Calculating the ‘Price’ of Infrastructure Reliability in Finland

Abstract

AbstractThis final empirical chapter demonstrates how our Science and Technology Studies–inspired line of enquiry is also of use for considering the processes underlying and subsequent outcomes of large energy research projects, which have more conventional, monodisciplinary ambitions, and methodological tools, in comparison to the intentionally interdisciplinary projects discussed in Chaps. 10.1007/978-3-030-88455-0_2 and 10.1007/978-3-030-88455-0_3. Specifically, in this chapter, we explore a Finnish research project that aimed to study how much reliable electricity supply is ‘worth’ to the energy end-users, by assigning this reliability a financial price. Through discussing the experiences and outcomes of this project, we make clear how this reliability ‘price’ was translated and moved between survey studies, statistical modelling, and the needs of the energy industries and market regulatory profession. We conclude with direct discussion of how this chapter connects to the wider, interdisciplinary issues pertinent to this book, including boundary objects, the impacts of funding, epistemic cultures, and the importance of disciplines, and the implications of these for improving the understanding of technical and economic research projects that sit between vital public problems.