Abstract
Germany’s energy transition (Energiewende) is highly instructive on how the shift from nuclear to renewable energy can reconfigure the institutional arrangements, power relations, socio-materiality and spatial structures of an energy system. This brief chapter sets the scene for subsequent empirical illustrations by characterizing the institutional framework of the German Energiewende, in terms of EU policy on liberalization and privatization, economic incentives for private investment in renewable energies and national government planning initiatives for grid development. From this, we identify the spatial dimensions of the Energiewende, drawing attention to processes of rescaling and decentralizing Germany’s electricity system. The chapter concludes by summarizing the principal research challenges for social scientists working in this under-theorized field.
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Gailing, L., Röhring, A. (2016). Germany’s Energiewende and the Spatial Reconfiguration of an Energy System. In: Gailing, L., Moss, T. (eds) Conceptualizing Germany’s Energy Transition. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50593-4_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50593-4_2
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