New hydropower development in Norway: Municipalities׳ attitude, involvement and perceived barriers

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence municipalities׳ participation in new hydropower development in Norway. Since Norway is pursuing the ways of realizing the political objectives related to the promotion of renewable energy, it is relevant to reconsider planning new hydropower developments. Due to political priorities there has been a boom in small scale hydropower development but very limited development has taken place in large scale hydropower during the last 10 years. Norway has a huge potential for small hydropower plants along with renovation and expansion of existing hydro plants. Municipalities in Norway are involved in hydropower generation in different ways. Municipalities have unique knowledge about the local environment and they communicate both with local communities, NGOs and energy companies regarding both positive and possible negative impacts of hydropower development. Thus it is important to investigate the municipal councils׳ attitude and participative behavior in increasing new hydropower plants in their regions. It is also important to determine the challenges that municipalities are experiencing in that regard.In order to identify factors influencing municipality׳s participative behavior in new hydropower development the motivation–opportunity–ability (MOA) framework was used. Several hypotheses were proposed. To test the hypothesized relationships, a survey was conducted and data were collected from municipalities across Norway. The findings suggest that the extent to which municipalities participate in the new hydropower development process depend on motivation, opportunity, and ability to participate. The role of pre-existing beliefs and attitudes were not found to have an influential role in participation, however opportunity proved to be a key determinant. Though municipalities have positive attitude towards new development but the benefit they receive and their opportunity to participate during the process are found to be the important determinants in increasing their participative behavior.