Energy Security Innovation in the Baltic Sea Region: Competing Visions of Technopolitical Orders

Abstract

ABSTRACT Energy security is among the top security concerns of the 21st century requiring technological answers. However, the technological innovations adopted often not only serve to ensure adequate energy access and stable flow of energy, but also foster specific visions of socio-economic and techno-political orders and security. This paper tweaks the analytical lens of sociotechnical imaginaries, in which desired futures are connected to social and technical elements in concrete cases by adding a focus on identity formation and ontological security to the analytical model. Zooming in on the Baltic Sea Region, the paper traces sociotechnical imaginaries tied to the desired future of energy sovereignty through coal and nuclear energy in Poland and the bright future of energy independence through a liquified natural gas terminal in Lithuania. Nationally embedded understandings of how (in)security can be managed through technological innovation and how the desired national energy visions can be attained in the process highlight the importance of ontological security concerns. In tracing those themes, the paper combines a historical view with developments since the mid-2010s in Polish and Lithuanian energy discourse and analyzes the mainstream energy security imaginaries as envisioned by political elites. The study draws on speeches of key political figures, official documents concerning energy planning as well as semi-structured interviews. The analysis highlights how the study of energy innovation in the Baltic Sea Region can contribute to the conversation between critical security studies and science and technology studies.