Entering renewable electricity production : An actor perspective

Abstract

Although energy transition is considered one of the main challenges of our time, little attention has traditionally been paid to the actors participating in this transition, such as the producers of renewable electricity. Previous energy policy literature and policy- makers have assumed that these producers are incumbent actors of the current energy system, that is to say, large utilities producing both renewable and fossil-fueled electricity. In reality, new types of producers are entering the renewable electricity production market, without much (if any) previous experience in that industry. This Licentiate thesis studies the new entrants of renewable electricity production in order to identify their motives, their responses to policies, and their ways of implementing their projects. This is conducted through the analysis of 37 cases of new entrants in Sweden. A theoretical background, a complete description of the methods, and an overall presentation of the findings are presented in the first part of the thesis, and in the second part of the thesis, four scientific papers studying the new entrants of renewable electricity production from complementary theoretical approaches are presented. Results show that the new entrant group is heterogeneous in several ways. They have different motives, they are affected by different drivers and pressures, and they are faced with different challenges during their entry processes. Despite that, their share of investments represents the majority of those currently being made in renewable electricity production in Sweden. Based on these results, policy implications are drawn and, in particular, the need for policy-makers and energy policy literature to acknowledge the particularities of the new entrants is highlighted

What Characterizes a System Builder? The Role of Local Energy Companies in Energy System Transformation

“…Entrepreneurship studies reasons why individual starts new business and why some individuals recognize an opportunity while others do not. The decision, e.g., to make an investment is described as a process where an individual identifies an opportunity and evaluates the value of exploiting it as sufficient [20,21]. Why some individuals recognize opportunities is explained by characteristics related to the entrepreneur, such as prior knowledge, experience and skills, psychological characteristics, networks, and interests [20].…”

“…The decision, e.g., to make an investment is described as a process where an individual identifies an opportunity and evaluates the value of exploiting it as sufficient [20,21]. Why some individuals recognize opportunities is explained by characteristics related to the entrepreneur, such as prior knowledge, experience and skills, psychological characteristics, networks, and interests [20]. The entrepreneur's goals are also important, and in recent literature social entrepreneurs and their desire to contribute to social and environmental change have also been highlighted [22].…”

Conditions for resource-efficient production of biofuels for transport in Sweden

“…To some extent actors may respond to demand in the market or policy structures pushing for biofuels, but not all actors may act rationally (cf. Mignon, 2014) and barriers as well as drivers may vary between actors.…”