The German Energiewende – What's happening? Introducing the special issue

• Published in: Utilities policy 2016-08, Vol.41, p.163-171
• Main Authors: Quitzow, Leslie, Canzler, Weert, Grundmann, Philipp, Leibenath, Markus, Moss, Timothy, Rave, Tilmann
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Energiewende; Energy transition; Germany
• ISSN: 0957-1787; 1878-4356
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2016.03.002

As one of the world's most ambitious and comprehensive national energy transition initiatives, the German Energiewende is attracting massive attention in policy and research circles. Opinions range from admiration to admonition, with advocates hailing the Energiewende as a model for emulation and critics dismissing it as over-costly and illusionary. Nearly five years on from the nuclear exit strategy, there is clearly an urgent need to provide grounded insight into Germany's energy transition in terms of practical policy implementation and implications for comparable initiatives elsewhere. This special issue brings together papers from leading scholars in Germany to analyze how the Energiewende has translated from policy to practice since the German government's policy U-turn in 2011. Moreover, the special issue dedicates detailed attention to the causes and effects of various policy amendments implemented since 2011, which have decidedly changed the effective character of Germany's Energiewende. •International debates on the Energiewende highlight national issues related to policy, the environment, technology, and costs.•Few international studies deal with the Energiewende’s implementation at the level of communities, towns, and regions.•This issue analyzes local Energiewende related conflicts, actor constellations, market structures and governance arrangements.•It focuses on tensions between centralized and decentralized systems, public and private interests, global and local effects.