From Laggard to Leader: Explaining Offshore Wind Developments in the UK

Kern, Florian; Smith, Adrian; Shaw, Chris; Raven, R.P.J.M.; Verhees, Bram

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2737324

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(1 reference statement)

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“…Indeed, large German energy firms have if anything been more resistant to the development of renewable energy than their counterparts (and in two cases, subsidiaries) in the LME UK (Jacobsson and Lauber 2007). And in some cases LMEs can appear to produce instances of coordinated action, for example offshore wind in the UK (Kern et al 2014).…”

Section: Comparative Institutional Systems and Varieties Of Capitalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: A research agenda

Lockwood

Kuzemko

Mitchell

et al. 2016

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

111

113

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Improving the understanding of the politics of sustainable energy transitions has become a major focus for research. This paper builds on recent interest in institutionalist approaches to consider in some depth the agenda arising from a historical institutionalist perspective on such transitions. It is argued that historical institutionalism is a valuable complement to socio-technical systems approaches, offering tools for the explicit analysis of institutional dynamics that are present but implicit in the latter framework, opening up new questions and providing useful empirical material relevant for the study of the wider political contexts within which transitions are emerging. Deploying a number of core concepts including veto players, power, unintended consequences, and positive and negative feedback in a variety of ways, the paper explores research agendas in two broad areas: understanding diversity in transition outcomes in terms of the effects of different institutional arrangements, and the understanding of transitions in terms of institutional development and change. A range of issues are explored, including: the roles of electoral and political institutions, regulatory agencies, the creation of politically credible commitment to transition policies, power and incumbency, institutional systems and varieties of capitalism, sources of regime stability and instability, policy feedback effects, and types of gradual institutional change. The paper concludes with some observations on the potential and limitations of historical institutionalism, and briefly considers the question of whether there may be specific institutional configurations that would facilitate more rapid sustainable energy transitions.

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Section: Comparative Institutional Systems and Varieties Of Capitalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: A research agenda

Lockwood

Kuzemko

Mitchell

et al. 2016

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

111

113

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show abstract

“…The first offshore wind park in the UK was built in 2001 but the rapid deployment of offshore wind only commenced in 2009 with the improvement in the regulatory framework and a more active government role (Kern et al 2014). The RO system was changed to provide more generous support for infant renewable energy technologies (Kern et al 2014: 638).…”

Section: Simple Lme (Uk)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Crown Estate was given the mandate to manage the seabed, grant consents for offshore wind projects, and ensure profit maximization for the state. The role of the Crown Estate has been instrumental in improving the conditions for offshore wind energy investments in the UK and facilitating project implementation (Kern et al 2014). The new support scheme CfD continues to provide necessary support for offshore wind projects.…”

Section: Simple Lme (Uk)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The planning and implementation of such projects resembles in many ways conventional energy projects. Such centralized energy planning is not only familiar to the national government in UK, but it also allows the government to directly monitor and manage the revenues from offshore wind investments (see also Kern et al 2014). Nonetheless, the still prevailing market-based policy paradigm and the related lack of strategic state-industry-science collaboration have hampered the emergence of a genuine domestic offshore wind industry and failed to provide long-term certainty for sectoral growth.…”

Section: Simple Lme (Uk)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions

Arndt¹,

Miller²,

Tarp³

et al. 2017

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work. Terms of use: Documents inIt is permitted to reuse, share and adapt this work, subject to the following terms:Attribution -appropriate credit is given to the original work, the copyright holder and creator, and any changes made to the work are properly indicated.Non-Commercial -the work, or any adaptation of the work, may not be used, distributed or reproduced in any format, by any means, for commercial purposes.Share-Alike -the work, or any adaptation of the work is distributed under the same licence terms as the original, with a URL link provided to the licence.Some rights reserved. ForewordSustainable energy transitions involve the shift of resources between competing industrial sectors and political constituencies. Stakeholders in this process have varying degrees of political and economic power, and understanding how political economic factors influence clean energy transitions is crucial to effective policy formulation and facilitating transitions to sustainable energy systems. In partnership with the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA), UNU-WIDER gathered together a substantial group of experts from around the world-from both developed and developing countries-to launch a multidisciplinary research project seeking to contribute to our enhanced understanding of these factors. The project sought to facilitate an energy transition that will generate very large environmental and economic benefits, particularly over the long run. The beneficiaries of clean energy transitions are highly diffuse and include future generations not yet born. This book is the distilled essence of the cross-cutting academic project. I express my sincere and professional appreciation to the large group of expert authors for their dedication to the project, and to my fellow editors in helping bring together the book for readers to enjoy and absorb along with the findings and policy implications.

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“…Of course, as has been discussed, there does exist a considerable subset of literature acknowledging the general importance to large scale sociotechnical change of wider political and cultural dynamics (F. W. Geels, 2014;Geels & Verhees, 2011;Kern, Smith, Shaw, Raven, & Verhees, 2014;Meadowcroft, 2009;Smith, Kern, Raven, & Verhees, 2013;Smith & Stirling, 2010). And in other areas of literature, the issues raised here might be referred to as features of a notionally singular overarching 'landscape', that helps to condition processes at the level of 'the' regime (Rotmans, Kemp, & Asselt, 2001).…”

Section: Implications Of -And For -'Democracy'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Nuclear Power Trajectories in Germany and the UK: From 'Regimes' to 'Democracies' in Sociotechnical Transitions and Discontinuities

Johnstone

Stirling

2015

SSRN Journal

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SWPS 2015-18 ( June) DisclaimerThe works available here are the responsibility of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of other SPRU researchers. As matters of policy and practice, SPRU does not endorse individual research contributions. Guidelines for authorsPapers shall be submitted in pdf or Word format. They should contain a title, an abstract, and keywords. Papers should be submitted to one of the Editors, who will process them and send them to the appropriate Associate Editor. Two members of SPRU will be asked to provide a short written review within three weeks. The revised versions of the paper, together with a reply to the reviewers, should be sent to the Associate Editor, who will propose to the Editors its publication on the series. When submitting the authors should indicate if the paper has already undergone peer-reviewing, in which case the Associate Editors may decide to skip internal review process. AbstractThis paper focuses on arguably the single most striking contrast in contemporary major energy politics in Europe (and even the developed world as a whole): the starkly differing civil nuclear policies of Germany and the UK. Germany is seeking entirely to phase out nuclear power by 2022. Yet the UK advocates a 'nuclear renaissance', promoting the most ambitious new nuclear construction programme in Western Europe. Here, this paper poses a simple yet quite fundamental question: what are the particular divergent conditions most strongly implicated in the contrasting developments in these two countries. With nuclear playing such an iconic role in historical discussions over technological continuity and transformation, answering this may assist in wider understandings of sociotechnical incumbency and discontinuity in the burgeoning field of 'sustainability transitions'. To this end, an 'abductive' approach is taken: deploying nine potentially relevant criteria for understanding the different directions pursued in Germany and the UK. Together constituted by 30 parameters spanning literatures related to socio-technical regimes in general as well as nuclear technology in particular, the criteria are divided into those that are 'internal' and 'external' to the 'focal regime configuration' of nuclear power and associated 'challenger technologies' like renewables. It is 'internal' criteria that are emphasised in conventional sociotechnical regime theory, with 'external' criteria relatively less well explored. Asking under each criterion whether attempted discontinuation of nuclear power would be more likely in Germany or the UK, a clear picture emerges. 'Internal' criteria suggest attempted nuclear discontinuation should be more likely in the UK than in Germany -the reverse of what is occurring. 'External' criteria are more aligned with observed dynamics -especially those relating to military nuclear commitments and broader 'qualities of democracy'. Despite many differences of framing concerning exactly what constitutes 'democracy', a rich political science literature on t...

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From Laggard to Leader: Explaining Offshore Wind Developments in the UK

Cited by 11 publications

References 36 publications

Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: A research agenda

Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: A research agenda

The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions

Comparing Nuclear Power Trajectories in Germany and the UK: From 'Regimes' to 'Democracies' in Sociotechnical Transitions and Discontinuities

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