Politics involved in planning for electricity generating uses?

[rapid bane]

I have for the last hour wondered if politics are involved in the planning and making of a power plant. It could be anything from a nuclear plant to small wind turbine farm. I couldn't find any great sources online, so I would really appreciate some answers from <@&787910105185124392>s. I'm not interested in hearing what every sort of political party thinks, just if there is a lot of red tape and bureaucracy involved.

[brisk folio]

Can’t speak for other countries but at least in our country (Sweden) the majority of wind turbine farms are stopped by the municipality as they have a veto in the question. Making it a touchy subject between local/regional and national politics (aka. We need the production on a national level, but no municipality wants it on their land. Kind of like NIMBY on a municipal level). According to SVT 78% of all proposed land-based wind farms were cancelled by the municipalitys in 2021. https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/kommuner-stoppar-78-procent-av-alla-vindkraftverk

[rapid bane]

Thanks for the answer and link, but yeah, I'm aware of the Swedish political situation. Do you know if it's similar in other countries? I would assume that other social democratic nations with strong governments have the same problem.

[nimble perch]

Krš-Pađene wind farm corruption case: https://balkangreenenergynews.com/high-profile-arrests-in-croatia-highlight-claims-of-corruption-in-renewables-in-region/

[river turtle]

Yes, some definitions of "political" are defined as every type of decision making

The "bigger" the project the more actively political it can be

[lone hazel]

Politics is definitely involved in the type and location of energy production. Regardless of the type of energy facility there will always be political pressures. In my current jurisdiction we are getting pressure from our board to increase the amount of renewable energy generation and storage capabilities sooner rather than later, but we have to finish a study first to identify the best locations (which in and of itself will be political once we release the map identifying certain properties but not others).

[naive geyser]

Yes they’re involved! Most that I see is local land use organizations that lobby against the above mentioned projects, even though my state (OR) is very energy conscious.

[silver hull]

100% involved. I’m working on a biomass plant in Canada now with first reading in 2 weeks. I get calls from federal and provincial level politicians to approve it (since they see this as a job creation), and the applicant puts political pressure to fast-track planning changes. Then there’s the Environmental Agency, energy department, local residents and advocacy groups calling me too.

[rapid bane]

Wow, thanks for all the answers, it's much clearer now!