Derisking Energy Transition: A Systematic Literature Review

We systematically review the literature on derisking energy transition. Following UNDP Derisking Renewable Energy Investment Report, we define derisking as an umbrella term to cover all public interventions that reduce or transfer risk through the use of policies, programmes, and financial tools (Waissbein et al. 2013, p.37) . In doing so, we will produce a review of both the risks and derisking strategies in energy transition analyzed by the literature and identify reported consequences of the strategies used. The guiding research question is ‘what are the risks and derisking strategies in energy transition?’ Our sub research questions are ‘what are the risks and derisking strategies in different sectors of energy transition?’ and ‘what are the conditions for succesful derisking strategies?’ Derisking strategies will be analysed in the literature obtained from a keyword search of Scopus and Web of Science databases. Because the purpose of this review is to develop a conceptual understanding of how states govern risks in the energy transition, a qualitative systematic review approach is adopted. Next, we collect and review key policy documents identifying risks for energy transition and compare the risks and derisking strategies identified in those documents with the main patterns of the academic literature. The second stage of the paper will reveal the gaps in the academic literature based on the policy documents.