Currently both, climate mitigation policies and policies to phase out nuclear energy are key drivers for the transition of power systems in Germany. As a preliminary outcome the share of renewable energies in the power generation has nearly tripled to 20%, half of the nuclear power plants have been shut down, the share of coal has slightly decreased and natural gas almost doubled its share. This transition of power supply systems includes distinct (re-)distributive effects not only across different energy sectors, but also across spatial territories. Traditionally, the geography of energy industries was shaped by the spatial vicinity of centralized power plants to the key industrial sites in Germany. Here, we could distinguish between those Bundesländer with a high share of coal (NRW; BB, SL) and those with a high share of nuclear energy (BY, BW, NI, SH; HE). Taking current developments and the on-going decarbonisation and denuclearisation into account, the traditional energy powerhouses in Germany are confronted with considerable economic burden to their regional (energy) industries which are only partially and spatially unevenly compensated by the benefits of the growing low carbon industries. On the other hand, windy regions in Northern Germany, rural regions with a high share of biomass, solar regions particularly in Southern Germany and regions with production sites of green energy technologies have clearly benefited from this industrial transformation. The question of our paper is how this ecological transition of the power supply system with considerable redistributive effects across spatial territories was implemented within the cooperative German federal system. It will explain, why this consensus-oriented federalism usually relying on various formal and informal ways of the Bundesländer to participate in federal legislation and to enforce their economic interests allowed for an effective redistributive policy. For this purpose, it analyses the redistributive effects of the transformation during the last two decades focusing on the level of the Bundesländer. Arguing from an institutional perspective it will analyse the key decisions in energy policy and explain how redistributive policies were effectively implemented within the system of cooperative federalism given the heterogeneous interests of the Bundesländer.
