Abstract
While the traditional form of electricity generation and supply is based on centralized structures with large-scale power plants, the objective of a strongly decentralized form of energy supply is increasingly becoming of importance. Sustainability-oriented energy transitions are relying on various sorts of renewable energies coupled with energy efficiency initiatives. In the current existing regulatory and market frameworks in Germany and elsewhere, important technical and institutional innovations for energy transitions were and are being developed, tested, and brought to application on regional and local levels. Regions, cities, and villages experimenting with socio-technical innovations and aiming to implement new concepts have to develop governance structures under high uncertainty. These governance structures mirror space-specific social, political, technological, and economic constellations. The present paper introduces an analytical approach for studying emergent forms of governance and uses four cases from Germany to apply the approach. Research is based on a comparative case study research design, using primarily expert interviews and document analysis as data sources. The cases demonstrate that sustainable energy transitions are driven forward by a variety of actors with different aims and interests, culminating in the development of space-specific technological mixes and situative governance structures. Sustainable energy transitions are not following a master plan or are coordinated on a national level. The upper political levels and external events pose severe constraints for the implementation of local transition initiatives. Future research should further aim to highlight and analyze the contentious character of local energy transitions.
Highlights
While the traditional form of electricity generation and supply is based on centralized structures with large-scale power plants, the objective of a strongly decentralized form of energy supply is increasingly becoming of importance
Urban, and regional governance structures develop in conflict with the established structures of the field ‘electricity generation’, the article analyzes a range of German initiatives as ‘strategic action fields’, within which socio-technical innovations are being developed
Our paper started with the assumption that cities and local and regional communities are at the forefront of efforts to change the electricity supply system in Germany [28]
Summary
While the traditional form of electricity generation and supply is based on centralized structures with large-scale power plants, the objective of a strongly decentralized form of energy supply is increasingly becoming of importance. The local, regional, and state governments engaged in planning changes to the electricity system felt strengthened, but the federal government and the incumbent energy providers tried to stem the wave of decentralization. Gerstlberger [25] distinguishes three types of new urban energy providers with partnership constellations emerging in this phase: local privatizations with a participation of national or regional energy providers, international privatizations with a participation of an international energy provider, and privatizations with the participation of an investor which does not belong to the energy field proper This mixture of organizational forms and the differentiation of actors render it difficult to detect an overall line of development with respect to, e.g., sustainability aims. The first one being who was the driving actor in the development of the local initiative? We distinguish between an endogenous development in which the driving forces mainly come from inside the community and an exogenous development, in which the development was driven by actors from outside the
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