With so much success in installed energy generation capacity to celebrate, it is not always easy to look inwards when obstacles to projects arise. Yet the projects that stumble most often reveal something deeper about the foundations we have long relied upon.
For decades, projects have stood on three solid pillars: Financial, Technical, and Legal.
These have long defined a bankable project – one that works on paper, passes due diligence, and can withstand scrutiny in court.
But around the world, developers, investors, and authorities are realising that this three-legged foundation is no longer enough.
It’s missing something essential.
The Instability in the Foundation
As renewable and infrastructure projects multiply and grow in scale, they increasingly enter shared space – the landscapes, seascapes, and communities that people depend on for their livelihoods, homes, and wellbeing.
And here’s the new reality:
Trust in institutions is at an all-time low.
People are sceptical not only of developers, but also of:
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business and investors,
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government and permitting authorities,
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and even third-party experts once seen as independent.
In such an environment, technical excellence and financial strength no longer guarantee sufficient societal support to enable projects to succeed.
A project that is strong on paper but weak in local trust is like a three-legged chair – unstable and vulnerable to pressure.
The Three Pillars We Know
Projects have traditionally rested on three pillars. Each remains vital – but even together they cannot carry the full weight of today’s social and environmental realities.
1. Financial – The Viability Pillar
Ensures the project makes economic sense – that it attracts investment, delivers balanced and sustainable returns, and creates enduring value for all shareholders.
Without financial viability, a project cannot be built. But finance alone cannot secure its future.
2. Technical – The Feasibility Pillar
Ensures the project can be designed, engineered, and operated safely, efficiently, and in harmony with its environment.
Technical excellence turns ambition into reality – yet a perfectly engineered project can still fail without trust.
3. Legal – The Legitimacy-by-Rule Pillar
Ensures the project complies with laws, standards, and safeguards – from national legislation to IFC and World Bank frameworks, to OECD and EU guidelines, or international conventions.
Legal compliance provides permission to proceed, but not the local permission to belong. And, over time, legal permission cannot override local permission.
The backbone of social permission in Ireland – and in many other jurisdictions – lies within the host community: the people most directly affected by project impacts.
The Fourth Pillar – Local Support
The missing pillar is Local Support – the trust-based legitimacy that determines whether a project will stand or fall.
It’s built not with steel or capital, but with openness, dialogue, and shared purpose.
When local people can see how a project aligns with their community’s aspirations – and when their concerns are addressed rather than contained or minimised – they grant it something no permit can provide: enduring support.
In other words, it’s not enough for a project to be allowed by national decision makers. In today’s reality, it must also be locally supported.
Why You Need It Now
Communities are questioning whether the “risks versus benefits” equation has been fairly balanced. They’ve seen projects come and go, promises made and forgotten, benefits distributed elsewhere, and negative impacts left behind.
Many feel their voices are acknowledged only at the margins – as a tick-box exercise, not as participation that will shape the outcome. They feel that what they value is neither heard nor respected.
This isn’t a problem local to one jurisdiction.
It’s global.
And in any democratic society – or any society that values public trust and participation – legitimacy has become the decisive factor in whether projects proceed, stall, or fail.
What Each Stakeholder Gains from the Fourth Pillar
For developers and investors, it means fewer delays, reduced litigation, and stronger project pipelines – where social feasibility has been addressed as thoroughly as technical feasibility.
For government and authorities, it means legitimacy and smoother delivery of national targets through projects that communities can stand behind.
For communities, it means agency – shaping the projects that reshape their surroundings, ensuring externalities are addressed and benefits are shared fairly.
How to Build It
Collaborative design is what’s needed to build this fourth pillar. And while this term is becoming increasingly recognised, confidence in undertaking it – across both industry and community – is still low.
That’s why the Earning Local Support Academy (ELSA) was created.
ELSA recognises that developers and host communities already carry heavy workloads and responsibilities. Rather than adding to them, it helps developers, authorities, and host communities conduct the work they already do in innovative ways that builds local trust systematically.
It treats community-fit not as an afterthought, but as an integral part of project design.
Using the Renewables AT PACE framework, ELSA guides all sides to:
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Anchor the proposed project within local sustainable development,
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Transition from defensive engagement to partnership,
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Partner early,
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Acknowledge concerns,
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Collaborate transparently,
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Empower the develop-host team to co-design, assess and deliver lasting value.
The result?
Projects that are faster to approve, fairer in outcome, and founded in long-term local support.
Build Your Fourth Pillar
Every project ensures it has competent, well-resourced teams to deliver its financial, technical, and legal pillars.
Now it’s time to add the one that makes them all stand firm – the Fourth Pillar: Local Support.
By building that, you can design a project that is locally trusted, is resilient to political pressures, and provides a favourable foundation for every project that follows.
Next: The Three Cases for Renewables AT PACE
Understanding the need for the Fourth Pillar is the first step.
The next is seeing how it changes results on the ground – for those who build projects, those who host them, and those who regulate them.
To enable this, in The Three Cases for Renewables AT PACE, we have created a concise look at why collaboration now makes sense for each core set of stakeholders involved:
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💼 For Developers & Investors: The Business Case for Renewables AT PACE
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🏡 For Communities: The Host Community Case for Renewables AT PACE
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🏛 For Government & Authorities: The Policy & Planning Case for Renewables AT PACE
