Policy analysis of authorisation procedures for wind energy deployment in Spain

The aim of this paper is to analyse the administrative procedures for the granting of authorisations for the siting of wind farms in Spain, currently the competency of regional authorities. The analysis reveals some commonalities and differences between the procedures across regions. Furthermore, some aspects regarding these procedures have raised the concern of different stakeholders, including the central government and wind energy investors. A conflict between the interests of the central and regional governments can be observed. Lack of coordination between the different administrative levels and the “more is better mentality” of regional authorities have led to a significant growth of wind energy requests for the (national) feed-in tariff. In turn, investors have complained about the discretionarity and non-transparency of those procedures and the lack of homogeneity across regions. This is likely to result in delays, uncertainty for investors and higher transaction costs. Although there has been a trend to a model which involves the use of multicriteria bidding procedures with more explicit, objective and precise criteria regarding project selection, the aforementioned problems suggest the need to improve coordination between the different administrative levels.

► A conflict between the interests of the central and regional governments in the granting of administrative procedures can be observed.
► Lack of coordination between different administrative levels have led to a significant growth of wind energy requests for the (national) feed-in tariff.
► The resulting increase in the total costs of wind energy promotion has been a major concern for national policy-makers.
► In turn, investors have complained about the discretionarity and non-transparency of those procedures and the lack of homogeneity across regions.
► Those problems suggest the need to improve coordination between the different administrative levels.