The paper explores how regional actors engage with energy systems, flows and infrastructures in order to meet particular goals and offers a fine-tuned analysis of how differences arise, highlighting the policy-relevant insights that emerge. Using a novel framework, the research performs a comparative case study analysis of three regions in Italy and two of the devolved territories of the UK, Wales and Scotland, drawing on interviews and documentary analysis. The paper shows that acknowledging the socio-materialities of renewable energy allows a fine-tuned analysis of how institutions, governance and infrastructure can enable/constrain energy transitions and policy effectiveness at local and regional levels. The heuristic adopted highlights (i) the institutions that matter for renewable energy and their varied effects on regional renewable energy deployment; (ii) the range of agencies involved in strategically establishing, contesting and reproducing institutions, expectations, visions and infrastructure as renewable energy deployment unfolds at the regional level and (iii) the nature and extent of infrastructure requirements for and constraints on renewable energy delivery and how they affect the regional capacity to shape infrastructure networks and facilitate renewable energy deployment. The paper shows how the regions investigated developed their institutional and governance capacity and made use of targets, energy visions and spatial planning to promote renewable energy deployment. It shows that several mediating factors emerge from examining the interactions between regional physical resource endowments and energy infrastructure renewal and expansion. The analysis leads to policy-relevant insights into what makes for renewable energy deployment. The paper contributes to research that demonstrates the role of institutional variations and governance as foundations for geographical differences in the adoption of renewable energy, and carries significant implications for policy thinking and implementation. It shows why and how policy-makers need to be more effective in balancing the range of goals/interests for renewable energy deployment with the peculiarities and specificities of the regional contexts and their infrastructures. The insights presented help to explain how energy choices and outcomes are shaped in particular places, how differences arise and operate in practice, and how they need to be taken into account in policy design, policy-making and implementation.

中文翻译：

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区域可再生能源部署的政策相关见解

本文探讨了区域参与者如何参与能源系统、流动和基础设施以实现特定目标，并对差异如何产生进行了微调分析，突出了出现的与政策相关的见解。该研究使用新颖的框架，通过访谈和文献分析，对意大利的三个地区和英国、威尔士和苏格兰的两个下放领土进行了比较案例研究分析。该论文表明，承认可再生能源的社会重要性可以对制度、治理和基础设施如何在地方和区域层面实现/限制能源转型和政策有效性进行微调分析。采用的启发式方法强调 (i) 对可再生能源至关重要的机构及其对区域可再生能源部署的不同影响；(ii) 随着可再生能源部署在区域层面展开，参与战略性建立、竞争和复制机构、期望、愿景和基础设施的机构范围以及 (iii) 可再生能源交付的基础设施要求和限制的性质和范围，以及它们如何影响塑造基础设施网络和促进可再生能源部署的区域能力。本文展示了被调查地区如何发展其制度和治理能力，并利用目标、能源愿景和空间规划来促进可再生能源的部署。它表明，通过考察区域物质资源禀赋与能源基础设施更新和扩张之间的相互作用，出现了几个中介因素。该分析导致对可再生能源部署的政策相关见解。该论文有助于证明制度差异和治理作为采用可再生能源的地理差异基础的作用的研究，并对政策思考和实施具有重要意义。它说明了为什么以及如何决策者需要更有效地平衡可再生能源部署的目标/利益范围与区域背景及其基础设施的特点和特殊性。