In April 2025, our PhD student Tayo Gbemi joined the Centre for Climate Change Law and Governance (CLIMA) at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, as a visiting researcher. The visit formed an integral part of her ongoing research on renewable energy law and policy, focusing on regulatory frameworks for onshore and offshore wind energy, as well as public participation.
During her time at CLIMA, Tayo engaged in scholarly discussions with academics and consulted with industry experts, community energy project administrators, and a licensing authority official. She also reviewed the relevant literature, working around the limited availability of English language resources in Danish regulatory frameworks. These activities provided considerable insights into comparative regulatory approaches and the practical challenges shaping wind energy developments across contexts. The ongoing collaboration between the University of Aberdeen and the University of Copenhagen under the North Sea Energy Law Partnership also contributed to shaping interactions during her time at CLIMA.
Towards the end of the visit, she delivered a seminar titled "Comparative Wind Licensing: Community, Integration and Regulation." This presentation offered a detailed comparative analysis of wind licensing regimes in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and Denmark, highlighting strengths, challenges, and opportunities for legal reform. It also explored the role of community energy initiatives, and the emerging complexities involved in co-locating wind projects with carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) infrastructure, with particular emphasis on implications for community-led projects.
The visit concluded with plans on further academic collaboration and joint initiatives in sustainable energy governance. Tayo noted, “It was a unique experience, offering fresh perspectives, hands-on interaction with regulatory frameworks, and a deeper understanding of contextual variations. One of the highlights of the visit was the opportunity for further collaboration in coming months, extended by CLIMA under the leadership of Dr Beatriz Romera.”
Tayo expressed appreciation for the supportive environment at CLIMA and recognized the value of the experience in enriching her research, with plans for continued engagement and collaboration in progress.