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Saskia Ellenbeck
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Research Domain IV - Transdisciplinary Concepts & Methods, Germany

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Journal article
Published: 07 September 2018 in Energy Research & Social Science
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Energy system and integrated assessment models (IAMs) are widely used techniques for knowledge production to assess costs of future energy pathways and economic effects of energy/climate policies. With their increased use for policy assessment and increasing dominance in energy policy science, such models attract increasing criticism. In the last years, such models – especially the highly complex IAMs, have been accused of being arbitrary. We challenge this view and argue that the models and their assumptions are not arbitrary, but they are normative and reflect the modelers’ understanding of the functioning of the society, the environment-societal relations and respective appropriate scientific tools and theories – in short: models are shaped by discursive structures, reproducing and reinforcing particular societal discourses. We identify 9 distinct paths, all relating to crucial model decisions, via which discourses enter models: for each of these decisions, there are multiple “correct” answers, in the sense that they can be justified within a particular discourse. We conclude that decisions of modelers about the structure and about assumptions in energy modeling are not arbitrary but contingent to the discursive context the modeler is related to. This has two implications. First, modelers and consumers of model output must reflect on what a model and its assumptions represent, and not only whether are they correct. Second, models hardly need to add more (mathematical) complexity, but rather be reduced and simplified so that they can continue to fulfill their main function as formalized and powerful instruments for thought experiments about future energy pathways.

ACS Style

Saskia Ellenbeck; Johan Lilliestam. How modelers construct energy costs: Discursive elements in Energy System and Integrated Assessment Models. Energy Research & Social Science 2018, 47, 69 -77.

AMA Style

Saskia Ellenbeck, Johan Lilliestam. How modelers construct energy costs: Discursive elements in Energy System and Integrated Assessment Models. Energy Research & Social Science. 2018; 47 ():69-77.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Saskia Ellenbeck; Johan Lilliestam. 2018. "How modelers construct energy costs: Discursive elements in Energy System and Integrated Assessment Models." Energy Research & Social Science 47, no. : 69-77.

Dataset
Published: 01 March 2018 in ENERGYO
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The option of decarbonisation of the European power sector with the help of significant imports of renewable electricity from North Africa via a trans-continental electricity Supergrid is increasingly gaining attention. In this paper, we investigate the geopolitical risks to European energy security in such a future, and discuss cornerstones for possible policy strategies to reduce these risks. The strategies are rooted in the interdependence between exporter and importer. We come to the conclusion that fostering and deepening, as opposed to reducing, the dependence of both sides on each other may be a valuable and powerful way to reduce the geopolitical risks of renewable electricity trade between Europe and North Africa.

ACS Style

Johan Lilliestam; Saskia Ellenbeck. Fostering Interdependence to Minimise Political Risks in a European-North African Renewable Electricity Supergrid. ENERGYO 2018, 1 .

AMA Style

Johan Lilliestam, Saskia Ellenbeck. Fostering Interdependence to Minimise Political Risks in a European-North African Renewable Electricity Supergrid. ENERGYO. 2018; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Johan Lilliestam; Saskia Ellenbeck. 2018. "Fostering Interdependence to Minimise Political Risks in a European-North African Renewable Electricity Supergrid." ENERGYO , no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 01 November 2017 in Energy Policy
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ACS Style

Andrzej Ceglarz; Andreas Beneking; Saskia Ellenbeck; Antonella Battaglini. Understanding the role of trust in power line development projects: Evidence from two case studies in Norway. Energy Policy 2017, 110, 570 -580.

AMA Style

Andrzej Ceglarz, Andreas Beneking, Saskia Ellenbeck, Antonella Battaglini. Understanding the role of trust in power line development projects: Evidence from two case studies in Norway. Energy Policy. 2017; 110 ():570-580.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Andrzej Ceglarz; Andreas Beneking; Saskia Ellenbeck; Antonella Battaglini. 2017. "Understanding the role of trust in power line development projects: Evidence from two case studies in Norway." Energy Policy 110, no. : 570-580.

Journal article
Published: 03 June 2015 in Energies
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The European Union and its Member States are seeking to decarbonize their energy systems, including the electricity sector and, at the same time, pursue market integration. However, renewable energy (RE) deployment and the liberalization of the energy-only market have raised concerns at the national level about the security of electricity supplies in the future. Some actors consider the lack of sufficient investments in generation capacities a threat to supply security. As a consequence, it was proposed that capacity markets solve these problems. The underlying assumption is that the market design is the only determining factor for investments in security of supply options. In this article, we question this narrow view and identify further determinants of the investment decisions of electricity market participants. Based on the insights of institutional sociology and economics, we understand the market to be a social institution that structures the behavioural expectations of market participants. Derived from the theoretical conceptualization and based on qualitative literature review and own work, we find four determinants for investment behaviour beyond the formal market design: Material opportunities, strategic actor behavior and identity, focusing events and discursive expectations about the future. With this perspective, we discuss the introduction of a European Energy Union as a possible tool that might have a great impact on the more informal determinants such as expectations about the future and the construction of a European energy narrative.

ACS Style

Saskia Ellenbeck; Andreas Beneking; Andrzej Ceglarz; Peter Schmidt; Antonella Battaglini. Security of Supply in European Electricity Markets—Determinants of Investment Decisions and the European Energy Union. Energies 2015, 8, 5198 -5216.

AMA Style

Saskia Ellenbeck, Andreas Beneking, Andrzej Ceglarz, Peter Schmidt, Antonella Battaglini. Security of Supply in European Electricity Markets—Determinants of Investment Decisions and the European Energy Union. Energies. 2015; 8 (6):5198-5216.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Saskia Ellenbeck; Andreas Beneking; Andrzej Ceglarz; Peter Schmidt; Antonella Battaglini. 2015. "Security of Supply in European Electricity Markets—Determinants of Investment Decisions and the European Energy Union." Energies 8, no. 6: 5198-5216.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2012 in Green
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The option of decarbonisation of the European power sector with the help of significant imports of renewable electricity from North Africa via a trans-continental electricity

ACS Style

Johan Lilliestam; Saskia Ellenbeck. Fostering Interdependence to Minimise Political Risks in a European-North African Renewable Electricity Supergrid. Green 2012, 2, 1 .

AMA Style

Johan Lilliestam, Saskia Ellenbeck. Fostering Interdependence to Minimise Political Risks in a European-North African Renewable Electricity Supergrid. Green. 2012; 2 (2-3):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Johan Lilliestam; Saskia Ellenbeck. 2012. "Fostering Interdependence to Minimise Political Risks in a European-North African Renewable Electricity Supergrid." Green 2, no. 2-3: 1.

Journal article
Published: 30 June 2011 in Energy Policy
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Solar power imports to Europe from the deserts of North Africa, as foreseen in the Desertec concept, is one possible way to help decarbonising the European power sector by 2050. However, this approach raises questions of threats to European energy security in such an import scenario, particularly in the light of increasing import dependency and Russia's use of the “energy weapon” in recent years. In this paper we investigate the threat of North African countries using the Desertec electricity exports as an “energy weapon”. We develop and use a new model to assess the interdependence – the bargaining power symmetry, operationalised as costs – of a disruption in a future renewable electricity trade between North Africa and Europe. If Europe maintains current capacity buffers, some demand-response capability and does not import much more than what is described in the Desertec scenario, it is susceptible to extortion and political pressure only if all five exporter countries unite in using the energy weapon. Europe is not vulnerable to extortion by an export cut from only one country, as the European capacity buffers are sufficient to restore the power supply: no single exporter country would have sustained bargaining power over Europe.

ACS Style

Johan Lilliestam; Saskia Ellenbeck. Energy security and renewable electricity trade—Will Desertec make Europe vulnerable to the “energy weapon”? Energy Policy 2011, 39, 3380 -3391.

AMA Style

Johan Lilliestam, Saskia Ellenbeck. Energy security and renewable electricity trade—Will Desertec make Europe vulnerable to the “energy weapon”? Energy Policy. 2011; 39 (6):3380-3391.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Johan Lilliestam; Saskia Ellenbeck. 2011. "Energy security and renewable electricity trade—Will Desertec make Europe vulnerable to the “energy weapon”?" Energy Policy 39, no. 6: 3380-3391.