Innovation and institutional change: the transition to a sustainable ...

110 Chapter 4
Table 4.4 Evolution of installed capacity of wind in the Netherlands (in
MW) 37
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004
In 2001, an administrative agreement, called Blow, was reached between
five ministries of the national government, the twelve Dutch provinces and
the association of Dutch local authorities to intensify and fine-tune wind
energy development. The agreement set an objective of 1500 MW wind
capacity installed on land in 2010. Specific wind capacity targets were set
for each province, but individual municipalities were not committed to the
agreement. Blow has intensified interaction between, and increased
commitment of, various governmental bodies and layers regarding wind
energy, and facilitated standardisation of approaches for solving recurring
bottlenecks, such as noise-effects, shades, and integration in landscapes
(LSOW, 2003; 2005). Especially provinces have started to take leading role
as information providers, planners, and stimulators. Financial support for
provinces, among others to integrated wind into provincial spatial plans
(POPs), and for the association of municipalities to support wind turbine
implementation through the development of manuals for municipalities, also
improved the climate for wind energy. Moreover, in 2002 a national climate
covenant was agreed between national government, provinces and
municipalities, under which provinces and municipalities were eligible for
subsidies for implementation of activities to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases.
37 Data based on CBS (2004) except for 2004 data from the Wind Service Holland website,
accessed on 4 July 2005 at http://home.planet.nl/~windsh/statistiek.html.