Are Low-Carbon Futures Decentralised?: The Governance of Collective Electricity Systems

by Siddharth Sareen (Editor), Per O. Eikeland (Editor), Tor H.J. Inderberg (Editor)

Overview

This insightful book examines the role of the electric grid and cognate infrastructures in driving the low-carbon transition, addressing the key question: are low-carbon futures decentralised?

Featuring chapters by renowned international experts, the book explores decentralisation as both a governance manoeuvre and infrastructural innovation, reflecting on the relationship between emergent data infrastructures and electricity systems. It sheds light on how the governance of collective electricity systems is changing in favour of rapid low-carbon electrification, providing insights into transition tensions and electrical outages across diverse contexts. Chapters discuss the concept of building structurally variable power systems and illustrate how distributed energy will affect existing power supplies, showcasing how institutional technologies are designed for decentralised energy governance. They also evaluate decentralisation versus centralisation in the electricity sector, demonstrating the transformative impact of distributed energy systems on polycentric grids.

Are Low-Carbon Futures Decentralised? is an essential resource for students and academics in energy, geography, economics, governance and transitions. Its practical insights into sustainable development will greatly benefit geographers, political scientists and development researchers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781035355181
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	08/10/2025
Pages:	278
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Edited by Siddharth Sareen, Per Ove Eikeland and Tor Håkon Jackson Inderberg, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway

Table of Contents

Contents
1 Are low-carbon futures decentralised? Directional flows in
the changing governance of collective electricity systems 1
Siddharth Sareen, Tor Håkon Jackson Inderberg and Per
Ove Eikeland
PART I CONCEPTUAL AND ANALYTICAL APPROACHES 26
2 Designing institutional technologies for decentralised energy
governance 27
Viktor Bukovszki and Michael Mrissa
3 Quantum transformation of electrical systems: the potential
for decentralisation of infrastructures, governance, and
organisational structures 38
Boris Kantsepolsky
4 Transition tensions: transmission lines in visions of European
Union decentralisation 50
Daniel Wuebben
5 The concept of building a structurally variable power system 61
Sergii Saukh
6 How distributed energy will affect the existing power system 76
Fereidoon Sioshansi
7 Weather, shifting demands and conflict: analysing electric
outages across the European Union and Ukraine 86
Thomas Ptak and Julie Brooks
8 Regional energy hubs with integrated hydrogen in the
Netherlands: an exploratory design perspective 96
Mahshid Hasankhani
9 Scale, governance and net zero: decentralisation versus
centralisation in electricity 107
Michael Pollitt
10 Transformation to a polycentric grid with distributed energy
systems 122
Maarten Wolsink
PART II NATIONAL AND SUB-NATIONAL CASE STUDIES 133
11 Citizen participation in the electricity system: a reflection on
energy democracy in Swedish energy communities 134
Jenny Palm
12 Energy infrastructure planning for positive energy city
districts: the sector-coupling pathways for the new city district
of Dietenbach in Freiburg, Germany 145
Arian Mahzouni
13 Decentralised energy management in households through
event-driven tariffs and smart meters: a German case study 156
Claudius Kübler, Jiayin Fu and Matthias Grandel
14 Halfway to decentralisation? Understanding the energy
paradigm shift in Italy 171
Giada F.P. Coleandro
15 Designing a multi-level organisational model for
implementing sustainable energy communities in Colombia 181
Georg Heinemann, Ana María Ramírez Tovar and Pasha Alidadi
16 Building back better? Reviewing scenarios of a decentralised
post-war electricity system in Ukraine 194
Nadiya Kostyuchenko, Cristian Pons-Seres de Brauwer,
Adrian Rinscheid and Rolf Wüstenhagen
17 Centralisation and decentralisation of Norwegian utilities 211
Kjersti Aarrestad and Jørgen Bjørndalen
18 ‘Future-gazing’: how floating offshore wind can revitalise
European large energy-intensive industries 224
Julian Gregory
19 Electric futures in Türkiye: decentralisation, regulatory
trends, and carbon tax implications 235
Mine Sertsöz
20 Conclusion: three overarching themes for understanding
decentralisation in future low-carbon electricity systems 244
Per Ove Eikeland, Tor Håkon Jackson Inderberg and
Siddharth Sareen

Editorial Reviews

‘Decentralised electricity systems may be critical for decarbonisation, but the path is strewn with difficulties. This important book reveals possibilities for new forms of governance as well as for novel system topologies and digital controls. It offers a wide-ranging and thought-provoking exploration of this challenging topic.’

Janet Stephenson

‘This volume offers a wealth of inter-disciplinary and case study perspectives on electricity decentralisation. It offers clear and concise discussions of the significance of digitalisation, sector coupling, and storage technologies for enhancing energy security, and the role that citizen participation can play in democratising electricity systems.’

Miranda Schreurs

‘The words “governance” and “decentralisation” appear frequently in discussions of energy transitions and energy and climate policy but are often deployed unreflectively and carelessly. This book masterfully brings together more than 30 world leading scholars to explore both topics with unmatched depth of insight coupled with a rich breadth of topics, from the quantum level all the way to how people envision collective global futures. Seminal reading for students and decision makers alike.’

Benjamin Sovacool