Elsevier

Energy Policy

Volume 101, February 2017, Pages 612-628
Energy Policy

Comparing electricity transitions: A historical analysis of nuclear, wind and solar power in Germany and Japan

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.10.044Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • We identify five mechanisms which play a role in national low-carbon electricity transitions.

  • Use of nuclear, wind and solar power in Germany and Japan diverged in the 1990s.

  • Wind power diffused to Germany from Denmark but different geography stalled it in Japan.

  • Demand growth and energy insecurity prompted nuclear power expansion in Japan.

  • Competition with domestic coal and wind led to the demise of nuclear power in Germany.

Abstract

This paper contributes to understanding national variations in using low-carbon electricity sources by comparing the evolution of nuclear, wind and solar power in Germany and Japan. It develops and applies a framework for analyzing low-carbon electricity transitions based on interplay of techno-economic, political and socio-technical processes. We explain why in the 1970s–1980s, the energy paths of the two countries were remarkably similar, but since the 1990s Germany has become a leader in renewables while phasing out nuclear energy, whereas Japan has deployed less renewables while becoming a leader in nuclear power. We link these differences to the faster growth of electricity demand and energy insecurity in Japan, the easier diffusion of onshore wind power technology and the weakening of the nuclear power regime induced by stagnation and competition from coal and renewables in Germany. We show how these changes involve the interplay of five distinct mechanisms which may also play a role in other energy transitions.

Keywords

Germany
Japan
Renewable electricity
Nuclear power
Energy transitions

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