This article explores the factors that hinder and promote the deployment of renewable energy generating infrastructure in/across the Swiss cantons (i.e., the country’s federal units). Using the example of small-scale hydropower, we shed light on how political regulations at the cantonal level interact with national policies and the local political process to affect the deployment of renewable energy production. The analysis demonstrates that political regulations can both foster and hinder the deployment of renewable energy production. While the national feed-in tariff scheme is revealed to be a beneficial framework condition, cantonal regulations hamper, rather than facilitate, the deployment of small-scale hydropower. Moreover, inclusive local processes and the existence of local entrepreneurs seem to act as a trigger for the local acceptance of renewable energy generation infrastructure. More generally, we conclude that, quite independently of whether state structures are decentralized or centralized, subnational and local leeway in the definition and organization of projects can help to prevent or deal with local opposition.

中文翻译：

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联邦背景下可再生能源生产的政治：小水电在瑞士各州的部署

本文探讨了阻碍和促进在瑞士各州（即该国的联邦单位）内/跨州部署可再生能源发电基础设施的因素。以小规模水电为例，我们阐明了州一级的政治法规如何与国家政策和地方政治进程相互作用以影响可再生能源生产的部署。分析表明，政治法规既可以促进也可以阻碍可再生能源生产的部署。虽然国家上网电价计划被证明是一个有利的框架条件，但州法规阻碍而不是促进小规模水电的部署。而且，包容性的当地进程和当地企业家的存在似乎是当地接受可再生能源发电基础设施的触发因素。更一般地说，我们得出的结论是，完全独立于国家结构是分散的还是集中的，在项目的定义和组织方面，地方和地方的回旋余地有助于防止或应对地方反对。