IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v173y2023ics0301421522005833.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An analysis of the factors affecting Irish citizens’ willingness to invest in wind energy projects

Author

Listed:
  • Sirr, Gordon
  • Power, Bernadette
  • Ryan, Geraldine
  • Eakins, John
  • O’Connor, Ellen
  • le Maitre, Julia

Abstract

Wind energy has a pivotal role to play in the transition to renewable energy. However, social opposition to developer-owned wind farms is a key barrier to its deployment. While research suggests that co-ownership arrangements between developers and communities could help to alleviate opposition, such arrangements are subject to market acceptance issues related to citizens’ appetite for investing. This paper explores the issue of market acceptance of citizen investment opportunities in wind farms by examining citizens’ willingness to invest in projects. Based on a survey of 2,023 Irish citizens, we find that 56% of citizens would invest in a local project, 41% would invest in a portfolio of projects, and 29% would invest in a non-local project. Our empirical analysis reveals a number of socio-demographic, locational, community and attitudinal variables that affect both the decisions of citizens to invest in projects and the monetary amount that they are willing to invest. The findings of the paper provide insights into policy measures that could help to strengthen the market acceptance of citizen investment opportunities and will be useful for policymakers who are seeking to mobilise citizen investment with a view to enhancing the deployment of wind energy.

Suggested Citation

  • Sirr, Gordon & Power, Bernadette & Ryan, Geraldine & Eakins, John & O’Connor, Ellen & le Maitre, Julia, 2023. "An analysis of the factors affecting Irish citizens’ willingness to invest in wind energy projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:173:y:2023:i:c:s0301421522005833
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113364
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421522005833
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113364?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jobert, Arthur & Laborgne, Pia & Mimler, Solveig, 2007. "Local acceptance of wind energy: Factors of success identified in French and German case studies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2751-2760, May.
    2. Ek, Kristina & Persson, Lars, 2014. "Wind farms — Where and how to place them? A choice experiment approach to measure consumer preferences for characteristics of wind farm establishments in Sweden," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 193-203.
    3. Kanya, Lucy & Saghera, Sabina & Lewin, Alex & Fox-Rushby, Julia, 2019. "The criterion validity of willingness to pay methods: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100741, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. van der Horst, Dan, 2007. "NIMBY or not? Exploring the relevance of location and the politics of voiced opinions in renewable energy siting controversies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2705-2714, May.
    5. Hoen, Ben & Firestone, Jeremy & Rand, Joseph & Elliot, Debi & Hübner, Gundula & Pohl, Johannes & Wiser, Ryan & Lantz, Eric & Haac, T. Ryan & Kaliski, Ken, 2019. "Attitudes of U.S. Wind Turbine Neighbors: Analysis of a Nationwide Survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    6. Johansen, K. & Emborg, J., 2018. "Wind farm acceptance for sale? Evidence from the Danish wind farm co-ownership scheme," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 413-422.
    7. Torben Lütje & Lukas Menkhoff, 2007. "What drives home bias? Evidence from fund managers' views," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 21-35.
    8. Wustenhagen, Rolf & Wolsink, Maarten & Burer, Mary Jean, 2007. "Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2683-2691, May.
    9. Johansen, Katinka, 2021. "Blowing in the wind: A brief history of wind energy and wind power technologies in Denmark," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    10. Wolsink, Maarten, 2007. "Wind power implementation: The nature of public attitudes: Equity and fairness instead of 'backyard motives'," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 11(6), pages 1188-1207, August.
    11. Huberman, Gur, 2001. "Familiarity Breeds Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 659-680.
    12. Bertsch, Valentin & Hyland, Marie & Mahony, Michael, 2017. "What drives people's opinions of electricity infrastructure? Empirical evidence from Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 472-497.
    13. Jacquet, Jeffrey B., 2012. "Landowner attitudes toward natural gas and wind farm development in northern Pennsylvania," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 677-688.
    14. Lienhoop, Nele, 2018. "Acceptance of wind energy and the role of financial and procedural participation: An investigation with focus groups and choice experiments," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 97-105.
    15. Romero-Rubio, Carmen & de Andrés Díaz, José Ramón, 2015. "Sustainable energy communities: a study contrasting Spain and Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 397-409.
    16. Walker, Gordon & Devine-Wright, Patrick, 2008. "Community renewable energy: What should it mean," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 497-500, February.
    17. Toke, David & Breukers, Sylvia & Wolsink, Maarten, 2008. "Wind power deployment outcomes: How can we account for the differences?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1129-1147, May.
    18. Kanya, Lucy & Sanghera, Sabina & Lewin, Alex & Fox-Rushby, Julia, 2019. "The criterion validity of willingness to pay methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 238-261.
    19. Hyland, Marie & Bertsch, Valentin, 2018. "The Role of Community Involvement Mechanisms in Reducing Resistance to Energy Infrastructure Development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 447-474.
    20. Bauwens, Thomas & Devine-Wright, Patrick, 2018. "Positive energies? An empirical study of community energy participation and attitudes to renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 612-625.
    21. Lucy Ackert & Bryan Church & James Tompkins & Ping Zhang, 2005. "What’s in a Name? An Experimental Examination of Investment Behavior," Review of Finance, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 281-304, June.
    22. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    23. Brennan, Noreen & Van Rensburg, Thomas M, 2016. "Wind farm externalities and public preferences for community consultation in Ireland: A discrete choice experiments approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 355-365.
    24. Sperling, Karl, 2017. "How does a pioneer community energy project succeed in practice? The case of the Samsø Renewable Energy Island," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 884-897.
    25. Eduard Gaar & David Scherer & Dirk Schiereck, 2022. "The home bias and the local bias: A survey," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 21-57, February.
    26. Salm, Sarah & Hille, Stefanie Lena & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2016. "What are retail investors' risk-return preferences towards renewable energy projects? A choice experiment in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 310-320.
    27. Swofford, Jeffrey & Slattery, Michael, 2010. "Public attitudes of wind energy in Texas: Local communities in close proximity to wind farms and their effect on decision-making," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 2508-2519, May.
    28. Langer, Katharina & Decker, Thomas & Menrad, Klaus, 2017. "Public participation in wind energy projects located in Germany: Which form of participation is the key to acceptance?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 63-73.
    29. Slee, Bill, 2015. "Is there a case for community-based equity participation in Scottish on-shore wind energy production? Gaps in evidence and research needs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 540-549.
    30. Wirth, Steffen, 2014. "Communities matter: Institutional preconditions for community renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 236-246.
    31. Noreen Brennan & Thomas M Van Rensburg & Cyril Morris, 2017. "Public acceptance of large-scale wind energy generation for export from Ireland to the UK: evidence from Ireland," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(11), pages 1967-1992, November.
    32. Meyerhoff, Jürgen & Ohl, Cornelia & Hartje, Volkmar, 2010. "Landscape externalities from onshore wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 82-92, January.
    33. Abreu, Margarida & Mendes, Victor & Santos, João A.C., 2011. "Home country bias: Does domestic experience help investors enter foreign markets?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 2330-2340, September.
    34. Musall, Fabian David & Kuik, Onno, 2011. "Local acceptance of renewable energy--A case study from southeast Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3252-3260, June.
    35. Peri, Erez & Becker, Nir & Tal, Alon, 2020. "What really undermines public acceptance of wind turbines? A choice experiment analysis in Israel," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    36. Charness, Gary & Gneezy, Uri, 2012. "Strong Evidence for Gender Differences in Risk Taking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 50-58.
    37. Berka, Anna L. & Harnmeijer, Jelte & Roberts, Deborah & Phimister, Euan & Msika, Joshua, 2017. "A comparative analysis of the costs of onshore wind energy: Is there a case for community-specific policy support?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 394-403.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. le Maitre, Julia & Ryan, Geraldine & Power, Bernadette, 2024. "Do concerns about wind farms blow over with time? Residents’ acceptance over phases of project development and proximity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    2. Hussain Abdalla Sajwani & Bassel Soudan & Abdul Ghani Olabi, 2024. "Empowering Sustainability: Understanding Determinants of Consumer Investment in Microgrid Technology in the UAE," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-28, May.
    3. Hübner, Gundula & Leschinger, Valentin & Müller, Florian J.Y. & Pohl, Johannes, 2023. "Broadening the social acceptance of wind energy – An Integrated Acceptance Model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    4. Baxter, Jamie & Ellis, Geraint & Wilson, Sara & McAteer, Ben, 2024. "Community-based wind energy development does not work? Empirical evidence from residents in Canada and Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    5. Evangelia Karasmanaki & Spyros Galatsidas & Georgios Tsantopoulos, 2024. "Socioeconomic Factors Driving the Transition to a Low-Carbon Energy System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-15, July.
    6. Müller, Florian Johannes Yanic & Leschinger, Valentin & Hübner, Gundula & Pohl, Johannes, 2023. "Understanding subjective and situational factors of wind turbine noise annoyance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    7. le Maitre, Julia & Ryan, Geraldine & Power, Bernadette & Sirr, Gordon, 2024. "Mechanisms to promote household investment in wind energy: A national experimental survey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    8. Evangelia Karasmanaki & Evangelos Grigoroudis & Spyridon Galatsidas & Georgios Tsantopoulos, 2023. "Citizen Satisfaction with Renewable Energy Investments: A Multi-Criteria Satisfaction Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-20, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. le Maitre, Julia & Ryan, Geraldine & Power, Bernadette & O'Connor, Ellen, 2023. "Empowering onshore wind energy: A national choice experiment on financial benefits and citizen participation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. le Maitre, Julia & Ryan, Geraldine & Power, Bernadette & Sirr, Gordon, 2024. "Mechanisms to promote household investment in wind energy: A national experimental survey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    3. Zerrahn, Alexander, 2017. "Wind Power and Externalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 245-260.
    4. le Maitre, Julia & Ryan, Geraldine & Power, Bernadette, 2024. "Do concerns about wind farms blow over with time? Residents’ acceptance over phases of project development and proximity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    5. Knauf, Jakob & le Maitre, Julia, 2023. "A matter of acceptability? Understanding citizen investment schemes in the context of onshore wind farm development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    6. Grashof, Katherina, 2019. "Are auctions likely to deter community wind projects? And would this be problematic?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 20-32.
    7. Hyland, Marie & Bertsch, Valentin, 2018. "The Role of Community Involvement Mechanisms in Reducing Resistance to Energy Infrastructure Development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 447-474.
    8. Langer, Katharina & Decker, Thomas & Roosen, Jutta & Menrad, Klaus, 2016. "A qualitative analysis to understand the acceptance of wind energy in Bavaria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 248-259.
    9. Kanberger, Elke D. & Luigs, Theresa & Ziegler, Andreas, 2024. "The relevance of proximity and work-related experience for the individual support for the expansion of power plants: An empirical analysis of wind, coal, and nuclear energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    10. Koecklin, Manuel Tong & Longoria, Genaro & Fitiwi, Desta Z. & DeCarolis, Joseph F. & Curtis, John, 2021. "Public acceptance of renewable electricity generation and transmission network developments: Insights from Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Busch, Henner & Ruggiero, Salvatore & Isakovic, Aljosa & Hansen, Teis, 2021. "Policy challenges to community energy in the EU: A systematic review of the scientific literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    12. Sigurd Hilmo Lundheim & Giuseppe Pellegrini-Masini & Christian A. Klöckner & Stefan Geiss, 2022. "Developing a Theoretical Framework to Explain the Social Acceptability of Wind Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-24, July.
    13. Knauf, Jakob, 2022. "Can't buy me acceptance? Financial benefits for wind energy projects in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    14. Leer Jørgensen, Marie & Anker, Helle Tegner & Lassen, Jesper, 2020. "Distributive fairness and local acceptance of wind turbines: The role of compensation schemes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    15. Cohen, Jed J. & Azarova, Valeriya & Kollmann, Andrea & Reichl, Johannes, 2021. "Preferences for community renewable energy investments in Europe," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    16. Jason Harold, Valentin Bertsch, Thomas Lawrence, and Magie Hall, 2021. "Drivers of People's Preferences for Spatial Proximity to Energy Infrastructure Technologies: A Cross-country Analysis," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    17. Manuel Gardt & Tom Broekel & Philipp Gareis, 2021. "Blowing against the winds of change? The relationship between anti-wind initiatives and wind turbines in Germany," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2119, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jun 2021.
    18. Dugstad, Anders & Grimsrud, Kristine & Kipperberg, Gorm & Lindhjem, Henrik & Navrud, Ståle, 2020. "Acceptance of wind power development and exposure – Not-in-anybody's-backyard," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    19. Hübner, Gundula & Leschinger, Valentin & Müller, Florian J.Y. & Pohl, Johannes, 2023. "Broadening the social acceptance of wind energy – An Integrated Acceptance Model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    20. Tong Koecklin, Manuel & Fitiwi, Desta & de Carolis, Joseph F. & Curtis, John, 2020. "Renewable electricity generation and transmission network developments in light of public opposition: Insights from Ireland," Papers WP653, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Citizen investment; Co-ownership; On-shore wind; Willingness to invest;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G50 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - General
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:173:y:2023:i:c:s0301421522005833. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.