Winds of change: Balancing community and environmental values in wind farm development

Thyborøn is a windy place. Located on the west coast of Jutland, this small port town is one of the windiest places in Denmark; drawing windsurfers, paragliders, and tourists seeking the laidback coastal lifestyle. 

But, look closely behind the surf shacks, long beaches, and ice cream shops, and you will see several wind turbines towering against the sky.

Rather than being a blight on the town, local residents and tourists are unfazed. Instead, the unique story of these wind turbines, among which stand one of the tallest in Europe, has become an attraction in its own right. 

Jens Birch has lived in the area his whole life and has been involved with wind turbines for over four decades. However, he isn’t a developer. Instead, he is a local resident who saw the value in wind energy before buzz words like “green transition” and “clean energy” were circulating. 

He was part of the first community-led initiative to install four turbines in 1987. 

“It was not so easy from the beginning to get people interested in that because all was new,” he said.

However, he describes the feeling at the time as “optimistic”. 

“You've got this connection to it, because you own part of them, and you're involved with developing them.” 

This began Lemvig municipality's long history of community-owned wind energy, with several wind projects having been initiated, owned, and backed by the community. 

The latest is a 15MW test turbine constructed in 2024, which is expected to power 14,000 households annually, according to Green Transition Denmark. As one of the largest of its kind, this turbine made Danish history with a total tip height of 226m. 

According to Birch, the project took only 7 months for permit approval, making it one of the smoothest development processes in Denmark. Cooperatively owned by 2800 shareholders in the area, it had 100% support from the Lemvig municipality and zero formal complaints from residents.

Birch believes community ownership was the key to success. 

“Some big developers don’t like to ask the local people. When they have permission, boom, they build and totally don't hear the locals. And that, in my opinion, is not a good way,” said Birch.

“But we tell [developers] we want this,” he said. “I think people accept it when they are more involved and can earn a little money.”

This cooperative ownership structure dates back to the 1970s, making Denmark a pioneer of community-owned wind energy. Now a leading wind manufacturer, wind energy is part of Denmark’s national identity.

In Denmark, onshore wind projects are approved by the local municipality. Whilst this ensures local people have more power to support or reject renewable energy projects, it can also slow development. 

According to Energinet, 1 in 5 planned onshore wind farms in Denmark have been cancelled due to local opposition. 

People who oppose renewable energy developments are called “NIMBYs” (not in my backyard). This term has received increased media coverage in the past few years as governments push for the green energy transition.

A different story 

Last year, energy developer NRGI submitted an application to the Syddjurs local council. They proposed either 4 or 5 wind turbines at Kastrup, a small town 30 minutes northwest of Aarhus. The community is currently in the review stage, with a final decision from the council not due until later this year. 

Anna Nielsen has lived at her Kastrup property, along with her parents and children, for 8 years. 

She describes her first thoughts upon hearing the proposed project from a neighbour as “not again”.

“I just know how much it takes and how much effort, and how much fighting you have to do to be heard,” she said. 

Five years ago, Nielsen was part of the community opposition against a solar cell farm, which, despite her wishes, has been approved. 

She says uncertainty about when and where developers will propose the next renewable energy plant “causes a lot of anxiety”. 

“You feel kind of invaded, and you feel like it never stops.” 

Neilsen’s property is 700 metres from the proposed development, meaning NRGI must buy her property if she chooses to sell within the first year. 

Despite adequate financial compensation being a major concern, she believes this issue is about more than money. 

“I've talked with all of my neighbours here and many may not stay if the windmills come. If we sell all at once, that will have a major effect on the city and everything. And it's not just a house. It's also a community.”

Considering what’s best for the community is what Kristoffer Kempe, chairman of the Pindstrup local council—part of the Syddjurs municipality—is also trying to do. 

He said the proposal has resulted in divided responses between the local areas, depending on proximity to wind farms. 

“I think this is a threat against their way of life. A very understandable threat,” he said. 

“But we have quite another situation here in Pindstrup. We will not be affected by noise. We will not be able to see it from here.” 

He believes the wind turbines could have several benefits, including supplying up to 50% of the energy for the local wood plant. Through government incentives like the Green Pool, the project would also grant the council money to use in improving local schools and recreational facilities. 

Not In My Backyard 

Yingkuai Yang is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics at the University of Southern Denmark. 

His latest research focuses on NIMBY concerns about wind farms. He found the top NIMBY complaints in media coverage to be noise, followed by visual and environmental impacts.

“Those people who are against such large-scale renewable plants are very few, actually, but they are very active,” he said. 

“I have interviewed many people. Most are too busy to be a NIMBY, or to be an activist. But we have a few of them, and they go to different media and establish Facebook groups. And in that way, they have amplified the NIMBYism or the anger for building this.”

Nielsen, along with her husband, started a Facebook group in opposition to the Kastrup wind farm to inform the community and ensure their voices were heard. 

She describes the community meeting held by NRGI in early May as a “commercial for the city council and not an information for us,” stating they were “left out of the conversation”.

“You need to gain forces because you speak louder when there's more of you,” she said. 

“But you're up against a huge player—money-wise, organisation-wise, and experience-wise—and that's difficult for us, like, we have normal jobs.” 

NRGI was contacted, however, has retracted their comments.

Nielsen’s frustration at inadequacies in the development process is supported by Yang’s research. 

He found transparent decision-making and procedural fairness to facilitate community acceptance more than financial compensation or top-down planning alone. 

“Communication in this process is very important. The way to communicate and to convince them that they are part of it, that's a huge task so they don't feel they're excluded, and that they feel that their voice has been heard and is useful,” he said. 

“If you just simply push them away, then the voice will actually become larger and larger.” 

Environmental concerns

Yang believes social media can amplify NIMBY objections, especially when it comes to biodiversity. In research from 2024, he found that biodiversity concerns commonly feature in public appeals.

“People think of different ways to complain. One is about biodiversity in Denmark. If you say, ‘okay, there are some very rare animals in that area, and so it's not suitable for this,’ then the developer has to wait two or three years.”

Environmental issues were raised by Nielsen, who is concerned about local bat populations and the low-lying ecosystem on which the turbines are proposed. 

“I think they should be more selective of which places they want to put up windmills, because right now it's very random and it is very money-driven,” she said. 

“They will kill a lot of animals in the bog with this. So, don't tell me it's about green energy because this is not the place for it.” 

Morten Anderson has been working with the Danish Nature Conservation Society for over two years.  From the preliminary environmental assessment of the Kastrup site, Morten believes the farm poses low to moderate risk to the surrounding environment. 

“We're pro-renewable energy. So, we have to find the best possible place to stay in that discussion and take care of nature when it's threatened without placing us in either camp.” 

However, Morten also understands the impact of renewable energy developments firsthand. 

“There's one [solar] project very close to where I live, that I myself reacted like a neighbour,” he said. 

“You can feel good about the idea of supporting renewable energy, but it's a much longer process. The idea of having this wonderful place ruined is much stronger.” 

Health concerns and misinformation

The environment is not the only issue raised by communities.

A 2026 report from Wind Europe reveals health concerns about infrasound (sound lower than 20hz) have circulated on social media. However, according to the Danish Ministry of Environment, the scientific consensus is that infrasound from wind turbines poses no health risk.

In the absence of documented health impacts from infrasound, researchers suggest the ‘nocebo’ effect may explain resident reports of wind turbine related symptoms, whereby negative preconceptions about turbines cause physical symptoms, rather than infrasound.

The report also investigated how misinformation about wind projects circulates on social media. 

They found that between 2024 and 2026, monitored anti-wind social media accounts in Europe produced 42,947 posts across six platforms, generating at least tens of millions of views. Of these posts, 68% were classified into dis- and misinformation-related anti-wind narratives. 

Nielsen is also aware of the dangers of misinformation.

“I don't want to have a Facebook group with conspiracy theorists,” she said.  

“I'm very much aware of the fact that whatever I post there, it has to be a source from like a study or something. So I don't post all the time. I try to kind of find the things that I would feel is important for us in our situation.” 

From NIMBY to YIMBY 

Wind development is complex, and there is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution to gaining acceptance. However, Yang has observed some common practises which facilitate better relationships between developers and residents.  

He believes communities should “feel that they are actually also benefitting from the sacrifice for open space”.

“[Developers] can engage the local community, so they have a bite of the cake or a share of the renewable project,” said Yang. 

This is evidenced by the success of Thyborøn.

As Birch, the long-time wind supporter said, “Everybody here feels proud of this project. We make a lot of green electricity. We are producing all this with a turbine owned by ourselves”.

Wind turbines in Thyborøn have more than economic benefits. The ability to buy shares in the project has retained young residents and attracted new ones to the small town, with some shares allocated specifically for new arrivals.

“We have one problem in our community; young people go to Aarhus and study. Therefore, we try to do something good, for the people to come back again,” said Birch.  

Another way to promote acceptance is by giving residents the opportunity to experience living by wind turbines.

Windy Retreats was a campaign by Andel energy, a Danish energy group, which launched in 2023. The campaign offered Danes free holiday stays in homes close to wind turbines, allowing them to experience the effects of noise and shadow flicker firsthand. 

Vikotoria Krzaczkowski is a brand manager at Andel Holdings who developed the campaign. 

“I think that it’s very important that we're not just communicating one way and telling people what they should think and feel, because that's not our intention. But we want them to actively decide on themselves,” she said. 

The campaign was a success, with “24% of the respondents more positive towards wind turbines as a direct result of the campaign”. 

Other campaigns included Green Search, which allowed people to post online where they would like windfarms in their municipality.

“That was to show that actually the majority supports the green transition. So it was to confirm that people were not alone in their positive state of mind,” Krzaczkowski said.

Statistics from a 2026 study by the Danish Council of Climate Change show that 65% of Danes support onshore wind turbines in local areas. However, Danes believe only 32% of other Danes support wind energy.

Underestimating the positive YIMBY (yes in my backyard) attitude of Denmark, is something Yang has also noticed in his career.

“I think most of the media, here at least, only describes the problems and sometimes amplifies the problems, the angers,” he said.  “We have so many successful projects and stories, and they have never been reported.”

Krzaczkowski also believes positivite framing is important.

“I think it's very important that we keep showing people that we're in this together,” she said.

“I think we have a responsibility to be the front runners and not tell the individuals that it's their responsibility, but that there's hope and that they can also, no matter how big or small the change, make a difference too.”