ABSTRACT
The massive political support for renewable energies since the late twentieth century has triggered a renewable energy revolution that—together with liberalization—has transformed energy sectors worldwide. This chapter argues that public actors and policies are vitally important for the transition to renewable energies with a deep impact on the mix of investor groups, and the variety of ownership and financing structure. Renewable energy support policies, especially those aiming at the mitigation of market risk, can play a decisive role in providing opportunities for the engagement of specific investor groups, thereby significantly shaping national renewable energy transitions, their actor constellations, and geographies, as shown by the examples of Germany and Kenya. The rise of renewable energies in Germany, which reached a share of almost 40% in the German power mix in 2018, was accompanied by a decentralization of ownership in the electricity sector, with a decreasing role for utilities and a greater role for various other investor groups.
