Impact of governance on resilience in the energy transition. An analysis of China and Germany

Abstract

As a critical historic juncture of energy transition, energy resilience under the COVID-19 crisis and the Russian-Ukraine war will profoundly influence the energy sector and global climate. The research compared China and Germany as representatives of two modes of energy governance-state-centric and market-centric, respectively-to investigate their ability to maintain resilience amid the recent global turbulences. Policy reviews and discourse analysis of online interviews were conducted to understand the role of governance in three dimensions of resilience. The study found that energy resilience differed between state-centric and market-centric energy governance. The distributed power structure in market-centric governance promotes adaption and transformation, whereas a state-centric structure is more effective in responding to immediate disruptions and implementing larger-scale centralized renewable deployment. As energy policy is an element within and characterized by governance, understanding how governance would affect resilience can help policymakers of the two systems improve resilience and formulate policies that align stakeholders' expectations in the quest for the low-carbon transition.