The Long-term Socioeconomic Impacts of Renewable Energy Deployment: Lessons From Case Studies in European Rural Regions

Abstract

The new environmental and geopolitical situation has led to the need for a change in the current energy model. The infrastructures associated with renewable energies may represent an opportunity for economic growth, employment generation, and population recovery in rural territories. This study evaluates the retrospective long-term impacts that renewable energy installations have had on several rural regions in Europe. To that end, we develop a novel database on the annual installed capacity of renewables for European NUTS2 regions. This includes data on wind and photovoltaic energy, allowing us to capture both the scale and growth of renewable energy infrastructure over time in European regions. The data set spans multiple decades. Finally, we evaluate the socioeconomic effects these installations have on Europe's renewable energy capacity intensive rural regions analysing the different intra- and interregional impacts, using the Synthetic Control Method.