16 P. MIDFORD
involves meeting increasing flexibility requirements for the grid alongside dwindling domestic backup capacity. This chapter identifies lessons
learned and experiences that are potentially transferrable to other countries, evaluating the extent to which the Danish success story can apply to
other countries and regions.
In Chapter 14, Sarah Kilpeläinen and Pami Aalto analyze Finland’s
transition from a production-centric to a Smart Grid centric electricity
system that can extensively utilize renewable energy. By the late 2010s,
the idea of a full-scale energy transition was mainstreamed in Finnish
society, including the expectation of renewable energy becoming the
main production component in the Finnish energy system. This chapter
argues that the increasing use of renewable energy sources is associated
with the trends of electrification, decentralization, and variability. These
trends contribute to a shift from a production-centric to a consumption
centric energy system and require a focus on how flows of electricity are
managed, stored, and redistributed, and how this affects the interests of
the widening field of stakeholders. This chapter emphasizes the influence
of stakeholders’ interests as they navigate and respond to the trends associated with a higher share of renewable energy in the system with a special
focus on grid development and energy storage. The analysis finds that
although the need for a transition to higher shares of renewable energy
has been mainstreamed, the policy development necessary for this transition is still in a formative phase as stakeholders struggle to balance and
interlink their diverse interests.
In Chapter 15, Espen Moe summarizes the findings of this volume
and takes stock of how we have progressed since the publication of our
previous volume (Moe and Midford 2014). He finds that while the countries that figure both in this book and in our previous volume have
changed, and moved on to face challenges that still lay in the future
in 2014, the analysis we presented then is still recognizable. Fukushima
triggered considerable change to Japanese energy policy, but arguably no
energy revolution. China still has curtailment problems and coal is still an
elephant in the room. Norway still does not really think of wind power
in terms of climate policy. Moreover, Denmark is still the number one
wind-power country in the world in terms of share of electricity consumption. Thus, in these four countries, as well in the countries that were not
included in the 2014 volume, there is a significant amount of muddling
through on the part of politicians. In other words, while this volume
involves meeting increasing flexibility requirements for the grid alongside dwindling domestic backup capacity. This chapter identifies lessons
learned and experiences that are potentially transferrable to other countries, evaluating the extent to which the Danish success story can apply to
other countries and regions.
In Chapter 14, Sarah Kilpeläinen and Pami Aalto analyze Finland’s
transition from a production-centric to a Smart Grid centric electricity
system that can extensively utilize renewable energy. By the late 2010s,
the idea of a full-scale energy transition was mainstreamed in Finnish
society, including the expectation of renewable energy becoming the
main production component in the Finnish energy system. This chapter
argues that the increasing use of renewable energy sources is associated
with the trends of electrification, decentralization, and variability. These
trends contribute to a shift from a production-centric to a consumption
centric energy system and require a focus on how flows of electricity are
managed, stored, and redistributed, and how this affects the interests of
the widening field of stakeholders. This chapter emphasizes the influence
of stakeholders’ interests as they navigate and respond to the trends associated with a higher share of renewable energy in the system with a special
focus on grid development and energy storage. The analysis finds that
although the need for a transition to higher shares of renewable energy
has been mainstreamed, the policy development necessary for this transition is still in a formative phase as stakeholders struggle to balance and
interlink their diverse interests.
In Chapter 15, Espen Moe summarizes the findings of this volume
and takes stock of how we have progressed since the publication of our
previous volume (Moe and Midford 2014). He finds that while the countries that figure both in this book and in our previous volume have
changed, and moved on to face challenges that still lay in the future
in 2014, the analysis we presented then is still recognizable. Fukushima
triggered considerable change to Japanese energy policy, but arguably no
energy revolution. China still has curtailment problems and coal is still an
elephant in the room. Norway still does not really think of wind power
in terms of climate policy. Moreover, Denmark is still the number one
wind-power country in the world in terms of share of electricity consumption. Thus, in these four countries, as well in the countries that were not
included in the 2014 volume, there is a significant amount of muddling
through on the part of politicians. In other words, while this volume