Storage Technologies for the Electricity Transition: An Analysis of Actors, Actor Perspectives and Transition Pathways in Germany

Abstract

This article analyses actors in the storage niche during the German electricity transition. Thus, we develop a more differentiated understanding of actors and their storage activities. For that, we employ the analytical multi-level-perspective (MLP) framework to focus on interactions between old and new storage technologies. Using data from expert interviews, we investigate whether the storage pathway resembles any of the four ideal types of transition pathways for interactions between niche and regime. Through our interviews, we identify five types of actor in the storage market: Big 4 (EnBW, RWE, E.ON, Vattenfall), project developers, innovative municipal utilities, small rural municipal utilities and independent green electricity providers. For each actor, we analyse four main aspects (1) previous orientation and motivation, (2) structural strategies, (3) institutional strategies, and (4) product-related strategies. Parallel to the classification of actors, we also classify available storage technologies according to their primary field of application. We conclude that interactions between regime and niche actors are cooperative, but weak, and no specific actor type currently dominates the niche activities. Hence, applications in the storage niche are not yet ready for a larger market. In sum, our results point to a future system that is characterized by reconfiguration, not substitution or transformation of current market actors.