The ongoing transition from fossil to renewable energy is said by many within the energy industry to require a more “flexible” electricity system. The suggestion is that the variability of renewable energy resources, alongside the increasing load placed on the electricity grid by decentralized renewable generation and the electrification of heat and transport, requires an enhanced capacity to change the spatial and temporal profiles of electricity supply and demand. Drawing on research within the UK electricity sector, this article contends that electricity flexibility schemes might constitute a socioecological fix for capitalism. I discuss Andreas Malm’s claim that the spatiotemporality of renewable energy presents a limit to capital accumulation and suggest that this is a limit that UK flexibility initiatives seek to overcome. The article concludes by suggesting that electricity system flexibility should not be written off as an inherently reactionary sociotechnical project by virtue of its apparent enrollment within the reproduction of exploitative capitalist relations. Rather, I call attention to the political flexibility of electricity system flexibility and, in doing so, further develop ongoing attempts to theorize the socioecological fix in a more politicized manner.

能源行业中的许多人表示，从化石能源到可再生能源的持续转变需要更“灵活”的电力系统。建议是，可再生能源资源的可变性，以及分散式可再生能源发电以及热力和运输电气化对电网的负荷增加，需要增强改变电力供需的空间和时间分布的能力。本文借鉴英国电力部门的研究，认为电力灵活性计划可能构成资本主义的社会生态修复。我讨论了 Andreas Malm 的说法，即可再生能源的时空性对资本积累构成了限制，并提出这是英国灵活性倡议寻求克服的限制。文章最后指出，电力系统的灵活性不应因其明显参与到剥削性资本主义关系的再生产中而被视为本质上反动的社会技术项目。相反，我提请注意电力系统灵活性的政治灵活性，并在此过程中进一步发展正在进行的尝试，以更加政治化的方式将社会生态修复理论化。