Multilevel policies for radical transition: Governance for a 100% renewable energy system

Abstract

Transition from the stored energy of fossil fuel-based systems to fluctuating renewable energy sources requires a fundamental change in both the energy supply system and governance arrangements. According to analyses made using the Aalborg University Energy PLAN model, the infrastructure required to handle fluctuating energy – such as goals for further expanding the exploitation of wind power towards 50% of energy consumption – necessitates the integration of power, district heating, transportation and biomass production, which should be geographically distributed. To enhance our understanding of this paradigmatic technological change, this article presents both a general analysis of the regulatory consequences and a specific analysis of the immediate challenges involved in the transition process, framed within the Danish context. The general conclusion is that the required distributed, local and regional technological energy system needs a bottom up and interactive regulatory framework, where the central government should have a more reflexive and communicative role, providing services and national coordination for an energy system that contains a large share of fluctuating renewable energy sources. A specific conclusion is that the present Danish tariff principles and energy tax system should be fundamentally altered in order to better facilitate the coordination of the heat and electricity sectors, to incentivise the creation of the necessary integration infrastructure.