Sweden wants to produce 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2040 and achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. While wind power is key to this transition, the permit process for large onshore wind power projects is one of the major challenges the country is currently facing, specifically the provision on municipal approval in the Environmental Code, the so-called municipal veto. To facilitate the expansion of wind projects in Sweden, the double testing of wind power applications was abolished in 2009, and the municipal veto was introduced to preserve the municipalities’ planning influence. However, the municipal veto contributed to a less predictable and legally secure permit process and became the main reason behind the rejections of wind power applications. Today, in 2021, the Swedish Government assigned a special investigator to examine and propose possible changes to the municipal veto provision. Though the municipalities believe that the veto is essential for their self-government and planning monopoly, the Swedish Energy Agency and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency argue that the municipal authority should be exercised through the municipal general planning documents. Therefore, this thesis aims to verify the authorities’ argument by examining the relationship between the municipalities’ planning conditions for wind power and the permit decisions. The study is performed in collaboration with Westander Klimat och Energi and is based on 206 large onshore wind power applications between 2014 and 2020. The main research methods consist of a document analysis and of statistical analyses, namely simple percentages, and the chi-square test of independence, along with Cramer’s V calculation. The projects are categorized mainly based on the municipal planning conditions, and the permit decisions are analyzed accordingly. Essentially, it is shown that, even if not legally binding, the municipal general spatial planning documents constitute a valuable tool for the planning of onshore wind power projects in Sweden. Furthermore, the municipal planning conditions and permit decisions are not independent, however, their strength of association is weak. Nonetheless, the statistics indicate that in areas designated as suitable, more cases are likely to receive an approval than expected, and in areas not designated as suitable, the applications are more likely to be revoked than one would expect. In conclusion, it is important to invest resources into the strategic wind power planning at the local level. Also, the municipal plans must be kept updated to consistently reflect the municipalities’ intentions towards the use of their land and water areas.

I och med den hållbara omställningen kommer Sveriges elbehov fortsatt att öka, och vindkraften har konstaterats vara en ekologiskt hållbar källa till förnyelsebar energi - som kan användas för att möta detta behov. Men i etableringsprocessen för vindkraft finns många parametrar som ska vägassamman och kommunernas godkännande är en avgörande faktor.Miljöbalken säger nämligen att kommunen har rätt att nyttja ett veto i beslutsfattande gällande vindkraftsetableringar, som alltså ger dem möjligheten att säga nej till vindkraftsetableringar. Avsaknaden av detta godkännande, så kallat kommunala tillstyrkan, har under senaste åren vart den främsta orsaken till att vindkraft inte får tillstånd för etablering. I studien har kommunstyrelsens ordförande i 150 kommuner blivit tillfrågade att svara på om kommunen valt att inte tillstyrka vindkraft eller sagt direkt nej till etablering. Utifrån detta har de främsta anledningarna till varför kommunerna väljer att inte tillstyrka vindkraft kartlagts och många gånger är bedömningen av tillstyrkan baserad på lokal opinion eller frågor om naturvärden och friluftsområden – frågan är om det verkligen är frågor sombör ligga på kommunens bord att bedöma lämpligheten kring och vad kommunerna vinner på att faktiskt tillstyrka vindkraftsetableringar / Along with the sustainable transition, Sweden's need for electricity will continue to increase, and wind power has been found to be an ecologically sustainable source of renewable energy - which can be used to meet this need. But in the establishment process for wind power, there are many parameters that must be weighed together, and the municipalities' approval is a decisive factor. The Environmental law states that the municipality has the right to use a veto in decision-making regarding wind power installations, that gives them the right to stop wind power projects. The lack of this approval, so-called municipal approval, has in recent years been the main reason why wind power does not receive permission for establishment. In the study, the chairman of the municipal board in 150 municipalities was asked to answer whether the municipality chose not to endorse wind power or said outright no to establishment. Based on this, the main reasons why the municipalities choose not to endorse wind power have been mapped and many times the assessment of the support is based on local opinion or questions about natural values and outdoor areas - the question is whether is these are really questions that should be on the municipality's table to assess the suitability of and what the municipalities gain from actually supporting wind power installations. / <p>2023-06-02</p>