JustWind4All Energy Read: "Securing socio-political support for Airborne Wind Energy"

This paper focuses on the socio-political acceptance of Airborne Wind Energy (AWE). The topic of local acceptance is further discussed in the JustWind4All Energy Read “Securing local acceptance of AWE projects”. This paper also does not further touch on the acceptance of market actors as those entities are usually directly dealt with by the AWE technology developers. However, there is obviously an interdependence between market actors, policy makers and society as a whole. Given that AWE is not yet widely commercialised, there is not yet sufficient experience and traction in the markets to have a significant impact on policy makers – which in turn is part of the challenge that the AWE sector faces. The aim is to share experiences of the AWE sector in its efforts to gain public support. This support is crucial as the technology still requires public funding on European and national level as well as AWE-specific policies and regulation which are not yet in place. The paper addresses management and employees of Airborne Wind Europe’s members as well as students that engage in the AWE sector, e.g. through the AWETRAIN project. AWE-developers may better understand the extent of the playing field that they need to be active in to be successful which goes beyond the purely technical development of a new technology. Apart from that, by explaining the challenges that the AWE sector faces in its efforts to increase awareness and acceptance, some members or students may be inspired to bring forward ideas or concrete actions that can help the AWE sector. The paper lays out the activities of the AWE sector to increase socio-political acceptance and what has been achieved so far. It is thus also a stocktaking on the tangible and publicly available results of these efforts. Given the dynamic environment, on-going activities of AWEU and its members as well as new employees and students starting to work in the AWE sector, this paper is considered to be a living document that shall be updated on a regular basis.