Sweden produces 99 percent of its electricity from low‑carbon sources – mainly hydropower, nuclear and wind. Yet it is in Sweden that the largest number of anti‑wind posts were identified. Nearly 7,000 posts in less than two years. Across Europe, more than 42,000 posts were analysed, generating 6.3 million interactions. A full 68 percent of them were classified as disinformation – false or misleading content deliberately spread. This is not random noise, but an organised ecosystem with real consequences – in Bulgaria, a €1.2 billion project was halted, and in Sweden a wind farm that would have powered 200,000 homes was blocked.
Hydropower accounts for the largest share of Sweden’s energy mix – 40 percent. Nuclear follows at 27 percent. Wind supplies 23 percent, solar 2 percent. Fossil fuels make up just 1.2 percent of electricity generation, according to think tank Ember. Per capita emissions are well below the EU average.
WindEurope, in cooperation with CASM Technology, analysed over 42,000 posts from Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn. They were published between 1 May 2024 and 28 February 2026. Together they generated 6.3 million active interactions – likes, comments, shares – and tens of millions of views.
Fully 68 percent of the posts were classified as anti-wind narratives linked to disinformation – deliberately false or misleading content. The remaining 32 percent were critical but not based on false information.
Sweden had the highest number of such posts – nearly 7,000. It was followed by France, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom and Germany. These six countries accounted for 75 percent of the analysed dataset.
The UK saw the most engagement
Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Italy, Greece and the Czech Republic published fewer posts but generated relatively higher engagement. The highest level of interactions was recorded in the United Kingdom, followed by Germany, Norway and France. Sweden ranked seventh – despite the largest number of posts, interactions there totalled 419,000, fewer than in countries with fewer publications.
The report’s authors note that an extensive ecosystem has grown up around this content, including media, politicians, civil society organisations and individual activists. This is not random noise but coordinated action.
Four categories of anti-wind narratives
The most common were anti-democratic and conspiracy narratives. They present investors as greedy actors and wind projects as being imposed on local communities by wealthy elites.
The second group consists of narratives about alleged environmental destruction. Wind turbines are portrayed as a serious threat to nature. Yet an analysis of more than 4 million migrating birds showed that 99.8 percent of them successfully avoid wind turbines. The report cites this study as a counter-argument to false claims.
The third category – more than 8,000 posts – comprises narratives about technological and economic unviability. Turbines are presented as unstable, linked to blackouts and economically unjustified.
The ENTSO-E report on the 28 April 2026 power failure on the Iberian Peninsula found, however, that renewable energy sources – including wind – were not the main cause. Nevertheless, claims blaming renewables were widely spread online.
A fourth category – though not quantified separately – concerns health: infrasound, noise, shadow flicker. None of these claims has been confirmed by scientific research over the past 20 years.
Disinformation has consequences
In many European countries, a majority of respondents believe that the energy transition will raise energy prices. Data from the International Energy Agency show the opposite trend – renewable costs have been falling for a decade. Similarly, a large part of the public misjudges the environmental impact of electric cars.
According to EU research, more than 80 percent of citizens have encountered disinformation in the past week. About half have difficulty distinguishing reliable information from false content on climate issues.
The report’s authors stress that this phenomenon threatens democracy and public debate. It could be exploited by geopolitical rivals to weaken Europe’s economy. Delaying the energy transition – fuelled by disinformation – hurts the competitiveness of European companies and the region’s energy security.
Vetrino as a warning
The Bulgarian municipality of Vetrino introduced a moratorium on wind energy. A 500 MW project worth about €1.2 billion was halted. The opposition was based on false claims about the alleged impact of turbines on health and agriculture. None of these claims was confirmed by Bulgarian public health institutions.
This is not an isolated case. In Sweden, local protests blocked the construction of a wind farm in the south of the country in 2025 – a project that was to supply power to 200,000 households. The decision followed a social media campaign that contained numerous falsehoods about the impact of turbines on property values.
From hate to sabotage
The authors warn of radicalisation. Extreme narratives can lead not only to protests but also to acts of sabotage and violence against infrastructure and renewable energy workers.
In Germany in 2025, there were 37 recorded cases of damage to wind turbines – cut cables, scratched blades, transformer stations covered in paint. In France, a wind farm construction site in Normandy was set on fire twice. Sweden has not yet recorded acts of violence, but the rhetoric on social media – according to the researchers – creates fertile ground.
Anti-wind narratives are also used politically. Eurosceptic parties in Sweden, Germany and Poland often repeat claims about the alleged unprofitability of wind turbines, even as their own countries record record shares of renewables in the mix. In Sweden, where wind already supplies 23 percent of electricity, opposition is loudest.
The WindEurope report does not explicitly identify who is behind the disinformation. It speaks of an organised ecosystem. Conspiracy and anti-democratic threads, however, point to possible involvement of actors outside Europe. In previous years, similar campaigns targeting wind energy were identified in Germany and the UK, and their sources were linked to Russian troll farms. The current scale – 42,000 posts in 10 months – is larger.
