Legislative Proposal Regarding Revenue Sharing from Wind Farms

On 13 April 2026, the Government presented, through the Government bill (Sw. proposition) 2025/26:239 Vindkraft i kommuner (Wind Power in Municipalities), a proposal for a new act on revenue sharing from wind power facilities. The proposed act grants owners of residential buildings located in the vicinity of a wind power facility the right to compensation corresponding to a share of the annual revenues from the facility. In this article, we outline the key elements of the act.

Background

At the time of writing, there is no statutory obligation for entities that own or operate wind power facilities to provide compensation to affected nearby residents. However, various forms of voluntary compensation and support are not uncommon.

In order to strengthen municipalities’ incentives to contribute to the expansion of wind power and to compensate those whose surroundings are affected by the expansion, the Government in 2022 tasked an inquiry chair with submitting legislative proposals on the matter, see dir. 2022:27, the so-called Incentive Inquiry (Sw. Incitamentsutredningen).

In 2023, the Incentive Inquiry submitted the report Värdet av Vinden – Kompensation, incitament, och planering för en hållbar fortsatt utbyggnad av vindkraften (The Value of the Wind – Compensation, Incentives and Planning for a Sustainable Continued Expansion of Wind Power) (SOU 2023:18), which contained legislative proposals on revenue sharing with both nearby residents and the local community, as well as proposals that property owners in certain cases should have the possibility to request compulsory acquisition of property in the vicinity of wind power facilities. At the end of 2025, the Ministry of Climate and Enterprise (Sw. Klimat- och näringslivsdepartementet) presented a supplementary memorandum to the Incentive Inquiry’s report, KN2025/02059, containing a revised and modified legislative proposal regarding revenue sharing.

The Government’s now-presented bill addresses both the proposals in the Incentive Inquiry’s report and the subsequent memorandum. The proposed Revenue Sharing Act is proposed to enter into force on 1 July 2026. The Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag, is preliminarily expected to vote on the bill in early June 2026.  In the following, we describe the key elements of the proposed act.

Certain owners of residential buildings shall have the eight to wind power compensation

The proposed act prescribes a right to so-called wind power compensation (Sw. vindkraftsersättning) – i.e., monetary compensation corresponding to a share of the annual revenues from a wind power facility – to the person who, at the end of an operator’s revenue year, owns a residential building that (i) is located within a certain distance from a wind turbine and (ii) existed or was under construction when a permit under Chapters 9 or 11 of the Swedish Environmental Code (Sw. miljöbalken) was applied for in respect of the wind power facility (or alternatively if the building has replaced a previous building that existed at that time). A building owner may in certain situations also have the right to wind power compensation even if the conditions in (ii) are not met, if there are special reasons (Sw. särskilda skäl). The term “operator” (Sw. verksamhetsutövare) refers to the person who operates or holds the wind power facility or otherwise has the right to make decisive economic or other decisions regarding the facility. The term “revenue year” (Sw. intäktsår) refers to the calendar year in which revenue from the wind power facility arises.

If several persons jointly own a residential building, they are proposed to have the right to a share of the wind power compensation based on each person’s share in the property to which the building belongs. If a property contains two or more residential buildings giving rise to a right to wind power compensation and the buildings are owned by the same person, the owner shall have the right to compensation only in respect of the building that gives the right to the highest compensation.

It should be noted that the act does not prescribe any exception from the right to wind power compensation for building owners who lease land for a wind power facility. Even if a property owner receives lease payments for the provision of land to the operator, said owner may thus still have the right to wind power compensation.

Wind power compensation shall be managed and paid by the operator

According to the Government’s proposal, the person who is the operator at the end of a revenue year is obliged to calculate and pay wind power compensation for the relevant year to those who are entitled to such compensation. Payment of wind power compensation for a revenue year is proposed to be made no later than 1 July of the following year. Any person wishing to receive wind power compensation must submit a written claim to the operator each year.

Operators are also proposed to be subject to an obligation to, no later than in connection with the commissioning of a wind power facility, inform potentially affected building owners of the right to compensation and how claims for compensation may be submitted, by way of public notice in a local newspaper or by other appropriate means.

Calculation of wind power compensation

In calculating the wind power compensation for a residential building, the share of the revenues from a wind turbine shall be determined in relation to the distance between the centre point of the wind turbine’s tower and the part of the residential building that is closest to the wind turbine. The size of the revenue share to which the owner of the residential building is entitled varies between 0.5 and 2.5 per mille depending on the distance from the wind turbine.

Wind power compensation shall not be payable if the distance exceeds nine times the height of the wind turbine. The revenues from a wind turbine consist of the revenue from the entire wind power facility during a revenue year divided by the number of wind turbines in the facility. The revenues from the facility are proposed to be estimated at a standardised amount corresponding to the market value – calculated in a manner specifically prescribed by the act based on the price on the day-ahead market on the dominant organised marketplace – of the electricity produced by the facility in the electricity area where the electricity is fed in.

For residential buildings located within a distance entitling the owner to wind power compensation from more than one wind turbine, it is proposed that the share from a maximum of two wind turbines shall be included in the compensation. The compensation shall in such a situation be based on the two wind turbines that give the owner the right to the highest compensation.

The act prescribes a cap on the aggregate wind power compensation payable for a revenue year of two per cent of the wind power facility’s revenues. If the aggregate wind power compensation exceeds two per cent, it is proposed that the compensation to each building owner be reduced in proportion to the respective building owner’s share.

Other aspects

Only wind power facilities covered by a permit under Chapters 9 or 11 of the Swedish Environmental Code are proposed to be covered by the act. Wind power facilities whose permits under Chapters 9 or 11 of the Environmental Code have become final and non-appealable before the new act’s entry into force are proposed not to be covered by the act, with the exception of facilities that have received municipal endorsement after 6 November 2025.

The provisions of the proposed act are mandatory in favour of private individuals who own residential buildings entitling them to wind power compensation. Any contractual terms that, in comparison with the provisions of the act, would be to the disadvantage of an entitled private individual will thus be without effect against him or her. No such limitation exists for entitled legal persons.

The Government states in the bill that it shares the Incentive Inquiry’s assessment that there may be a need to introduce a right to compulsory acquisition of property in connection with the expansion of new wind power in certain situations, and informs that it intends to appoint an inquiry to review the possibility of compulsory acquisition of property adjacent to new wind power facilities. Therefore, it cannot be excluded that a right to compulsory acquisition of property will be introduced in the future.

We at Setterwalls have extensive experience in property and environmental law matters arising in connection with wind power expansion. If you or your company have questions regarding the proposed legislation, its practical application or other related matters, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The content of this article is a general account of an informative nature and does not constitute legal advice to be relied upon for assessment in an individual matter.