Participatory approaches for meaningful public engagement on grid projects

Introduction

From 6 to 7 October, the Renewables Grid Initiative  (RGI), TransnetBW and TenneT held a 2-day workshop to discuss the learnings from comprehensive stakeholder engagement processes in recent grid development projects. A spotlight on the SuedLink project was complemented by international and German perspectives from NGOs and industry actors on the solutions and ongoing challenges of achieving meaningful public participation.

Accelerating the deployment of renewables is topping European political agendas to simultaneously contribute to energy and climate goals and secure independence from Russian gas. The related need to increase the speed and scale of electricity grid infrastructure has the potential to create new tensions in stakeholder engagement processes.The discussions were lively and informative and many colleagues showed interest and commitment to continue to engage the topic. Indeed, our morning workshop was immediately proceeded by a practical internal workshop on the topic. RGI will continue to provide guidance on the topic for Ukrainian colleagues, and thanks all participants, speakers, and co-organisers for their engagement with this important topic.