The purpose of the European project WENDY is to reverse the negative predisposition of local communities toward wind energy by promoting social ownership and encouraging the participation of citizens and local stakeholders in the energy‑production process.
Six EU Member States participate in the project — Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Greece — represented by nine organisations: APPA Renewables, Copenhagen Business School, Enel Green Power, Minoan Energy Community, Circe Foundation, Marin Energi Testsenter, Q‑Plan International Advisors, Stiftelsen Norsk Institutt for Naturforskning (NINA), and White Research.
WENDY applies a multi‑criteria analysis to identify the technical, environmental, and social factors that enhance the social acceptance of wind energy.
Local actions are carried out to inform citizens and help them understand the issue, while the Knowledge‑Exchange Platform to be developed will support stakeholders in adopting innovative technologies.
WENDY will validate its proposed solutions through four case studies and a total of ten wind‑energy projects.
One of these projects is the wind farm planned in the Asterousia Mountains of Crete. It will consist of four wind turbines with a total capacity of 12 MW. The location has been carefully selected to avoid — or at least minimise — any potential impact on the natural environment or existing human activities. However, the site could still lead to potential conflicts, making social acceptance a significant challenge.
For this reason, the project aims to ensure the positive and effective involvement of the local community, which will support the development and operation of the wind‑energy project.
The Minoan Energy Community will explore the application of WENDY’s results on one or two additional islands beyond Crete. One of these is the case of Sifnos, one of the six pilot islands of the “Clean Energy for EU Islands” initiative, where concerns about social acceptance still persist, particularly regarding the island’s natural environment and visual landscape.
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