The German Energiewende as a technonology-driven sectorial transformation

The German energy transition to renewable energy or in another world “Energiewende” has become the center of attention worldwide when the German government announced the total phase-out of nuclear power from the country’s energy mix in short-term as a response to the nuclear disaster taken place in Fukushima in 2011. The complete energy transition of the German economy has had significant impacts on its energy sector and its actors. In the beginning of the 2000s we can see a strong centralization of the market and the emergence of the Big 4 companies, namely E.ON, RWE, ENBW and Vattenfall as dominant actors. In spite of their fast emergence into market leading positions, by the end of the decade, they had to face with serious challenges posed by the spread of new renewable technologies which threatened the own existence of the Big 4. Although there were visible signs that might have indicated the transition of the energy sector from conventional to renewable energy sources, they...Show moreThe German energy transition to renewable energy or in another world “Energiewende” has become the center of attention worldwide when the German government announced the total phase-out of nuclear power from the country’s energy mix in short-term as a response to the nuclear disaster taken place in Fukushima in 2011. The complete energy transition of the German economy has had significant impacts on its energy sector and its actors. In the beginning of the 2000s we can see a strong centralization of the market and the emergence of the Big 4 companies, namely E.ON, RWE, ENBW and Vattenfall as dominant actors. In spite of their fast emergence into market leading positions, by the end of the decade, they had to face with serious challenges posed by the spread of new renewable technologies which threatened the own existence of the Big 4. Although there were visible signs that might have indicated the transition of the energy sector from conventional to renewable energy sources, they slowly recognized it and they were too slow to find answers to the challenges they had to face. Why were their reactions so slow? Did they adapt finally to the changing circumstances because of the crisis they had experienced? This seems to be a too easy answer for that question. Therefore this paper tries to contribute to the discussion on the German energy transition by examining the further causes of the above mentioned slow reactions and by investigating the organizational triggers which led the Big 4 companies towards adaptivity in the changed environment. By understanding this process, we can gain a better insight why formerly nonadaptive organizations shift towards adaptivity.Show less

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The German Energiewende as a technonology-driven sectorial transformation