Acceptance of the Energiewende - how to involve people in transforming the energy system

Despite broad acceptance of the Energiewende on the national level, concrete infrastructure measures often cause local resistance. The interdisciplinary research project KomMA-P, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF (project number: 03EK3518 A), evaluates under which circumstances people are willing to accept and support the transformation process even on a regional scale. In particular, we're aiming on identifying adequate options of participation and their influence on techno-economic transformation scenarios. Based on these findings non-investment and low-threshold participation options are being developed. One main outcome which shall be presented here, the Acceptance Framework, displays the major factors which determine acceptance of the Energiewende on a regional level. Furthermore, it can be practically used as analysis and mediation tool for specific transformation projects and their associated challenges. It can be used as instrument for evaluation of infrastructure processes - pro- as well as retrospectively. We describe, how the Acceptance Framework can enhance understanding of failure or success on the basis of three concrete planning processes of pumped-storage power plant projects.