Building local support for renewable energy through early collaboration

Background

Ireland needs to expand renewable energy quickly, but projects can face opposition, delays, and costly redesign when host communities are involved too late or their concerns are not taken seriously enough. 

The ELSA project was created to tackle this challenge. Led by John Aston at AstonECO, it built on growing evidence that traditional approaches, where key plans are developed first and explained later, can create mistrust, opposition, and delay. 

People across industry, communities, and government increasingly recognise that early, meaningful, trust-building involvement is key. Investors consulted through the project said they hoped more projects would progress, but had to price their Irish renewable-energy pipelines on the basis that only around one in three would make it through development, with insufficient local support a major reason. This increases development costs and reduces the number of projects that ultimately progress. Earlier collaboration can improve project design, build trust, and support smoother delivery and sustainable development in host areas. 

The project

ELSA aims to change how renewable-energy projects are developed by bringing collaboration into decisions that affect host communities, while local knowledge and concerns can still influence project development. The project began as an idea for a digital-app 'Earning Local Support Academy'. Through the research, it evolved into the wider 'Earning Local Support Architecture', a practical system of frameworks, learning, tools, and support for building local legitimacy and support. The ELSA Academy remains an important part of this wider architecture.  

At the heart of ELSA is the Renewables AT PACE framework, which helps developers, host communities, and local authorities establish partnerships and work through shared issues before positions become fixed. 

The framework supports: 

• Building partnerships between developers and host communities early in project development 
• Identifying where local knowledge, concerns, and aspirations should inform project development 
• Using practical tools and templates to support meaningful engagement, co-design, and transparent decision-making 
• Providing training and support through the ELSA Academy  

The project drew on research and workshops, including in-depth interviews with more than 250 people who live near to renewable-energy infrastructure across fourteen counties related to fifteen renewable energy companies. As well as five independent focus groups carried out with the University of Galway. This helped ensure that the approach reflects real experiences and practical needs.  

The resulting guide, Designing Projects that Succeed, and other project resources are available through www.EarnLocalSupport.com. Resources include:  

The Renewables AT PACE guidelines, practical tools, and templates. 

• A series of four short videos entitled ‘Bridging the Gap’ that provide context for the guide.  
• Case studies that demonstrate different aspects of Renewables AT PACE in action. 
• A pathway to support “Trusted Intermediaries” who can help groups work through difficult issues. 
• A flexible learning platform and the ELSA Academy. 

Results and key achievements

ELSA provides a practical way to address one of the most important barriers to renewable energy development in Ireland: the challenge of building local legitimacy and support. The project shows why this needs to be treated as a core condition of project success alongside technical feasibility, financial viability, and legal security. 

Key achievements include: 

1. Wide engagement: More than 300 people contributed, including community members, developers, and policymakers. 
2. Strong research base: The approach draws on five independent focus groups, detailed research, workshops, and applied project experience. 
3. Clear framework: Renewables AT PACE provides a practical co-design process that can be adapted to different projects and places. 
4. Wider support system: ELSA evolved from an Academy into a broader Architecture linking frameworks, learning, tools, implementation support, and Trusted Intermediary pathways. 
5. Better project outcomes: Early, meaningful collaboration helps identify issues sooner, reduce avoidable conflict and delay, limit costly redesign, and build stronger working relationships. 

Next steps

The next phase focuses on putting the wider ELSA Architecture into practice at greater scale. Priorities include;

• expanding the ELSA Academy and its online learning platform, 
• testing and refining Renewables AT PACE across a wider range of projects, 
• helping project proponents strengthen the organisational capabilities needed for local knowledge and concerns to influence relevant project decisions and 
• developing a network of appropriately skilled and mandated Trusted Intermediaries. 

AstonECO will continue working with industry, communities, researchers, and policymakers to refine the approach, expand training, and support its wider adoption in project development and policy. 

This project was supported with a financial contribution from SEAI under the SEAI National Energy Research, Development & Demonstration Funding Programme 2022.