Energy innovation in Germany

This chapter portrays the state of the innovation system for green electricity in Germany and its development from the 1990s to the 2020s. First, we present the conceptual framework for the analysis of this case study: a combined technological innovation systems/multi-level perspective framework enlarged by integrating into the analysis consumers and stakeholders, economic, socio-political, and environmental contextual factors and factors influencing the political economy and the policy discourse. We then analyse the actors, institutions, and markets of the German electricity system and describe both the development of renewable energy following a functional technological innovation systems logic and its interaction with the societal subsystem and landscape. As such, the chapter deepens the understanding of the current state of the German energy innovation system, how it has developed over time, and what were the key drivers and factors of change.