What money does the wind bring? Economic benefits of wind energy for local development in the Czech Republic

The aim of the paper is to analyse and assess the direct economic benefits of wind energy projects for municipalities in the Czech Republic, the ways of their reinvestment and the perception of the usefulness of projects. The results are based on semi-structured managed interviews with mayors of selected municipalities. The amount and form offinancial profits varies greatly depending on the age and scale of the project, but also on the ability of municipality leaders to negotiate more favourable conditions. The surveyed mayors agreed that, despite the perception of some negative impacts of wind turbines (landscape disruption, noise annoyance) reported by part of he population, the material effects of "windy money" invested into local development projects, can convince majority of residents of the usefulness of wind energy for local development and gain its support. The effect of economic benefits on social acceptance is, however, a factor that is significantly determined by the spatial scale (exclusion of neighboring communities from economic benefits), time dynamics (changes of technologies, perceptions and experiences over time) and the perspective of stakeholders (d fferent priorities of specific interest groups).