Preferences for Offshore-Onshore Wind Power Development in Denmark – Accounting for Spatial Data

Wind energy installed capacity has been increasing steadily all over the world and is expected to continue to do so in the future, following lowering costs of technology as well as increased renewable energy goals by governments. Nonetheless, public opposition has been increasing, and the discussion regarding siting wind turbines onshore or offshore is constantly present on public discourse. By combining a stated preference study with spatial data processed utilising GIS (Geographic Information System), we explore preferences for onshore and offshore wind turbines, considering their visual impact, costs, as well as socioeconomic and spatial attributes of the respondents. Results show that in general respondents show strong preferences towards offshore wind turbines as opposed to onshore. Furthermore, spatial data is found to be significant in regards to the preferences of the respondents, particularly the respondents' distance to the coast and potential offshore wind farms and the number of wind turbines seen from the residence. In the same line, socioeconomic indicators such as age and income prove significant to respondents' preferences in line with previous research