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| Stakeholder groups | Organization | Greatest risks for new wind project development in Sweden | Other comments |
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| Policy | Research institutions | The Swedish municipal planning monopoly allows anti-wind organizations to impact decisions regarding prospected wind farms. Consequently, due to a lack of vertical integration, Sweden has a longer development time frame than the other Nordic countries. | In Sweden, the social opposition of wind projects is rarely due to NIMBYism. Instead, opposition arises due to the wind turbines’ expected impact on the landscape. As an example, the northern part of Sweden, which is more rural than the southern, is facing strong opposition due to the impact on the landscape. |
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| Policy | The Swedish Forest Agency | Forestry is a very important part of the Swedish economy, and it is believed that forestry and wind energy can be combined to obtain a larger profit from each forest. | Wind power can add value to industrial forests. |
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| Policy/public | Anti-wind organizations | If the citizens of the municipality are not involved in the wind project, they are likely to oppose/protest it. Furthermore, wind power as an energy source is rated to have a lower efficiency than hydropower and nuclear energy. | Wind turbines will destroy nature during transportation, construction, operation, and dismantling. |
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| Wind assessment | Research institutions | While the wind resource is often overestimated in forested areas, the loads on the wind turbines are often underestimated. Overall, this leads to less efficient wind turbines. | The meteorological masts are often located where there is little impact from the forest in order to represent the best possible business case. This is a risk in heterogeneous forests. |
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| Wind assessment | Wind project developer | It requires substantial resources to assess if a forested area is in fact suitable for a wind project, as studies on animal life need to be conducted. In addition, it must be determined whether the area is protected. | It complicates and increases the development costs if there is social opposition against the wind project. |
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| Public | Swedish citizens | The height of wind turbines has made it possible to install them anywhere, and thus, they can be deployed in locations where people are not disturbed by their presence. | The public wants to influence the location of the wind turbines and reap the local benefits of such projects. |
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| Wind assessment | Wind turbine manufacturer | Sweden is known for its trees and forest industry, which means that there is plenty of data supporting the growth and felling of trees. Without trees, it would be difficult to predict the wind conditions and operational performance of the wind turbines. | The distance between the turbines and the main grid can be very long in Sweden. |
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