From an international perspective Germany is often considered as a role model for
clean energy transformation. The German “Energiewende”, which means change to a
non-nuclear-regenerative energy system, depends crucially on the expansion of
renewable energies. The success of this transformation process is highly contingent
on developments in the federal states, who are able to co-decide on energy policy.
However there is a tremendous gap in the expansion rate of renewable energy
generation among the German Bundesländer. While leading states such as
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Brandenburg have almost or more than
quadrupled their electricity production by renewable sources in the last decade,
states like North Rhine-Westphalia have yet failed to double. So it is timely to ask for
the factors that influence the development of renewable energies at the federal
state level: What role does the (non-) existence of natural energy resources play
under specific economic framework conditions? Does party politics make a
difference and what are the effects of specific political institutions and policy
instruments? The analysis compares the spread of renewable electricity production
in all 16 federal states in Germany from 2004 to 2014, considering all 50 cabinets
during this period. Using fuzzy-set QCA, it is possible to detect combinations of
factors leading to the (non-) occurrence of accelerated expansion of renewable
electricity production at the state level. In addition, the method allows to reveal
equifinal pathways that connect different causal combinations to the same results.
Based on our data, we find two promising avenues for a successful expansion of
renewable electricity production. On the one hand, a group of economically less
developed states succeeded in pushing ahead with the expansion by using it as part
of an economic innovation strategy. In contrast, within the economically more
developed states the party composition of the respective state government (Green
government involvement) played a significant role. The results hint at the so far
underestimated role of renewable energy transformation as a factor of economic
development under specific political scope conditions. It also shows ways for
expansion strategies transferable to other (federal) countries.