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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives Transitions to Renewable Energy in Industrializing Countries A comparative case study of the Indian states Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu Simen Storm Berger Master’s thesis at the department of Political Science The faculty of Social Sciences University of Oslo Spring 2015 II Transitions to Renewable Energy in Industrializing Countries A comparative case study of the Indian states Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu Simen Storm Berger III © Simen Storm Berger 2015 Transitions to Renewable Energy in Industrializing Countries: A comparative case study of the Indian states Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu Simen Storm Berger http://www.duo.uio.no/ Printed by: Fridtjof Nansen Institute IV Abstract A key challenge for future climate change mitigation efforts will be to ensure that industrializing countries make a successful transition from a fossil-heavy energy system to a more sustainable one, where renewable energy sources are predominant. Yet, great variation is observed in the degree of renewable energy spread in industrializing countries. What explains this variation? This thesis aims to shed light on the determinants of variation in renewable energy transitions in one key industrializing country: India, in hopes that explanations for renewable energy spread here can be applied to this group of countries in general. Through a comparative case study of the electricity sector of the Indian states Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, propositions derived from two different theoretical perspectives on societal transitions are tested, and linkages are drawn between proposed explanatory mechanisms and the degree of renewable energy spread in the two states. The thesis concludes that in the analyzed cases, clear and direct support policy instruments aimed at facilitating renewable energy greatly help its spread, so long as other contending political issues are not more salient and are taking precedence. One such contending political issue is rapid growth in energy demand. Differences in renewable energy spread in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu can largely be traced back to the more pressing energy demand situation in the former state, and the greater political saliency of renewable energy in the latter. At the end of the analyzed period, when these two aspects become more similar across cases, the differences in renewable energy spread also dissipate between them. A directly observed process is that higher power deficits and higher energy demand growth leads to pressure towards the ability of renewable energy to provide enough electricity. This in turn forces a shift in state priority towards fossil energy sources. Empirical observations throughout the analysis further indicate that a high coal dependency is linked to a generally lower spread of renewable energy. V VI Acknowledgements Had it not been for the support and great backing of a multitude of people, the writing of this master’s thesis would have been considerably lonelier, not to mention in all probability more arduous and less fruitful. I owe my sincerest gratitude to my two supervisors, Olav Schram Stokke and Inga Ydersbond, whose insights and input have provided me with a continuous guiding light throughout my search for answers over these last nine months. Their contribution to the end product is impossible to overstate. I would also like to extend my deepest appreciation to the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, who for the better part of the writing period has provided me with a work space and a financial means to more singularly focus on my writing. More importantly, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute has included me in a leading scientific and scholarly environment, within which my knowledge, ideas, and conceptions have been tested, matured and further developed. For this I am immensely grateful. A special thanks goes out to Tor Håkon Inderberg for being my conceptual sparring partner in times of operational insecurity. Moving beyond the world of academics, my family and loved ones deserve praise for sticking with me during this period of writing, and for helping me maintain my sanity. A long and intense process such as the writing of a master’s thesis can take its toll on many a personal relationship. I apologize to everyone I hold dear for my fleeting lapses in mental and physical presence and for a mounting single-mindedness on the task ahead of me as my deadline neared. Writing an academic paper of this magnitude can be taxing on both the mind and soul. I have often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary. Where words leave off, music begins. The errors and mistakes in this thesis are none but my own. [Total number of words in thesis: 42 561] [Total number of words in actual body of text: 37 015] VII VIII Acronyms and Abbreviations AIADMK All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam BJP Bharatiya Janata Party DMK Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam EIA U.S. Energy Information Administration GDP Gross Domestic Product GW Gigawatts HDI Human Development Index INC Indian National Congress IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency MDF The Democratic Front MERC Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission MLP The Multi-Level Perspective MW Megawatts NCP Nationalist Congress Party NGO Non-governmental Organization OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development REC Renewable Energy Certificates RPO Renewables Purchase Obligations SERC State Electricity Regulatory Commission TERI The Energy and Resources Institute TNERC Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission VOC Varieties of Capitalism IX X Table of Contents 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Question ......................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Outline of Thesis ........................................................................................................... 4 2 Dependent Variable – Renewable Energy in India ........................................................ 6 2.1 Dependent Variable – Renewable Energy Spread ........................................................ 6 2.2 India – Politics and Renewable Energy ......................................................................... 9 2.3 Maharashtra – “The Laggard” ..................................................................................... 12 State Politics ................................................................................................................ 12 Renewable Energy ....................................................................................................... 15 2.4 Tamil Nadu – “The Frontrunner” ................................................................................ 16 State Politics ................................................................................................................ 16 Renewable Energy ....................................................................................................... 18 2.5 Summary and Implications .......................................................................................... 19 3 Theoretical Background ................................................................................................. 20 3.1 Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 21 Transition Theory ........................................................................................................ 21 Renewable Energy Transition Theory ......................................................................... 22 3.2 Analytical Perspectives ............................................................................................... 26 The Techno-Innovational Perspective ......................................................................... 27 The Socio-Institutional Perspective ............................................................................ 29 3.3 Independent Variables and Indicators ......................................................................... 31 Coal Dependency ........................................................................................................ 32 Alignment Challenge ................................................................................................... 34 Political Facilitation .................................................................................................... 36 3.4 Summary and Implications .......................................................................................... 37 XI 4 Methodological Framework ........................................................................................... 38 4.1 Case Study Methodology and Research Design ......................................................... 39 4.2 Case Choice Justification ............................................................................................ 41 4.3 Measurement of the Variables ..................................................................................... 44 Sources of Data ........................................................................................................... 45 4.4 Summary and Implications .......................................................................................... 46 5 Results and Analysis ......................................................................................................

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