Drivers of Scalar Biases: Environmental Justice and the Portuguese Solar Photovoltaic Rollout

Abstract

Studying the dynamics of solar photovoltaic (PV) rollout can generate insights on how policies enable and constrain energy transitions. This energy source has low carbon emissions, and has rapidly become economically competitive. This combination makes it one of the fastest growing energy technologies globally. Yet its rollout is spatially uneven, and slowed down by drivers other than cost and environmental impact, namely energy infrastructure, regulatory inertia, and political dynamics. These drivers of scalar biases make the rollout of solar energy along environmentally just lines challenging. This article analyzes the solar PV rollout in solar-rich Portugal during 2017–2020 to illustrate these drivers. The way solar PV layers on top of existing electric grid infrastructure determines the spatiality of its rollout. The path dependence of sectoral regulations modulates which actors are able to drive this technological diffusion. The particular political moment, unfolding contestation, and orchestrated consensus are decisive for both the rate and manner of growth of solar PV energy. The three drivers promote large-scale solar PV, whereas small-scale projects for households and communities remain limited. Empirical study of these drivers and how they combine in a specific context are key to understand the scalar environmental justice effects of policies for energy transitions.