Renewable Energy in the Russian Regions: The Case of Yakutia

Since 2013, the Russian government adopted federal policy instruments in support of renewable energy (RE), yet, the uptake of renewables varies significantly between regions. Some regions have multiple wind and solar parks, some experiment with decentralized production of biomass and small hydro energy, others have none. Among the regions that have beyond-average per capita RE installed is the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the largest subnational unit in the Russian Federation located in Eastern Siberia. While the existing scholarship tends to focus on the highest political level to explain why RE is not taking hold in Russia, its drivers remain poorly understood. This study uses the case of Yakutia to attend to the subnational tendencies in Russian energy governance and clarify the role of local authorities and non-state actors in RE development. The main theoretical ambition of the project is to clarify which governance forms and mechanisms are pertinent to RE development in Yakutia and whether (and how) non-Western and non-democratic context matters. It is argued that RE uptake is best conceptualised in terms of shifting power relations and (dis)empowerment process in state-orchestrated governance networks. In order to uncover the dynamics of power relations as forces affecting the uptake of RE in the Russian regions, I develop an approach that combines the multi-actor perspective on socio-technical transition (STT) (Avelino and Wittmayer, 2016) with theories of network governance in hybrid regimes (Kropp et al., 2018). The results of the empirical investigation contribute to the literature on STT in non-democratic regimes. They show that non-state engagement in governance of RE uptake in Yakutia is neither marginal nor reducible to dysfunctional mechanisms, such as corruption or clientelism. Several distinct models according to which RE projects are initiated and executed through governance networks are identified. While active local engagement is paramount to RE uptake in almost all of them, federal policies frame the playing field and have a decisive influence on the (dis)empowerment of local actors (the so-called ‘power vertical’). In a situation where the state systematically has more power than, and permanently exercises power over the non-state actors, power shifts revolve around the matters of responsibility and dependency since state and non-state actors still have different types of power. Finally, the study of territorial interests and policy preferences allows nuancing the multiple, and sometimes contradictory roles of the state in RE uptake in Russia. References: Avelino, F., & Wittmayer, J. M. (2016). Shifting power relations in sustainability transitions: a multi-actor perspective. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 18(5), 628-649. Kropp, S., Aasland, A., Berg-Nordlie, M., Holm-Hansen, J., & Schuhmann, J. (Eds.). (2018). Governance in Russian Regions: A Policy Comparison. Palgrave Macmillan.