Beyond Decide-Announce-Defend (DAD) and Not-in-My-Backyard (NIMBY) models? Addressing the social and public acceptance of electric transmission lines in Germany

Abstract

Energy transition in Germany requires deployment of new electricity transmission infrastructure, such as new electricity grids, which faces opposition of communities, where infrastructure is planned. Scientific evidence on differences in socal and public acceptance is limited and in combination to a particular type of infrastructure, such as electricity transmission networks, is almost non-existant. Also there is an additional need to understand how acceptance, which is more a passive attitute towards something imposed top-down, can be changed to willingness of participation. Based on several methods of stakeholders dialogue such as survey, feedback forms and observation on the site of public information events, this paper addresses social and public acceptance issues in two electricity transmission pilot projects. In doing so, it advances, tests, and refines core tenets from two major streams of thought related to NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) and decide, announce-defend (DAD) concepts. The study analyzes these themes through a comparison of the Sued.Link connection being realized by the Transmission System Operator TenneT and the Bertikow-Pasewalk connection being realized by the 50Hertz. The results allow us to identify major concerns regarding these two pilot projects as well as to provide recommendations on successfulness of the actions to address these concerns.