Institutions and processes for scaling up renewables: Run-of-river hydropower in British Columbia

The dramatic scale-up of renewable energy over the coming decades is likely to pose significant challenges for coordinating land use allocation, environmental assessment, energy system planning and the design of greenhouse gas abatement policy. Of particular concern is the establishment of institutions and processes that enable consideration of multiple objectives and attributes, with adequate representation of affected interests, and without resulting in excessive delays in the development of renewable energy as part of a greenhouse gas abatement strategy. This paper uses the Canadian province of British Columbia as a case study for describing these challenges and the responses of policy makers seeking to rapidly scale-up renewables. Using evaluative criteria to assess this experience, we identify lessons that may be applicable to other jurisdictions seeking to quickly expand the production of renewable energy. These lessons include the design of institutions and processes that would likely be required in almost any jurisdiction with similar aims. - Research highlights: → Tension exists between mitigating climate change through substantial renewable energy development and the local environmental impacts associated with this development. → The deployment of renewable energy technologies required for climate change mitigation is likely to lead to intensifying conflicts over land-use. → For this deployment to be successful, institutions and processes must be able to integrate and consider trade-offs related to goals and interests at different scales of decision making.