| Topic | Definition |
|---|---|
| Accountability | Involves the ongoing process of monitoring, evaluating and sharing information about the wind farm throughout its lifecycle, including positive and negative impacts of the development |
| Alternative financing model | An alternative financing model is a financing mechanism intentionally targeted to organisations and customers which show both a social result and a financial return (liking social engagement with financial results), which define measurable social objectives and which assess their achievement. (Task force G8, 2015). |
| Benefits in kind | Benefits in kind (RAB-2) illustrates a process where the developer funds projects directly, usually specific local improvements agreed upon through discussion with the community. This offers the possibility to include ideas that are relatively easy and cheap to implement for the developer e.g. as part of the construction process (i.e. bike tracks, restoration of derelict land etc.) |
| Benefit sharing | Mechansims such as local co-ownership, (financial) compensation mechanisms or creation of green jobs that can improve the local acceptance within communities , benefits in kind, local employment etc... |
| Bond | Debt investment in which an investor loans money to an entity (corporate or governmental) that borrows the funds for a defined period of time at a fixed interest rate. |
| Community fund | In a Community fund (RAB-2) money supplied by the project developer is provided as community benefits. It should be decided within the community what the money is to be spent on, preferably under the premise that the whole community has the opportunity to take advantage of it. |
| Construction | The construction phase includes building the concrete foundations, the access roads, erecting the wind turbine, and connecting it to the grid. During the actual construction of the wind-farm, proactive engagement methods are essential as the construction process usually leads to annoyance for local citizens e.g. noise, heavy transport. Information of upcoming events and a contact point e.g. via a telephone hotline, for local citizens to issue complaints are therefore advised |
| Public consultation | This means that the public has the possibility to give feedback on the project and its specifications, e.g. at special events or through the collection of written feedback. The collected feedback is then considered by the project team and / or relevant administration |
| Crowdfunding | Participative mechanism of funding a project by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. The contributions can be rewarded or not. The rewards can bear various forms, described below. There is no automatic obligation of result in terms of amount collected. (Wise Power 2014). Crowdfunding can be: • Donation-based: no monetary reward • Reward-based: supporters of the project receive some form of reward • Lending-based: funding based on loans from private partners • Equity-based: funding mechanism enabling to become a shareholder of the company or organisation developing the project (corresponds to cooperative model) |
| Decommissioning | Action of dismantling a wind turbine. Decommissioning is meant to remove old wind turbines and upgrade a wind farm with new machines, more efficient and more cost-effective. Social Acceptance Measures: It is recommended to introduce plans for the end of the project’s lifetime to communities and relevant stakeholders. These discussions should be commenced well in advance of decommissioning or repowering to create opportunities to raise issues, expectations and concerns. |
| Determination of need | This first phase examines national or regional processes for determining the need for wind energy development. Already integrating the public into this step and at least providing transparency about the mechanisms to define the need are among the foundations for social acceptance in the later steps (top down planning approach). |
| Advanced markets | are those where wind power “already provides a significant share of electricity. Growth is steady and the necessary transport and grid infrastructure is in place. The market is slowly becoming saturated but there may be opportunities offshore. Repowering will become widespread in these markets.“ Covered by Denmark, Germany, UK and Spain. |
| Direct financial compensation | Direct financial compensation means that specific groups are paid directly. Note that when using this approach the gains of the project go to a small number of community members and do not support the community as a whole. |
| Emerging markets | distinguish themselves as they “have a low level of wind energy capacity installed at present, but higher growth has begun, and penetration levels are rising rapidly. However, application processes have not yet been streamlined.” |
| Engagement & Public Consultation | 2 way interaction, dialogue and exchange of views. |
| Financial conditions | The status of a firm's assets, liabilities and equity positions at a specific point in time, often described in a financial statement. (Investorwords, 2015). |
| Flexibility | means preparing for local requests and required amendments to the development. This includes being open to e.g. shifting the location of the turbines or grid connection lines. |
| Grid connection | Connection of a wind farm to the public network, in order to enable the electricity generated to be sold and injected on the public grid. |
| Growth markets | are defined as markets that “have high growth combined with a steady project flow, and are Europe’s current main driver for growth. In some of these markets, wind has already achieved a good share of electricity, but considerable growth is still possible.” |
| Inclusiveness | means identifying and interacting with all project stakeholders, to ensure their perspectives are understood and taken into consideration. |
| Informational measures | These include activities such as distributing brochures/leaflets which provide information about the project or provide possibilities where citizens may ask questions, e.g. information centre, special event, telephone hotline, open houses. |
| Innovative Financing / Funding models | Innovative financing/ funding models are mechanisms enabling to finance a project or part of it, other than by usual bank loans or long-term credits granted by financial institutions. Often these innovative models are set up by actors which are not traditional actors of the financial sector. (Wise Power 2014). |
| Innovative investment funds | Innovative investment funds mean funds set up by actors which are not traditional actors of the financial sector (e.g. citizen cooperatives or public institutionals). The objective of innovative investment funds is to help citizens to access shared ownership by offering temporary bridge financing or definitive stake in order to facilitate the acquisition of a wind farm, or part of it by citizens. |
| Investment fund | A supply of capital belonging to numerous investors that is used to collectively purchase securities while each investor retains ownership and control of his or her own shares. An investment fund provides a broader selection of investment opportunities, greater management expertise and lower investment fees than investors might be able to obtain on their own. Types of investment funds include mutual funds, exchange traded funds, money market funds and hedge funds. (Investopedia, 2015). |
| Local contracting | Local Contracting (RAB-2) means that where possible tasks are executed by local contractors. |
| Local ownership / Shared ownership | Local Ownership (RAB-2) offers local individuals or groups the opportunity to buy shares of the local wind farm and benefit directly from the earnings of the project and / or the energy produced. |
| Mature markets | stand out as wind power “already provides a significant share of electricity. Growth is steady and the necessary transport and grid infrastructure is in place. The market is slowly becoming saturated but there may be opportunities offshore. Repowering will become widespread in these markets |
| Openness | means the sharing of relevant information about the developer’s decisions and activities. Such information should be presented to the community and other stakeholders in a clear, accurate, timely and honest manner. |
| Operation | The operation phase covers all necessary services to operate a wind turbine during its life cycle. It includes maintenance, monitoring, repair of the wind turbines, as well as financial management. Social Acceptance: Throughout operation it is advisable to maintain all communication channels and keep in contact with the relevant local stakeholders. |
| Planning & Permitting | In this phase the planning is refined and an application for formal permission submitted. Social Acceptance: The communication channels established to date should be maintained and enhanced by pro-actively seeking opinions about the project as it progresses. Where possible suggestions from the community should be implemented in order to minimize impact and to foster the acceptance of the project. |
| Private partnership including a citizen cooperative | Partnership exclusively with private partners among which at least one partner is a citizen cooperative. This is the more restrictive definition involving at least one citizen cooperative that was used for this survey. For the purpose of the WISEPower project the following broader definition has been used: PP = Private partnership, a private partnership means a structure involving one or several private developers and/or one or several citizen cooperative(s) committing funds to own a wind farm or part of it (Wise Power 2015). |
| Private partnership | A private partnership is a structure involving one or several private developers and/or one or several citizen cooperative(s) committing funds to own a wind farm or part of it |
| Providing information / ( Informational measures) | Measures provided by local regulations obliging project developers to organize a public information meeting meant to inform local citizens about the development of a local wind farm project. |
| Public Private Partnership | Public private partnership means a partnership between one or several private-sector companies and one or several public entities for the purpose of owning a wind farm or part of it. Public-private partnerships can be used to finance, build or operate projects. (Wise Power, 2015). Partnership including both private and public partners, among which at least one partner is a public entity (municipality, public authority). |
| Repowering | Replacement of a wind generator and its tower by a new turbine for productivity and cost efficiency reasons. |
| Responsiveness | means listening and responding to community and stakeholder concerns and needs where relevant to the wind farm. |
| Site selection & Feasibility | This step includes the selection of suitable sites and proposed size of the wind farm, usually based mainly on its economic potential and technical feasibility. At this point, research into the social context of the community should also be undertaken for promising sites. This includes identifying and mapping relevant stakeholders as well as initial consultations with key members of the community such as the local administration, landowners and (environmental) citizen groups. Subsequent formal public presentations in the community will explore the feasibility of the development. From the outset, it is important to manage expectations through open and transparent discussions concerning additional annoyance / disturbance and future benefit sharing. |
| Social acceptance | “social acceptance” as published by the International Energy agency (IEA), given as the: “societal consensus on the planning, construction, and operation of wind power projects— (that) therefore has the potential to become a powerful facilitator of wind development”. Social Acceptance is an often used term in the practical policy literature, but clear definitions are rarely given. We intend to contribute to the clarity of understanding by distinguishing three dimensions of Social Acceptance, namely socio-political acceptance, community acceptance and market acceptance. (Task28 IEA, 2015). |
| Stakeholders | List of all stakeholders |
| Social Acceptance Pathways | Pathways to guide users to undertake strategic social engagement planning during the development of a wind project development to improving local engagement and support. |
| Leasing | Financial arrangement in which a developer pays to use land for a particular period of time. (Cambridge, 2015). |
| Sponsoring | To give money to support a person, organization, or activity. (Cambridge, 2015). |
| Discount on electricity bill | A reduction in the usual price of the electricity bill. (Cambridge, 2015). |
| Dividend | Payment of dividends to investors. (Cambridge, 2015). |
| Distribution of dividend | Part of the profit of a company that is paid to shareholders. (Cambridge, 2015). |
Here you can find the pdf format of the glossary !