Stakeholder Management in Wind Power Projects

Because of its environmental friendliness and economic feasibility, the worldwide number of wind farms has been increasing for several years now. Although wind energy is a mature technique for producing green energy, every particular construction project is a complex undertaking with special needs regarding planning and execution to assure its continued spread and cost effectiveness. Due to its complexity, a wind power project involves a large number of different parties. Alongside with a high number of proponents of wind power, there are many opponents for different reasons as well. All of those have to be handled with individual sensitiveness in order to ensure the project´s successful completion. Therefore they have to be involved during the whole construction process and have to be kept informed right from the beginning when the project idea was born. It is of prime importance to guarantee taking the affected people into account, handling them the right way and ensuring their satisfaction about the wind farm during the whole development and construction process. Thus, this article not only describes the stakeholders which should be observed, but also how they have to be dealt with to ensure the project´s success.

In consideration of the worldwide extension of wind energy and the growing of local resistance against such projects, focussing on an optimal stakeholder management is more essential then ever.

Overview

Wind Power Projects in General

From the general idea about building a wind farm to its completion and the start of its operation, it takes up to several years. Thus, there are many possibilities for taking the wind out of the project´s sails and, as a consequence, causing delays during the development and construction process. For understandig the stakeholder management in wind power projects and to enable its placement in the whole lifecycle of a wind farm, figure 1 shows all the different steps from the initiation phase across its planning and design process to the actual constrction and the later starting operation of the wind park.

Figure 1: Phases and Steps of wind farm planning and development </ref name="Windfarm">

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Stakeholders and Stakeholder Management

Stakeholders referring to projects are persons or organizations with a qualified interest in the planning, the execution and the outcome of a certain undertaking. These people have firstly to be identified before their needs and expectations regarding the project can be spotted. Attention should be paid on the broad variety of backgrounds the different parties have, since they directly influence their opinion and their approach. Thus, stakeholder management means the process of identification the affeced people and groups, analysing their attitude towards the project and developing strategies for communicating with them. The aim is to minimize their negative impacts in order to ensure the achievement of the project´s goals and to build up harmonious relationships as a base for a conjoint interaction.

Stakeholder Analysis

In order to analyze the attitude and the influence of different stakeholders affected by the project, a detailed analysis of these people and groups has to be carried out. Generally, a differentiation between internal and external stakeholders is necessary for getting a general idea about the parties who are involved in the project. Whereas internal stakeholders are directly involved, for instance investors as they hold shares in the wind farm, external ones are mostly interested because of the effects the undertaking has on their environment and their interests. As an example one could mention the people living in the surounding of the wind turbines. Investors, of course, have also a special interest in the projects earnings because of the money they placed. That is why they are stakeholders and shareholders at the same time. Suppliers and construction companies who provide the required materials and build the wind farm are internal stakeholders as well.

Stakeholder Mapping

For mapping the people involved in the project, the Power/influence matrix is a suitable tool to ensure taking them into consideration. This method aims to not only show the different stakeholders and their levels of power and interest but also to assist with developing suitable proceedings and strategies for interacting with them. The Power/interest matrix analyzes both the level of interest of the stakeholders and their power to add authority to their intentions. By applying this method of stakeholder mapping, project managers are able to have a closer look on the environment of the intended construction undertaking. As a further step, potential reactions regarding certain project activities can be identified and suitable solutions for interacting can be developed. Depending on the power and interest of a particular group, different ways of handling have to be found in order to minimize risks based on negative reactions of those people which could harm the project.

Figure 2: Stakeholder Power/Interest and Importance/Influence Matrix

Levels of Interaction

1. Inform

This way of interacting with affected stakeholders is the one with the minimal effort. As such, it is used for Stakeholders with lower influence and lower importance. They need to be informed, for instance about the next steps of the decision making phase, changes in the project cycle or about current activities which are going on at the construction site.

2. Consult

This is the suitable strategy for dealing with people or groups with a higher influence but a lower importance. In this context consulting means detecting their opinions and including input from them concerning key decisions of the project, however, the general strategy will usually not be changed.

3. Involve

Stakeholders of higher importance and power but lower influence have to be involved in the project as long as their interest and satisfcation about particular actions are needed. Therefore, their concerns have to be both understood and implemented in the decisions. If there are any changes during the project lifecycle the particular interests of these people or groups have to be considered again. This procedure ensures a more passive than active behaviour and avoids problems.

4. Collaborate

Primary stakeholders have both a high influence and a high importance. The interest is shwon by their willingness to paricipate in the project and the decisons which have to be made. To increase their engagement and keep up their satisfaction they should be treated as partners. The overall goal of this strategy is winning their support to ensure an uninterupted project progress.

Identified Stakeholders According to Wind Power

Client

Naturally, the main purpose of a project is the client´s satisfaction which has to be essentially reached by fulfilling the contract between the project management organization and the project owner. Therefore, the most necessary action preceding the actual project is the clarification process which aims to create a collective starting basis for launching the planned undertaking. This basis normally consists of a project description which includes both the shared goals (e.g time for finishing the project and costs) and the more detailed plan of the

Neighbours of the Wind Farm

The Inhabitants of the surrounding area of the wind farm are affected in a special way. They do not only have to accept the changes in the landscape around their houses, but also the possible noise emissions of the wind turbines. This group of stakeholders is departed in two subgroups: on the one hand, there are the supporters of wind energy who do not only accept the wind mills in their neigbourhood, but sometimes even look at them as magnificient signs of a innovative change happening in the field of energy generation. On the other hand, however, we can find also many opponents of wind farms who see projects like those as a threat to the nature, the environment and the animals living in the area the wind farm is going to be constructed in. An important point in this context is the level of information which differs from group to group as well as from person to person. Therefore, a general information campaign has to be started in the early days of the project initiation and planning process, as soon as possible sites for the erection of the wind turbines have been found.

The Public

For the other people as consumers of electricity it is primarily not important from which source the power they use for lighting and heating their houses comes from. However, they also have to be subdivided into two different kinds of customers as well: the one group which does not care about the origin of the energy they use, and the second one which really strives towards a supply with green energy in form of regenerative produced electricity. Especially regarding the members of the first category, a huge lack of knowledge can lead to negative developments like collections of signatures, for instance. To make sure that no kind of complaint arises from the dissatisfaction of the people, displeasure has to be avoided wherever possible by providing the interested ones with suitable material and making them feel involved in the actual decision making process.

Farmers

Building wind turbines on the land cultivated by farmers means a change for them in how they are able to grow their crop plants. Therefore it is necessary to get in touch with them as early as possible and looking for a dialogue. During the whole lifecycle of the wind farm the cultivators of the surrounding land have to be kept informed. Furthermore, their interests have to be respected, for instance if there were any further measures such as maintenance, repairs or even repowering actions which affect the farmer´s grop growing.

Land Owners

For the owners of the land adapted for generating wind energy, the intention to build and operate wind turbines is often a most welcome chance to maximize the rentability of the affected ground by another lease. Problems which might let the land owner hesitate to assent to the construction project can occur when good relationships within the neigbourhood are at stake. In order to ensure a mutual agreement of all the directly involved parties in the vicinity of the project area, a mediation process is often of essential importance.

Investors

By investing in wind power projects, people are pursuing different objectives. Some just want to make money through purchasing shares of a particular wind farm which offers them a certain rate of return. Others intend to support the change in energy provision and to care about the environment their living in. In general, both types of investors have to be handled the same way: After acquiring them for the establishment of the financial base of the project, they have to be kept informed and long-lasting satisfied about the decision they made by delivering signs of progress from time to time.

Environmental Considerations

Before starting the actual planning process of the project, several investigations about the nature next to the wind farm have to be conducted. In this context environment organizations might appear at this point of the project development process, which have to be considered as well. The main environmental interests are often belonging to animals such as birds and bats, which are threatened in their habitats because of its possible miniaturization or changing. Important referring to environmental affairs like those mentioned is the in depth knowledge of the involved people who are mostly biologists or related scientists. Thus, for the communication process towards those organizations and their representatives specific sensitiveness is needed. Furthermore, high transparency in sharing the necessary information about plans affecting the nature in order to avoid negative outcomings is advisible.

Grid Operator(s)

In order to transmit the electricity produced by the wind farm and depending on the output of the whole park, a connection to the next middle or high voltage grid has to be established during the project execution.

Involved Construction Companies and Suppliers

During the establishment phase of the construction team has to build up the wind farm including the necessary facilities such as cable lines and the park´s substation. While this period the project manager needs to monitor the contractors and sub-contracters to ensure that the project is on the right path and proceeds as planned. This is of particular necessity because the contractor has to minimize the costs while maximizing the profit. Therefore, interim payments according to the construction progress are quite common and guarantee an adequate fullfilment of the work in most instances.

Derived Activities for Wind Farm Projects

Phase 1: Initiation

Phase 2: Development

Phase 3: Establishment

Phase 4: Operation

Conclusion

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Annotated Bibliograhy

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