The Potential of Public Participation to Facilitate Decision-making – Lessons from the German and European Legal Planning System for Electricity Grid Expansion

This presentation is part of the symposium "Helmholtz Alliance ENERGY-TRANS: Future Infrastructures for Meeting Energy Demands. Towards sustainability and social compatibility." The presentation examines the potential of... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation is part of the symposium "Helmholtz Alliance ENERGY-TRANS: Future Infrastructures for Meeting Energy Demands. Towards sustainability and social compatibility."

The presentation examines the potential of public engagement and participative processes for effective infrastructure planning in the context of energy policies. By 2050 at least 80% of Germany's electricity has to be derived from renewable energy sources. This includes the comprehensive and accelerated extension of the electricity grid. As a result, the German energy transition does not proceed without societal debates and controversies. Public engagement is certainly no panacea for enhanced social acceptability, yet it offers substantial potential to facilitate an energy transition. The presentation draws together social science and legal expertise in order to investigate the role of public participation in legal planning processes of energy infrastructures. The presentation focuses on the extension of the German power grid and deals with participative policy at the European level. The talk will analyze the German legal planning system for grid expansion and European governance processes such as nominating Projects of Common Interest (PCI) and drawing up the Ten Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP).