opposition. New legal rules have therefore been
introduced in mid 2011, aiming to increase both implementation speed and public acceptance
for the grid extension via improved public participation.
Based on literature reviews and 39 semi-structured interviews realised with... (More) - Germany’s current energy grid was built to match energy production from major power plants
(coal, gas, nuclear). Due to the 2011 decision to exit all nuclear power until 2022 and
ambitious national CO 2 reduction targets, the need to modernise and extend the grid has
received substantial attention. In the past, implementation of grid extension projects had
shown to be slow and raise serious public opposition. New legal rules have therefore been
introduced in mid 2011, aiming to increase both implementation speed and public acceptance
for the grid extension via improved public participation.
Based on literature reviews and 39 semi-structured interviews realised with representatives of
academia, citizen action groups, environmental interest groups, transmission system operators,
approving authorities and planning practitioners, the paper analyses the shortcomings of the
current approach to public participation as exercised for ongoing extension projects covered
by the Energy Grid Extension Act. It describes how the current setting hinders both
achievement of acceptance and legitimacy for missing out on five social goals that public
participation should support. It then assesses to which extent the new legal acts – mainly
future Net Development Plan and Grid Extension Acceleration Act – are suitable to
overcome identified shortcomings. In a final step, recommendations are given on how to
further improve social goal achievement and thus increase acceptance and legitimacy.
Recommendations among others deal with how to increase fairness and transparency in public
participation processes, how to improve access to information and how to give the public a
more substantial role in influencing the final outcome of an approval process. Advise is given
on the roles key organisations and actors need to take and the proposed mode of interaction
in a future participative process. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/2172946
- author
- Sander, Antina LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- IMEN41 20111
- year
- 2011
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Acceptance, Energy Grid Extension, Germany, Legitimacy, Public Participation
- publication/series
- IIIEE Master thesis
- report number
- 2011:30
- ISSN
- 1401-9191
- language
- English
- id
- 2172946
- date added to LUP
- 2011-10-10 15:14:46
- date last changed
- 2011-10-10 15:14:46
@misc{2172946, abstract = {{Germany’s current energy grid was built to match energy production from major power plants (coal, gas, nuclear). Due to the 2011 decision to exit all nuclear power until 2022 and ambitious national CO 2 reduction targets, the need to modernise and extend the grid has received substantial attention. In the past, implementation of grid extension projects had shown to be slow and raise serious public opposition. New legal rules have therefore been introduced in mid 2011, aiming to increase both implementation speed and public acceptance for the grid extension via improved public participation. Based on literature reviews and 39 semi-structured interviews realised with representatives of academia, citizen action groups, environmental interest groups, transmission system operators, approving authorities and planning practitioners, the paper analyses the shortcomings of the current approach to public participation as exercised for ongoing extension projects covered by the Energy Grid Extension Act. It describes how the current setting hinders both achievement of acceptance and legitimacy for missing out on five social goals that public participation should support. It then assesses to which extent the new legal acts – mainly future Net Development Plan and Grid Extension Acceleration Act – are suitable to overcome identified shortcomings. In a final step, recommendations are given on how to further improve social goal achievement and thus increase acceptance and legitimacy. Recommendations among others deal with how to increase fairness and transparency in public participation processes, how to improve access to information and how to give the public a more substantial role in influencing the final outcome of an approval process. Advise is given on the roles key organisations and actors need to take and the proposed mode of interaction in a future participative process.}}, author = {{Sander, Antina}}, issn = {{1401-9191}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, series = {{IIIEE Master thesis}}, title = {{From ‘Decide, Announce, Defend’ to ‘Announce, Discuss, Decide’? Suggestions on how to Improve Acceptance and Legitimacy for Germany’s 380kV Grid Extension}}, year = {{2011}}, }