SCHACH - From failure to opportunity for the energy transition - Handling conflicts and resistance productively when implementing energy transition projects

Combating the climate crisis and the energy transition are met with broad approval across the population and among different groups of social actors such as politics and business. Nevertheless, it happens that energy transition projects are initiated at the local level but are not implemented or are only implemented with great delay. One of the reasons for this may be the lack of acceptance by the local population, who support the energy transition but do not want this specific project "in their own backyard". Such contradictions in society's relationship to the energy transition can only be resolved collectively. SCHACH wants to provide a basis for this. 

The project does not assume that the failure or delay of projects throughout Germany and in every context can or should be prevented. Failures and setbacks are inevitable due to the large number of activities that are being addressed as part of the energy transition. Nevertheless, it is important to uncover the reasons that contribute to failure, because even an energy transition project that has not been implemented or has only been implemented slowly contains valuable lessons. If research and communication on the energy transition only focus on successes, important knowledge is lost about which changes can lead to energy transition projects succeeding after several attempts, how project ideas can be adapted to convince the population after all, or how groups of actors can stay motivated after a failure and tackle new energy transition projects. The overall aim of the SCHACH project is to investigate the factors that lead to failures in the implementation of energy transition projects and to gain knowledge about how such failures can be dealt with productively. 

In addition to alliance structures, the project focuses on acceptance and risk perception among the population as decisive factors for the implementation of energy transition projects. The last few years in particular have been characterized by extensive media and political discussions about energy prices and origins, as well as debates about climate activism and the level of ambition of climate policy. Another aim of SCHACH is therefore to test the plausible but not yet scientifically proven hypothesis that risk perception and acceptance patterns for energy supply have changed in the wake of the recent crises (Ukraine war, Covid-19 pandemic). Building on this, new requirements for implementation and communication strategies for (local) energy transition projects are to be identified. 

In individual cases, the political, media and acceptance-related conditions for success and failure have already been mapped out. This project goes a step further and analyzes failed projects systematically and across technologies in order to understand how the failure came about and to derive conditions for success for future energy transition projects. 

To this end, SCHACH pursues an interdisciplinary research approach that combines energy and climate policy expertise, psychological and sociopolitical approaches, empirical studies and communication and media studies. Central building blocks of research in SCHACH are: 

1. the creation of a database of failed or delayed energy transition projects and their analysis using an indicator of failure 
2. the investigation of the political framework through legislation and procedural rules at various governance levels 
3. the comparative investigation of actor constellations and decision-making structures in case studies in which productive work continued on the implementation of the energy transition on site after the failure of an energy transition project 
4. an empirical analysis of risk and acceptance factors and a comparison of the current patterns with those from before the complex crisis year of 2022 
5. the derivation of social tipping points based on empirical evidence 
6. the analysis of media coverage and media activities of the actors involved 

On the basis of this research, SCHACH aims to derive the right implications from failed energy transition projects and to understand what it depends on to ensure that a failed project does not stand in the way of further energy transition on site.

adelphi research serves as the consortium leader. The organisation examines the political framework at different levels of governance and its impact on the failure of energy transition projects. Additionally, adelphi research conducts social network analyses in selected cases to identify the dynamics, constellations, and key actors that significantly influence the planning and decision-making processes, as well as the outcomes of citizen initiatives related to the energy transition projects. Furthermore, it is essential to analyse how pressure groups contribute to the success of subsequent projects following initial resistance to an energy transition initiative.