Winds of Change: Exploring the policy drivers behind Spain’s green transition success

This thesis examines the accelerated success of Spain’s green transition, focusing on the expansion of renewable energy generation and the decline of coal-fired energy from 2019 to 2024. Using a historical institutionalism lens, the research analyzes the drivers behind these changes, emphasizing the role of state capacity (fiscal, legal, and collective), international and EU agreements, partisanship, and state-business dynamics. Applying a process-tracing, least-likely case study methodology and diverse data sources (including governmental documents, news articles, international and national statistics, and interviews), this paper chronologically traces Spain’s green energy transformation from a socio-technical systems and public policy approach. The empirical findings show the importance of fiscal and legal capacity to make the transition profitable, collective capacity and partisanship to deliver green public goods, strong state-business collaboration to mobilize private sector...Show moreThis thesis examines the accelerated success of Spain’s green transition, focusing on the expansion of renewable energy generation and the decline of coal-fired energy from 2019 to 2024. Using a historical institutionalism lens, the research analyzes the drivers behind these changes, emphasizing the role of state capacity (fiscal, legal, and collective), international and EU agreements, partisanship, and state-business dynamics. Applying a process-tracing, least-likely case study methodology and diverse data sources (including governmental documents, news articles, international and national statistics, and interviews), this paper chronologically traces Spain’s green energy transformation from a socio-technical systems and public policy approach. The empirical findings show the importance of fiscal and legal capacity to make the transition profitable, collective capacity and partisanship to deliver green public goods, strong state-business collaboration to mobilize private sector funding, and international and EU agreements to set ambitious targets shaping national policies. By exploring the interplay between political struggles and institutional contexts, this thesis highlights the complexities of implementing large-scale clean energy policies in Spain, and how and why path-dependent situations can reverse over time to enable positive change.Show less

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Winds of Change: Exploring the policy drivers behind Spain’s green transition success