Perceived impacts of onshore wind power parks on ecosystem services in the High North: an EDA and sentiment analysis

Abstract

Despite the increasing popularity of wind power farms this kind of energy production has been contested, citing cultural, economic, and sometimes even environmental reasons – especially when such power farms are built in areas of significant environmental value and status, as is the case of several areas in the High North. One way to explore this conflict is through understanding the effects of such projects on local ecosystem services (e/s) – i.e., the direct and indirect benefits that ecosystems provide to support and sustain human livelihoods. This article discusses the perceived consequences on e/s after the development of a wind power farm in a Northern Norwegian context (High North), at the area of Kvitfjell/Raudfjell on the island of Kvaløya. Following a mixed-methods approach, combining exploratory data analysis (EDA) with thematic and sentiment analysis, the article presents a recent survey among various actors and stakeholders in the examined area to explore how they perceived the effects of the newly constructed wind power farm on e/s. Our results illustrate that a significant portion of the respondents maintained a critical and even apprehensive attitude on the wind farm development, although some positive economic impacts to the local community were also acknowledged.