Transition towards a decentralised energy system: analysing prospects for innovation facilitation and regime destabilisation in Finland

Abstract

The Finnish energy system is rather centralised and its governing regime is characterised as exclusive. Recently, pressure to move towards decentralised, small-scale energy production has increased. This article utilises a combination of ideas from technological innovation systems and regime destabilisation and analyses the prospects for the transition towards a decentralised energy system in Finland's socio-economic context. We argue that the transition towards a decentralised energy system requires both innovation facilitation and proactive destabilisation of the existing regime, and therefore these issues must also be included in energy transition analyses.