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Networking for climate change: agency in the context of renewable energy governance in India

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International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Climate change has disastrous impacts in the developing world and confronts countries like India with immense challenges. The dilemma of addressing these challenges encourages the appearance of new modes of agency. However, the extent to which new agents are able to address these challenges depends on several factors. The aim of this article is to examine these factors and how they affect the ways in which climate change-related challenges to development are tackled in the case of the Indian wind energy sector. By firstly examining the attributes and capabilities of the different actors and secondly applying a stakeholder network analysis, the article identifies different characteristics that support the effective and efficient deployment of wind energy in one Indian state and hinder it in another.

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Notes

  1. Earth system governance describes the integrated and interrelated system of formal and informal rules, rule-making system, and actor networks at all societal levels set up to steer societies towards preventing, mitigating, and adapting to global and local environmental challenges and particularly earth system governance transformation within the normative concept of sustainable development (Biermann et al. 2009, p. 4).

  2. This refers to those solutions that are grid-related and already cost-competitive to conventional fuels. This does not consider the many subsidies that still make fossil fuels comparatively cheaper, and also does not include the option of off-grid renewable energy installations that are preferable in some remote rural areas.

  3. Due to the qualitative nature of the research, the method of triangulation was applied to ensure that the information gathered from multiple sources provided statements on the relevant variable. To ensure comparability, the sources of information, e.g. annual reports from organizations like the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions, and the time spans examined were kept constant across the cases. In addition, about 30 structured interviews with representatives from the previously defined stakeholder group were conducted.

  4. Case selection is based on previous inductive research, which firstly demonstrated that these two states present the most prominent puzzle in the Indian context given their geographical proximity and secondly excluded other explanatory factors such as infrastructure conditions, political system, economic factors, and external intervention. Concretely, the puzzle is: why of two neighboring similar states, one harnesses existing resources and the other does not.

  5. Furthermore, issues such as selling wind power to third parties or allowing wind power to be used for captive consumption also lie within the responsibility of the TNEB.

  6. Due to the oligopoly structure of the wind energy market, manufacturers have quite a significant stake and power in shaping market and business developments.

  7. Hence, power requirements for internal consumption are immense, and so are the appetites of investors hoping to benefit from the promised tax benefits.

  8. Stakeholder network analysis could also be applied to further analyze the competitive environment to exclude intervening variables, for example strong veto players like the fossil-fuel lobby.

Abbreviations

ANERT:

Agency for non-conventional energy resources and technology

C-WET:

Centre for wind energy technology

CDM:

Clean development mechanism

CERC:

Central electricity regulatory commission

CS:

Civil society

I:

Investor

InWEA:

Indian wind energy association

IREDA:

Indian renewable energy development agency

IT:

Information technology

FDI:

Foreign direct investment

IPP:

Independent power producer

KSEB:

Kerala state electricity board

KSERC:

Kerala state electricity regulatory commission

LP:

Local people

M:

Manufacturer

MDG:

Millennium development goals

MNRE:

Ministry of new and renewable energy sources (India)

MoP:

Ministry of power

MW:

Megawatt

NGO:

Non-governmental organizations

OECD:

Organization for economic co-operation and development

R&D:

Research and development

SEB:

State electricity board

SERC:

State electricity regulatory commission

SNA:

State nodal agency (of MNRE)

SP:

Service provider

T&D:

Transmission and distribution

TEDA:

Tamil Nadu environmental development agency

TERI:

The energy resources institute

TNEB:

Tamil Nadu electricity board

TNERC:

Tamil Nadu electricity regulatory commission

TNSG:

Tamil Nadu state government

UN:

United Nations

UNDP:

United Nations development programme

UNEP:

United Nations environment programme

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the German Research Foundation in the context of the SFB 700 “Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood” and provided the basis for the author’s PhD Dissertation. I wish to express deepest gratitude to Dr. Bettina Crayen and Elli Raabe who supported me fundamentally during the last phase of finishing this article.

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  1. Research Fellow, SFB 700 D3; Binger Str. 40, 14197, Berlin, Germany

    Elisabeth Benecke

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Benecke, E. Networking for climate change: agency in the context of renewable energy governance in India. Int Environ Agreements 11, 23–42 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-011-9148-8

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