Master Thesis - Energy Valley - RSM - [email protected]

8/13/2019 Master Thesis - Energy Valley - RSM - [email protected]

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Energy Valley

The inter-organizational network and its effect on the regional

energy transition

Quinten Hogeweg - 351161qh

MSc Global Business & Stakeholder Management

Rotterdam School of Management

Coach: Prof. Dr. Ir. Jan Rotmans

Co-reader: Prof. Dr. Gail Whiteman

Scientific supervisor: Dr. Derk Loorbach

Date: December 5th

, 2013



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‘Пάντα ῥεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει’ ‘ Everything flows, nothing remains still

’ - Heraclitus



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Executive Summary

Our society faces fundamental sustainability challenges in several domains. Of these, our energy supply is

confronted with a rapid depletion of natural resources, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear

risks, uncertainties related to short- and long term security of supply and energy poverty (IEA, 2011). On a

global, European and national level, protocols and goals have been developed to decrease emissions andincrease the share of renewable energy. The Netherlands is considered one of the lacking countries of the

European Union regarding the development of sustainable energy sources. As such, the ‘Energy Valley’

region may provide a welcome development in the Dutch renewable energy progress. Since 2003 an inter-

organizational network organization under the same name has been founded to facilitate business and

local governments in establishing an energy region. Although the main goal is economic development,

renewable energy also is considered a key goal of the organization.

This study looks at the effect of the inter-organizational network organization Energy Valley on the regional

socio-technical energy regime and its transition and hereby contributes to the business literature on the

networked approach to sustainable development. Additionally, this study contributes to the emergingparadigm in the business and natural environment literature of ‘strong sustainability’. Proponents of this

paradigm argue for a systemic and complexity perspective, where the goal should be system

transformation or a transition in the (local) socio-technical system. In order to analyze the effects of the

inter-organizational network organization Energy Valley on the transition of the regional socio-technical

energy regime, this study brings together the fields of business and the natural environment with the field

of transition studies. The field of transition studies is occupied with the study and support of long-term

fundamental shifts in the social and technological domain and has developed several frameworks and

concepts to analyze and accelerate transitions.

In order to analyze the effect of the inter-organizational network organization Energy Valley on the regional

socio-technical energy transition, this study has looked at the functions of the network, the processes of

transition it facilitates, in what transition phase the region is in and what opposing forces of the transition

are present in the network. It has been found that the eight different functions of the network organization

facilitate several processes of transition in the region, thereby helping to create a fundamental transition in

the socio-technical energy regime. It has been found in this study that the Energy Valley inter-

organizational network contributes to processes of transition regarding the change of ‘fossil’ regulations,

the lobby in national and regional policy circles for renewable energy, the connection of niches and regime

actors as well as to some degree to the coordination of niche actors, the parenting of niche actors, the

scaling up of niche projects and to the facilitation of social relations creating niche momentum.



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However, a key result of this study is that the composition, structure, funding, vision, strategy and

evaluation of the inter-organizational network organization have a key role in the effectiveness of the

network organization in achieving a regional energy transition. In this study, the unbalanced representation

of regime actors, the embeddedness of the provinces and the national government with their own stakes,

the existing institutional environment of dominant gas stakes, the short term funding and resulting strategy

without a long term vision, the role of the network in greenwashing and the lack of evaluation of the

results, have resulted in an inter-organizational network organization that facilitates incremental change as

opposed to radical change in the socio-technical energy regime. Therefore, it is concluded that the inter-

organizational network Energy Valley does not significantly contribute to the fundamental transition of the

regional socio-technical energy regime.

Regarding the theoretical implications of this study, the application of transition studies to the field of

business and the natural environment has contributed to a better understanding of the use of inter-

organizational networks in the growing paradigm of ‘strong sustainability’: Although the inter-

organizational network has valuable characteristics that lead to sustainable development, its contribution

to the resolution of meta-problems such as climate change through the fundamental transition of socio-

technical regimes strongly depends on the specific characteristics of the inter-organizational network

organization and the system it operates in. The application of the inter-organizational network as a tool for

transformation in the strong sustainability paradigm should therefore be applied with a better

understanding of the essential network’s characteristics and the respective contextually of the network

organization. It is suggested that the current interest for the inter-organizational network in the quest

towards sustainable development and especially towards the resolution of meta-problems in the business

and natural environment literature is not entirely consistent with its practical contribution to date and

should therefore be applied more critically.

Concluding, this study has looked at how the business and inter-organizational network Energy Valley helps

create a fundamental transition of the regional socio-technical energy regime. It has been found that,

despite several contributions to the regional development of renewable energy, the dominant effect of the

inter-organizational network organization constitutes incremental change. It is therefore concluded that

the Energy Valley inter-organizational network organization does not significantly contribute to a

fundamental transition of the regional socio-technical energy regime.



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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 4

Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 6

1. Introduction and Research Question ............................................................................................................ 8

1.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8

1.2. Research Question.................................................................................................................................. 9

1.3. Structure ............................................................................................................................................... 10

2. Literature Review ........................................................................................................................................ 10

2.1. Beginnings and Development of Corporate Environmentalism ........................................................... 10

2.3. Corporate Social Responsibility ............................................................................................................ 11

2.4. Complex Issues and Strong Sustainability ............................................................................................ 13

2.5. The Role of Networks ........................................................................................................................... 14

2.6. Literature Gap....................................................................................................................................... 16

2.7. Sustainability Transitions ...................................................................................................................... 17

2.8. Summary and Research Lens ................................................................................................................ 20

3. Methodology and Research Approach ........................................................................................................ 20

3.1. Type of Research .................................................................................................................................. 20

3.2. Single-case approach ............................................................................................................................ 21

3.3. Data collection & Analysis .................................................................................................................... 21

3.4. Validity .................................................................................................................................................. 22

3.5. Research Approach and Framework .................................................................................................... 22

4. Energy Valley .............................................................................................................................................. 23

4.1. Organization and Structure .................................................................................................................. 24

4.2. Funding ................................................................................................................................................. 24

4.2.2. Funding Energy Valley IV ............................................................................................................... 24

4.3. Context and History .............................................................................................................................. 25

4.3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 25

4.3.2. Energy Valley I – 2003 - 2005 ........................................................................................................ 26

4.3.3. Energy Valley II – 2005 – 2008....................................................................................................... 26

4.3.4. Energy Valley III – 2008-2011 ........................................................................................................ 26

4.3.5. Energy Valley IV – Current strategy and goals .............................................................................. 26

5. Results ......................................................................................................................................................... 28

5.1. Functions of the Network ..................................................................................................................... 28



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5.1.1. Calibrating party ............................................................................................................................ 28

5.1.2. Scaling up ....................................................................................................................................... 29

5.1.3. Place-to-be .................................................................................................................................... 30

5.1.4. Coordination of stakeholders ........................................................................................................ 31

5.1.5. Access to funding........................................................................................................................... 32

5.1.6. Parenting ....................................................................................................................................... 33

5.1.7. Lobby ............................................................................................................................................. 34

5.1.8. Social Relations .............................................................................................................................. 36

5.2. Processes of transition ......................................................................................................................... 36

5.2.1. Landscape pressure ....................................................................................................................... 36

5.2.2. Windows of opportunity in the regime ......................................................................................... 38

5.2.3. Niche momentum .......................................................................................................................... 41

5.3. Transition phase ................................................................................................................................... 43

5.4. Opposing Forces ................................................................................................................................... 46

5.4.1. The Role of Gas .............................................................................................................................. 47

5.4.2. Lack of vision ................................................................................................................................. 49

5.4.3. Broad coalition .............................................................................................................................. 50

5.4.4. Greenwashing ................................................................................................................................ 52

5.5. Conclusion Results ................................................................................................................................ 52

6. Discussion .................................................................................................................................................... 54

6.1. Theoretical implications ....................................................................................................................... 54

6.3. Practical implications ............................................................................................................................ 60

6.4. Limitations ............................................................................................................................................ 61

7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 62

7.1. Main conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 62

7.2. Future Research .................................................................................................................................... 65

7.3. Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. 66

8. References ................................................................................................................................................... 67

Annex A - Interview protocol........................................................................................................................... 75



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1. Introduction and Research Question

1.1. Introduction Our society faces fundamental sustainability challenges in several domains, of which our energy supply is

the topic of this thesis. Our energy supply is confronted with a rapid depletion of natural resources, air

pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear risks, uncertainties related to short- and long term

security of supply, and energy poverty (IEA, 2011). At the same time, global business, as well as society in

general, is in the midst of one of the most significant changes since the information revolution of the 1990s.

The sustainability revolution, that is, the movement of individuals, organizations, and societies toward

developing the capacity for environmental and socioeconomic long-term quality of life improvements,

could even be characterized as the most transformative cultural phenomenon since the industrial and

agricultural revolutions (Edwards, 2005). The importance of this movement can be better understood with

the consideration that information, industrialization, and agriculture all vitally depend on a multitude of

aspects of both environmental and socioeconomic evolutionary realities. This effort to realize healthier

long-term futures for the world’s population and for future generations, may be the pinnacle (to date) of

human civilization endeavors (Brown, 2010; Edwards, 2005; Friedman, 2008). Moreover, a recent article in

Nature even stated that next to a looming climate catastrophe, climate change might dramatically melt the

arctic ice and releasing its methane, leading to an economic disaster with costs as much as $60 trillion, of

which much will be borne by developing countries (Whiteman, Hope & Wadhams, 2013).

A growing awareness is developing among governments, businesses, NGO’s and the public that ‘business as

usual’ is not an option anymore. On a global level, organizations such as the UN have developed protocols,

most important the Kyoto protocol, to deal with global emissions and other environmental threats. On a

European level, The European Parliament and Council have agreed on targets to increase the share of

renewable energy in the total energy supply in 2020 to 20%, to increase energy efficiency and reduce

emissions of greenhouse gases with 20% compared to 1990 levels, the so-called 20-20-20 targets (EC, 2009).Also a ‘Roadmap 2050’ and a ‘Power Perspective 2030’ have been developed to explore possible energy

futures (EC, 2011; ECF, 2011). On a national level, while some countries are actively pursuing sustainable

development, of which most notable Germany with its ‘Energiewende’ and Denmark with the ambition to

complete phase out fossil fuels by 2050, other European countries lack progress.

Despite several ambitious plans, the Netherlands currently also lacks behind in renewable energy progress.

It has only increased the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption from 2.6% in 2006 to 3.8%

in 2010, while the average of EU-27 has increased from 9.0% to 12.4% (Eurostat, 2012). In 2012 the share

of renewable energy has gone up to 4.7% (Rijksoverheid, 2012), but not many believe that the 14% goal in

2020 will be reached. Coal-fired plants are still being constructed and the development of renewable

energy fields such as wind turbines face opposition from vested interests or in its simplest case, civilians

fearing ‘horizon pollution’.

On a regional level, a region comprised of the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe and a part of

North-Netherlands may provide a welcome development in the Dutch renewable energy progress.

Since 2003, the region has been branded as ‘Energy Valley’ and an inter-organizational network

organization has been founded to facilitate business and local governments in the energy business.



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Although the main goal is economic development, renewable energy also is considered one of the main

goals of the Energy Valley inter-organizational network organization. This networked approach to

sustainable development has also received attention in the business literature. It has been argued that due

to the complexity of the current sustainability issues, a firm or single actor approach simply is too narrow-

minded. Instead, co-operation in inter-organizational networks compromised of businesses and (local)

governments may provide the proper tool in moving forward to a more sustainable future. At the sametime, a new paradigm is slowly emerging in the business and sustainable development research. Instead of

looking at new ways of operating in an old system, it is proposed to achieve a more radical form of

transformation, or ‘strong sustainability’. Proponents argue for a systemic and complexity perspective,

where the goal should be system transformation or a transition in the (local) socio-technical system.

Although the network approach has been mentioned and researched as a tool for sustainable business

development, until date no research in the field of business studies has looked at how this network

approach may contribute to a fundamental change in the socio-technical system. This could partly be due

to the complexity of conceptualizing what exactly a fundamental change is comprised off and how this

could be measured.

From the field of social sciences comes the transition approach. Occupied with the study and support of

long-term fundamental shifts in the social and technological domain, this field has developed several

frameworks, concepts and approaches to analyze and accelerate transitions. Most notable of these is the

multi-level perspective (MLP). The MLP looks at a system through three different levels: niches (the locus

for radical innovations), socio-technical regimes (the locus of established practices and associated rules that

stabilize existing systems) and an exogenous sociotechnical landscape. Using this framework, researchers

have identified different ways or processes through which a transition could emerge in a system. As such,

this approach offers a valuable addition to the business and the natural environment literature. 1.2. Research Question This research brings together the fields of business and the natural environment with the field of transition

studies and in doing so, addresses a significant gap in the current business literature. Using concepts from

transition studies to look at the case of Energy Valley and its influence on the regional energy system, it

provides an insight into how inter-organizational networks may help bring about a transition in a regional

socio-technical energy system.

In order to do so, the following research question has been formulated:

How do regional business and inter-organizational networks help create a fundamental transition in

the socio-technical energy regime?

In order to structurally answer the research question, four sub questions have been formulated:

What functions of the inter-organizational network can be identified?

To which processes for transition does the inter-organizational network contribute?

In what phase of transition is the region currently situated?

What opposing forces of the transition can be identified?



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1.3. Structure

This thesis starts with a literature review on the topic of business and the natural environment, focusing on

the role of inter-organizational networks. After this, the field of transition studies is introduced.

In the next chapter, the methodology and research structure is discussed. Hereafter, a description of the

Energy Valley organization is provided, after which the results will be presented in the next chapter. The

result chapter will be followed by a discussion chapter, after which the conclusions and suggestions forfurther research are provided in the final chapter.

2. Literature Review

In this chapter, the beginnings and development of corporate environmentalism are described, providing

the context for a literature review on sustainable development and regional inter-organizational networks.

After this, the literature gap is identified. Hereafter, a review of the proposed literature to fill the literature

gap is given. Lastly, a summary of the chapter is provided, concluding with the research approach and the

angle of view from this research.

2.1. Beginnings and Development of Corporate Environmentalism

Business and the natural environment have always been related, be it through, for example, supplying

natural resources or businesses’ impact on the environment. While some attention had been given to the

topic before, the first wave of corporate environmentalism occurred in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s

with the recognition that corporate environmental issues were a problem necessitating regulatory controls

(Bansal and Hoffman, 2011, p5). It began with the publication of Silent Spring (Carson, 1962), creating a

growing awareness that chemicals were damaging the environment and ultimately ourselves. Next to

creating support for environmental regulations, the publication of Silent Spring was the first of several

landmark events in the field of environmental awareness and corporate environmentalism. Most notable

events were the formation of the Club of Rome in 1968, the Santa Barbara Oil Spill in 1969, the first Earth

Day in 1970 and the UN Human Environment Conference in 1972. The culmination of these events

successfully captured and motivated a growing awareness of environmental issues in politics, the press and

the general public. In the following years, newly formed regulatory agencies became the arbiter of

environmental rules and norms. Government provided the general structure of environmental regulations,

with the industry becoming increasingly defensive, perceiving government regulation as becoming a

restraint on economic activity and a matter of ‘technical compliance’ (Bansal and Hoffman, 2011, p5.).

During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the industry moved from a re-active stance to a pro-active stance

on environmental protection, treating it as a strategic concern (Bansal and Hoffman, 2011, p6). Large scale

civil penalties following accidents, hostile take-overs resulting from free-falling stock prices, stricter

regulations and public pressures made the industry realize that the environment demanded ‘pro-active

management’, making it a strategic business issue. Environmental considerations began to be pushed into

the line operations, integrating them into both processes and product decisions. Also, concepts like waste

minimization, pollution prevention and product stewardship entered the corporate lexicon (Bansal and

Hoffman, 2011, p7).



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During this ‘second wave’ of corporate environmentalism, scholars within management schools started to

more predominantly enter the field of business and the natural environment research. One of the first

formal structures for research in this area was an international interest group of scholars, the Greening of

Industry Network (GIN), which was formed in 1989. GIN participants argued that ‘most regulation has not

been based on a solid understanding of how industrial firms operated’ and that future advances in

environmental policy required an appreciation for the ‘intradynamic and interdynamic procesess’of organizational learning. This means to be aware of how ‘various groups both inside and outside the firm

conjointly shape its behavior and strategy’ (Fischer &Schott, 1993). Most common however became the

central question to business and the natural environment research: ‘Does it pay to be green?’ and ‘How to

merge existing concerns for economic competitiveness with environmental demands to gain market

advantage?’ (e.g. Hart, 1995; Porter and Van der Linde, 1995; Roome, 1998). This became the central issue

for business and the natural environment research during the early and late 90’s and still is today, early in

the 21st century.

2.3. Corporate Social Responsibility

‘The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was introduced as a general framework for business trying

to address social and environmental issues related to business. Since then numerous frameworks and

strategies have been developed addressing the role of business in dealing with ecological impacts (Bryant

and Wilson, 1998, Cairncross, 1993, Hart, 1997, Klassen and McLaughlin, 1996) or social equity issues

(Anderson et al., 2010, Buchanan, 2007, Seelos and Mair, 2005, Shepherd and Patzelt, 2011) (Loorbach and

Wijsman, 2012)’.’In a broad sense the literature on sustainability and business seeks to understand how

creating economic value for the firm could go hand in hand with limiting ecological impact and by operating

in a socially responsible way. This ‘triple bottom line‘(Elkington, 1998) has generally been conceptualized as

something that could be achieved by optimizing business performance through seeking win-win situations,

increased (environmental and social) regulation and reporting (Loorbach and Wijsman, 2012)’. Corporate

social responsibility seems to develop further from a necessary condition for survival to a more strategicactivity as part of developing business. According to Maas and Boons (Maas and Boons, 2010) CSR has the

potential to become a strategic activity, adding value on different dimensions - business, society and

ecosystems - if two conditions are met: CSR needs to become integrated with the strategy of the firm and

these new or additional values need to be measured and monitored.

A perspective partly overcoming the firm-level focus is the extended view of corporate citizenship. This

notion of firms as ‘corporate citizens‘ is increasingly used in the CSR literature. ‘Beyond the limited view of

philanthropic and voluntary activities, and the equivalent view of minimizing negative impacts and

maximizing positive ones, Matten, et al. (Matten, D., Crane, A., Chapple, W., 2003) propose an extended

view on corporate citizenship (Loorbach and Wijsman, 2012)’. In this view, corporate citizenship is a partial

attempt to assume responsibility for protecting those social rights that governments are no longer willing

to fulfill or fail to fulfill appropriately (idem). Porter and Kramer (2006) bring this line of thinking back to the

individual firm by arguing that companies should not address just any social issue or stakeholder demand,

but choose those ‘social issues that either are affected significantly by a company‘s activities or affect the

social dimensions of the competitive environment of the firm (available business inputs, rules and

incentives that govern competition, local demand, local availability of supporting industries)’ (Porter, M.E.

and Kramer, M.R., 2006, Loorbach and Wijsman, 2012). In their view the defensive thinking about

corporate social responsibility should be replaced by thinking about interdependencies rather than



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tensions: the interdependencies between firms and society present an opportunity to create shared value

that benefits society and is valuable to business (Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R., 2006). Still, CSR-related

activities described in the business literature mostly reflect operations within given institutional, structural

and cultural boundaries of the dominant competitive market model. Thus business tends to focus more on

reducing unsustainable firm-level behavior (Ehrenfeld, 2005) than on increasing the sustainability of the

broader societal system they operate in via change strategies across actors and levels (Loorbach andWijsman, 2012). The latter is addressed in the literature on Green Business, which is often described as

business that strives to have no negative impact on the global or local environment, community, society, or

economy. In other words: a business that strives to fully meet the triple bottom line (Cooney, 2008,

Elkington, 1998, Friend, G., Kordesch, N., Privitt, B, 2009, Loorbach and Wijsman, 2012).

Such a mission goes far beyond the traditional business practices; only a few companies have been

successful at embedding sustainability into the core of their business (Loorbach and Wijsman, 2012).

Van Kleef and Roome (Van Kleef and Roome, 2007) showed how the shift in business focus from

competitiveness to sustainability impacts the capabilities and competence for innovation, while also

identifying a systematic failure to address the need for inventiveness as a cornerstone of innovation.‘Over the last decade, studies into how businesses optimize their sustainability performance and what kind

of strategies are effective in line with this tend to focus more on the level of business and industry

networks and their relationship with broader societal contexts (Baas, 2008, Boons and Wagner, 2009,

Genaidy et al., 2010, Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R., 2006) (Loorbach and Wijsman, 2012)’. From a similar

perspective is the observation of Bansal and Hoffman (2011, p7) that during the first decade of the 21 st

century, some researchers shifted their focus towards a merger between environmental and social issues

on a broader (global) scale, representing a growing awareness of our vulnerabilities and collective impact

on the global environment and the need for change not just on a firm-level but on a broader societal level

too. Most notably here is the issue of climate change; no single environmental issue dominates the field

more than climate change. ‘The growing scientific consensus that humans have been altering the globalclimate through the release of greenhouse gas emissions since the Industrial Revolution has focused

attention on the need to move the economy away from its foundations on fossil-fuel use and material

consumption (Bansal and Hoffman, 2011, p7)’.

Figure 1 - The Three Waves of Corporate Environmentalism 1960 - 2010 (Bansal and Hoffman, 2011)



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2.4. Complex Issues and Strong Sustainability

As described in the previous paragraph, some researchers have proposed a more ‘complete’ view on

sustainability, letting go off the actor/firm perspective and focusing on the environment in which the firm is

embedded as a whole. This notion relates to Bansal and Hoffman (2011, p19-20), who observe two

dominant paradigms within the business and natural environment research. The first involves a focus on

environmental issues within the existing models, theories and paradigms, building from ‘normal science’(Kuhn, 1970), where existing theories are applicable to current dilemmas and problems. The second

paradigm pushes the literature to ask the ‘big’ questions, with a problem domain that no longer allows for

existing theories to work and new models and theories are necessary. According to this ‘revolutionary’

science (Kuhn, 1970), business needs to be reoriented so that it no longer seeks to force the environment

to serve the economy, but rather seek economic activity to fit within environmental parameters. In short,

business cannot continue in the status quo if we are to tackle the arguably incommensurable assumptions

of business and the natural environment.

Scholars from this field therefore argue for ‘strong sustainability’ and call for the acknowledgement of the

magnitude, severity, persistence, complexity and exponential acceleration or the transformational urgencyof the global environmental crises (Gladwin in Bansal and Hoffman, 2011, p658). In contrast, ‘weak

sustainability’ sets out to bring environmental concerns into the framework provided by the structures and

systems of business. It origins back to the linkage between environment and business that emerged with

the advent of the modern environmental movement from the mid 1960’s and onwards, described as the

first and second wave of corporate environmentalism in the beginning of this chapter. In contrast to this

weak sustainability, strong sustainability seeks to integrate the company into the environmental or socio-

ecological systems, so that the patterns of production and consumption to which the company contributes

are within the capacity of the planet to sustain. In short, whereas weak sustainability involves incremental

change, strong sustainability is more radical in orientation, constituting a new paradigm based on systems

thinking and organizational and social innovation (Roome in Bansal and Hoffman, 2011, p624).

As stated, proponents of strong sustainability argue for research to become more focused on systems

thinking and organizational and social learning, rather than focusing narrowly on ‘considerations for agency

theory, individual corporate success and the imperative of economic growth over considerations for

ecological and social sustainability (Khurana, 2007)’. Research within the systems view is starting to shape a

different paradigm, one in which business and humankind are not necessarily the focal point of study, but

embedded within a complex system. It takes into consideration the whole system in which an organization

operates and predisposes managers to the contributions and ideas of others and promotes the

participative approach to change that drives strong sustainability (Roome in Bansal and Hoffman, 2011,

p625). In this perspective, companies contribute to the sustainability of a region or nation and consumption

system in which they operate. The company-level view is not the appropriate perspective for analysis here;

strong sustainability involves the work of many actors to produce a socio-ecological system in which

production and consumption are within the carrying capacity of the planet. The move to ‘strong

sustainability’ should therefore be considered a multi-actor process, where a resolution of meta-problems,

such as climate change, or the change in the socio-ecological system is achieved.



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In this approach, diverse actors must work together in networks to understand the nature of the issues

found in complex problem sets, identify better configurations, search for options or pathways to get from

the present to an agreed and desired future and review and evaluate the consequences from those options

on economic, environmental, social, and political conditions of the actors involved (Roome in Bansal and

Hoffman, 2011, p626).

2.5. The Role of Networks

For this section, a literature review was performed among the most prominent journals in the field of

business and environmental studies. Using the Oxford Handbook of Business and the Natural environment

as a starting point for input and for reference (Bansal and Hoffman, 2011), the journals included in the

review are: Organization & Environment, Business Strategy & the Environment, Business & Society Review,

The Journal of Cleaner Production, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, The

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and the Review of Environmental Economics and

Policy. A combination of keywords was used: networks, regional networks, sustainability and regional

development. While the Oxford handbook was published in 2011, the literature search for this section was

performed ranging from 2000 until 2013 to ensure a complete review.

Following from the assumption that sustainability issues are too complex and interconnected to be solved

by individual firms, one form of the multi-actor approach has received considerable attention from

researchers (Van Kleef and Roome, 2007). The inter-organizational network allows firms, together with

other organizations such as local authorities and NGO’s to loosely work together on complex issues while

maintaining their independence. Of particular interest to this study is the role of regional inter-

organizational networks. Since the mid 1990’s, local authorities and private companies are increasingly

collaborating in the area of environmental policy and management and public-private partnerships (Dobers,

1997). Regional inter-organizational networks are particularly used to support private companies and small

and medium sized enterprises, while at the same time helping the region to develop both economically as

well as environmentally (Burstrom, 2000; Rowe, 1998). However, not much research has been published as

to the results of regional inter-organizational networks on the actual region’s sustainable development.

As Roome (2001) argues, we can expect networks to assume increasing significance in the way we manage,

think about, describe and study human activities and organizations. They require win –win situations to be

sustainable, can accommodate complex situations with many stakeholders (Clark & Roome, 1999; Gulati &

Gargiulo, 1999) can be used as learning instruments (Boons & Berends, 2001; Dyer & Nobeoka, 2000),

facilitate innovation through the linkage of actors and knowledge exchange (Clarke and Roome, 1995), span

the communities of practice found both within and between organizations (Clarke and Roome, 1999) and

foster trust and social relations (Roome, 2001). Diani (1995) looked at social movements and the

environment, stating that networks among activists and movement organizations facilitate collective action

by diffusing protest tactics, building trust and aligning ideologies. The network aspect here is particularly

salient at the local level for creating turnout for protest events, and at the macro level for coordinating

actions internationally and across different movements (Diani, 1995). Larson (2000) illustrates the

importance of network and supply chain development for discovering and creating environmentally

relevant opportunities. She argues that “at the core of the entrepreneurship literature are concepts of

opportunity, innovation and future products as well as the processes – including network formation” and

that these same concepts are applicable to environmental entrepreneurship.



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More recently, Cohen (2006) has looked at the impact of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems or

networks on the development of successful sustainable ventures, concluding that such systems might

facilitate successful sustainable ventures and create a ‘place to be’ effect among similar firms.

Malmborg (2007) looked at the role of local authorities in the knowledge transfer in regional networks for

sustainable development and found that a local authority approach leads to incremental change in the

short run. However, this research also finds that long-lived multi-actor networks with sufficient dialogue,experimentation and strategic niche management may lead to more radical change in the regional system.

McCormick and Kaberger (2005) looked at the role of partnerships in regional networks of actors in the

success of the expansion of bio-energy, finding that while partnerships in regional networks might help co-

ordinate the development of a bioenergy system, the introduction of a carbon tax and the attraction of

local knowledge and investments played an important role too. Lastly, Fadeeva (2005) performed a

literature study on the efficiency of multi-stakeholder networks in solving complex sustainability issues,

concluding that collaboration frequently falls short of expectations: The process can be misused for

blocking and promoting vested interests, actors with resources and skills may use the legitimating power

of collaborative initiatives to promote their own agendas and inherent complexities of collaboration can be

underestimated, lowering expectations and results.

Most recent work in the field of inter-organizational networks and sustainable development has looked at

how resource efficiencies stemming from co-operative businesses might deliver environmental advantages

(Barackenko and Olgethorpe, 2012). The research concludes that where co-operative businesses achieve

efficiencies through economies of scale, knowledge and skills transfer, sharing of risks and other means,

this can also lead to coincidental reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that may not be achieved if

investor-owned activity prevails. Potts (2013) looked at how regional networks of sustainable businesses

can profit from local natural advantages, finding potential for local authorities to explore the linking of

sustainable development, innovation and economic development in their regions through the development

of natural advantage action plans. Potts (2013) advises local authorities to develop plans that should

transform local businesses, grow the sustainable industry base, support environmental innovation and

focus on local issues and regional strengths, and finally, aim to support the development of environmental

products and services. Sol, Beers and Wals (2013) studied how social learning in regional networks works

and which factors are critical for it. According to their research, trust, commitment and reframing are

interrelated aspects and emergent properties of interaction in the process of social learning. The

framework they develop in the article therefore reflects social learning as a dynamic process, produced and

reproduced through (inter)actions of individual actors. Lastly, Khan (2013) looked at what role network

governance could play in urban low carbon transitions, finding that the effects of network governance are

mixed: It can contribute to niche developments and innovation at an urban level, however, the elitist

character of networks risks maintaining unsustainable patterns and the mainstreaming of problems andpossible solutions. See Figure 2 for an overview of four of the most relevant publications.



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2.6. Literature Gap

The concept of sustainability, as has been described in the previous paragraphs, is increasingly being

applied from a systems-perspective. Proponents of this view argue that fundamental and radical change

will only come about when actors and organizations work together from a more holistic perspective. Inter-

organizational networks are considered a functional tool to this end. However, while the literature review

on inter-organizational networks shows that some research has been done in this field, e.g. how localnetworks encourage learning or what role network governance could play in urban low carbon transitions,

little or no research has looked at the role of inter-organization networks in a fundamental transition of the

regional socio-technical system. The recent shift from a firm/actor level focus to a system perspective in

the business and environment literature now asks for a broader conceptualization and framework to study

the effects of inter-organizational networks on regional sustainable development. In the next section,

literature from the social sciences will be brought into this study, describing an approach known as

transition studies. This field of study is primarily concerned with the analysis and acceleration of long-

horizon fundamental shifts in systems such as energy supply, food supply and mobility and offers a

significant and valuable addition to the existing business literature.

Title Research Type Topic and Research Goal Findings

Stimulating learning and

innovation in networks for

regional sustainable

development: the role of

local authorities (Malmborg,

2007)

Multiple Case and

literature study

Roles of local authorities (LA)

in the knowledge transfer in

regional networks for

sustainable development.

Examining resulting influence

on learning and innovation.

LA approach leads to incremental change

in the short run. However, long lived

multi-actor networks with dialogue,

experimentation and strategic niche

management may lead to radical change.

Exploring a pioneering

bioenergy system: The case

of Enköping in Sweden

(McCormick and Kaberger,2005).

Single Case study Contribute to knowledge on

the expansion of bioenergy.

Examine a successful case in

Sweden and identify factorsthat can explain the difference

between success and failure of

bioenergy systems.

Three success factors: 1) Introduction of

carbon tax made bioenergy competitive.

2) Local knowledge encouraged local

investments. 3) Partnerships in regionalnetworks of actors, including private

companies, research institutions and

local government, helped to coordinate

the development of the bioenergy

system.

What role for network

governance in urban low

carbon transitions? (Khan,

2013)

Single Case study

supplemented with

literature from

other cases.

Critically analyze the role of

network governance in urban

low carbon transitions from

the perspective of network

governance and transition

governance.

Effects of network governance are

mixed: It can contribute to niche

developments and innovation at an

urban level. But the elitist character of

networks risks maintaining unsustainable

patterns and the mainstreaming of

problems and possible solutions.

Promise of sustainability

collaboration—potentialfulfilled? (Fadeeva, 2004)

Literature study Investigate the most frequent

promises of multi-stakeholdernetworks in solving complex

sustainability issues.

Collaborations frequently fall short of

expectations: The process can bemisused for blocking and promoting

vested interests. Actors with resources

and skills may use the legitimating power

of collaborative initiatives to promote

their own agendas. Inherent

complexities of collaboration can be

underestimated, lowering expectations

and results.

Figure 2 - Brief overview of used literature



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2.7. Sustainability Transitions

The research field most notable concerned with system transformation, or the fundamental shifts in society,

is transition studies. Transitions studies draws attention to fundamental, non-linear shifts in societal

systems moving from one dynamic equilibrium to another (Rotmans et al., 2001). A transition is considered

a long term continuous process of societal change during which the structure of society, or a sub-system of

society, fundamentally changes (idem). Compared to incremental change or optimization, a transitionrefers to a change of the deep structure of a societal system, which can be understood as the dominant

culture, structure and practice (Rotmans et al, 2005).

Sectors like energy supply, water supply, or transportation can be conceptualized as socio-technical

systems (Markard, Raven and Tuffler, 2012). Such systems consists of (networks of) actors (individuals,

firms, and other organizations, collective actors) and institutions (societal and technical norms, regulations,

standards of good practice), as well as material artifacts and knowledge (Geels, 2004; Markard, 2011;

Weber, 2003). The nature of the system, a broad variety of elements that are tightly interrelated (Finger et

al., 2005), has important implications for the dynamics of the system, especially for system transformation

(Markard, 2011). Such a system transformation is called a socio-technical transition: a set of processes thatlead to a fundamental shift in the socio-technical system (e.g., Geels and Schot, 2010; Kemp, 1994). These

changes occur along different dimensions: technological, material, organizational, institutional, political,

economic, and socio-cultural. Transitions involve a broad range of actors and typically unfold over

considerable time-spans (e.g., 50 years and more), often leading to new products, services, business

models and technological and institutional structures (Markard et. al, 2012). As the name implies, a socio-

technical transition not only involves the technical side, it is also concerned with user practices and

institutional structures like rules and norms (idem). In brief, ‘sustainability transitions are long-term, multi-

dimensional, and fundamental transformation processes through which established socio-technical systems

shift to more sustainable modes of production and consumption, often in a guided or governed process

(Smith et al., 2005)’.

Within the transition literature, a distinction is made between understanding transition processes, referred

to as transition dynamics and understanding how actors (aim to) influence transition processes, referred to

as transition management (Loorbach, 2007). When analyzing transition dynamics, different levels in time

and functional or geographical aggregation can be distinguished (Bosman, 2012). These have resulted in

the ‘multi‐level’, ‘multi‐phase’ and ‘multi‐pattern’ frameworks which are used in transition studies (Avelino,

2011; Grin et al., 2010).

The multi-level perspective is a middle-range theory that conceptualizes overall dynamic patterns in socio-

technical transitions (Geels, 2011). It views transitions as non-linear processes that results from the

interplay of developments at three analytical levels: niches (the locus for radical innovations), socio-

technical regimes (the locus of established practices and associated rules that stabilize existing systems),

and an exogenous sociotechnical landscape (Rip and Kemp, 1998; Geels, 2002; Geels, 2011). Each ‘level’

refers to a heterogeneous configuration of elements; ‘higher’ levels are more stable than ‘lower’ levels in

terms of number of actors and degrees of alignment between the elements.



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Briefly put, the sociotechnical landscape is the wider context, which influences niche and regime dynamics

(Rip and Kemp, 1998) highlighting not only the technical and material backdrop that sustains society, but

also demographical trends, political ideologies, societal values, and macro-economic patterns. The socio-

technical regime forms the ‘deep structure’ that accounts for the stability of an existing socio-technical

system (Geels, 2004). It refers to the semi-coherent set of rules that orient and coordinate the activities of

the social groups that reproduce the various elements of socio-technical systems. Examples of regime rulesare cognitive routines and shared beliefs, capabilities and competences, lifestyles and user practices,

favorable institutional arrangements and regulations, and legally binding contracts. Niches are ‘protected

spaces’ such as R&D laboratories, subsidized demonstration projects, or small market niches where users

have special demands and are willing to support emerging innovations. Niche actors (such as entrepreneurs,

start-ups, spinoffs) work on radical innovations that deviate from existing regimes. Niche-actors hope that

their promising novelties are eventually used in the regime or even replace it. This is not easy, however,

because the existing regime is stabilized by many lock-in mechanisms and because niche-innovations may

have a mismatch with existing regime dimensions (e.g. lack of appropriate infrastructure, regulations or

consumer practices). Niches are crucial for transitions, because they provide the seeds for systemic change

(Geels, 2011). Most transition scholars have focused on emerging radical innovations at the niche-level,assuming that novelties developed in niches might eventually make their way into the regime (see e.g.,

Raven, 2012; Hekkert, Suurs, Negro, Smits, Kuhlmann, 2007)(Bosman, 2012). Transitions can occur when

developments at these three levels align (Geels, 2002; Grin et al., 2010).

The speed of the transition, or in what phase it is in, is conceptualized in the multi-phase framework.

The multi-phase framework looks at the direction, speed and size of transitions. The transition is described

through time as an S-shaped curve that goes through four non-linear phases (Rotmans, Kemp & Asselt,

2001; Rotmans & Loorbach, 2010):

1) Pre-development: small changes are going in the background of the system but are not (yet) visible.

2) Take-off: structural changes gain momentum; it is the ignition of a transition.3) Acceleration: structural changes gain speed and become visible.

4) Stabilization: a new state of dynamic equilibrium is reached.

Figure 3 - Multi-phase and multi-level models of transition (Rip, 1998; Rotmans, 2000)



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The multi-pattern framework is used to understand how the three levels, landscape, regime and niche,

interact dynamically in the unfolding of a socio-technical transition (Geels, 2011).

Figure 4 provides an ideal-typical representation of how the three levels interact dynamically in the

unfolding of socio-technical transitions. Although each transition is unique, the general dynamic pattern is

characterized by transitions resulting from the interaction between processes at different levels (idem):

1) Changes at the landscape level create pressure on the regime: Large exogenous changes in the landscapeare being felt in the regime. A good example for the energy-regime would be the worldwide shift towards

less CO2 emissions or the rising costs of fossil fuels.

2) Destabilization of the regime creates windows of opportunity for niche innovations: Changes in the

regime, such as consumer wishes, policy or in the dominant culture create favorable openings in the regime

selection environments (Smith et al, 2010) where the regime might be more susceptible to the offerings of

a niche-innovation.

3) Niche-innovations build up internal momentum: Through networks of supporting actors, learning

processes and the linking of different elements, niche-innovations manage to gain a foothold (for example

scale-up their product or service), stabilize in a dominant design and increase their internal momentum.

The unfolding interactions can then be further sub-divided into several phases, using the multi-phaseframework as described in the previous paragraph.

Figure 4 - Multi-level perspective on transitions (Geels, 2011; Geels, 2002).



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2.8. Summary and Research Lens

This literature chapter has firstly provided the context of CSR development, after which a brief history of

the concept has been given. A new paradigm is slowly emerging within the business and natural

environment research that argues for a bigger, systemic view on sustainability. It was found that due to the

complexity of such an approach, the application of the inter-organizational network can be useful.

A literature review on inter-organizational networks and sustainability has been provided, after which itwas concluded that, while research in this field is growing, there is still a lack of studies that research the

role of regional inter-organizational networks in a fundamental shift towards sustainability.

In the last section of the literature review, the approach of transition studies has been described as a

contribution to the existing business and natural environment literature. Transition studies and three of its

main frameworks, the multi-level perspective, the multi-phase perspective and the multi-pattern

perspective, allow for a better understanding of fundamental change, or transition, within socio-technical

systems.

This research will use these concepts to analyze its empirical data on the working of the regional inter-

organizational network Energy Valley. The inter-organizational network Energy Valley operates in a regionalenvironment in the energy domain and therefore provides an interesting case as to how a regional business

network as such may influence the region’s transition towards a sustainable energy supply.

The multi-level perspective gives the researcher an analytical tool to distinguish between the different

levels of operation of Energy Valley, to understand at what level the organization is most active and to

what processes of transition it contributes the most. Additionally, through the multi-phase framework, it

also becomes visible how far, or to what phase, Energy Valley’s work has contributed to the region’s energy

transition. Lastly, this research also looks at possible forces opposing the regional transition. Concluding,

this research makes a contribution as to the understanding of regional inter-organizational networks and

their role in the transition of socio-technical energy regimes.

3. Methodology and Research Approach

3.1. Type of Research

This research will be conducted by means of a qualitative research design. This research method was

chosen for the following reasons: It allows for new themes, questions and variables to arise and suits the

topic’s contemporary nature and lack of previous knowledge (Yin, 2009). Moreover, the research topic asks

for in-depth information which qualitative research allows for (Straus & Corbin, 1990). For this thesis a

qualitative research design following the analytic induction approach is used where both theory testing

(deductive) and theory building (inductive) is used (Taylor & Bogdan, 1984 ). Despite the fact that most

qualitative research only uses an inductive approach, Yin (2011) argues that deduction is perfectly suitablefor qualitative research. Here, the used concepts lead to the definition of the relevant data that needs to be

collected (idem). In this case, primary and secondary data are used deductively to apply the concept of the

inter-organizational business network to concepts coming from the field of transition studies. Inductively, it

is the goal of this research to use the results of this study to complement the field of business studies and

the natural environment with new insights on the use of inter-organizational networks in achieving

fundamental regional socio-technological change.



21

Furthermore, this research is explorative in nature. According to Eisenhardt (1989) and Yin (2009), a case

study here is the preferred approach, mainly because of its allowance for theory testing. Yin (idem) has

provided three important conditions to apply a case-study approach. First, a research question asking how

or why applies to the case study approach. Second, when the researcher is unable to control the behaviour

of the researched unit(s) a case study is useful. Lastly, a case-study approach is useful when contemporary

events or organizations or the topic of research.

3.2. Single-case approach

This research uses a single-case approach to allow in-depth research of the Energy Valley network and its

workings. In this light, according to Pettigrew (2002), an in-depth case study approach offers “thick”

descriptions of the investigated phenomena and their context, investigating what is happening in the

totality of each situation, providing holistic rather than fragmented explanations. Additionally, it is a

suitable approach for both theory building and theory testing (Hillebrand, Kok and Biemans, 2001). This

conforms to an interpretivist paradigm, which recognizes that business situations are complex, unique and

a function of a particular set of circumstances and individuals (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2003).

As far as empirical evidence from a single case study is concerned, Dyer and Wilkins (1991) propose thatinsights from a case study should be contextualized and a single deep case study is the optimum form of

case study research, offering partial support for theory (Easton, 1995; Dubois and Gadde, 2002).

3.3. Data collection & Analysis

This research is based on a single setting, the Energy Valley case. According to Yin (2011), this means that at

the broader level this research is based on a single unit of analysis. However, at the narrower level, this

research is based on thirteen interviewees or multiple units of research. An essential consideration when

selecting the interviewees is the composition of the eventual group; this must reflect the main topic of

study and give a balanced view (idem). In order to achieve this, it is attempted to select an even number of

interviewees from different fields, namely business, government, civil society, intermediaries and

knowledge institutes. Purposive and snowball sampling are used to determine the final composition of the

sample (Patton, 1990; Merriam, 1998). Firstly by selecting and contacting those actors that are most

appropriate and are likely to cooperate, secondly by drawing on the references from previous participants

(Patton, 1990; Merriam, 1998).

The interviews were performed via a semi-structured approach, as this enables rich and detailed data

(Pegram, 1999; Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007). For each conducted interview a semi-structured interview

protocol was used, starting with a general introduction of the research topic, continuing with more general

questions regarding the topic and going in-depth on specific issues, also depending on the interview-

participant and his or hers background. Each interview lasted between 60 and 90 minutes and was

recorded for analysing purposes, with all interviewees being asked for permission in advance. Each

interview was transcribed following the semi-structured interview protocol for support.

During the transcription phase, a first structuring of the primary data was made. The data was then

analyzed, using the qualitative analytical software MaxQDA, following the structure as suggested by Strike

(2011):



22

- Open coding: large paragraphs were reviewed by to establish major themes in the data and to

structure the first results. Themes were based on the interview protocol and on subjects that were

raised during the interviews.

- Axel coding: After the major themes and concepts were identified, smaller themes and more

importantly relations and insights are identified. Here substance analysis of the collected data was

used in order to reduce its volume and identify core consistencies and meaning. Consequently,data considered irrelevant to answering the main research question was discarded (Patton, 2002).

- Selective coding: Here, the smaller themes and concepts are connected to the major themes of the

research and interviews.

- Comparative coding: Finally, the results as provided by the analysis of the interviews are compared

to the relevant secondary data in order to increase the validity and to help understand the context.

Also see the next paragraph on validity. However, according to Yin (2009), the need to triangulate

will be less important when the interviews for primary data are recorded directly, which is the case

for this research.

3.4. Validity In order to achieve a proper level of validity for this research, with properly collected and interpreted data

so that the conclusions accurately reflect and represent the real world (Yin, 2011), the suggestion to apply

triangulation (Yin, 2009) is followed. In this thesis methodological triangulation is applied, which means

that two different ways of obtaining data are being used. Primary data is obtained through thirteen in-

depth interviews; secondary data is obtained from several documents, including academic articles, policy

reports, internal organizational reports and other sources such as newspapers

3.5. Research Approach and Framework

In order to analyze the effects of the inter-organizational network Energy Valley on the fundamental shift

of the regional socio-technical energy regime, this research has been approached as follows:

The functions of the network are examined in the first section. Numerous functions of an inter-

organizational network were already identified in the literature section. Given the richness of the data of

this research, it becomes interesting to look at what functions Energy Valley, as a case example of an inter-

organizational network, provides in the regional socio-technical regime.

By doing so, a base work is provided to enter the second section of this research. In the transition literature,

as described more elaborately in the literature section, three basic processes of transition are identified.

Using the results from the first section as to what functions Energy Valley provides, it now becomes

possible to identify if, and if so, what Energy Valley contributes to these three processes. This, in

combination with the third section, allows for an analysis of the fundamental regime shift effects factuallyachieved by the Energy Valley operation.

Also described in the transition literature is the concept of the multi-phase framework. This framework is

used to analyze at what given level of transition the researched region or country is. From the data comes

an interesting point of view to do so: How do the players in the field analyze their own environment, what

large developments are mentioned often and what developments see they happen in the near or future?

This third section is complemented with secondary data on investments and progress made in sustainable

energy in the region.



23

In the fourth section, the concepts of path dependency and lock-in are used to analyze the possible

opposing forces of the transition. This allows for a better understanding of the dynamics within the regional

socio-technical energy regime and explains what attributes of the inter-organizational network might slow

down the transition.

In the final section, a synthesis of the four sections is provided. Combining the observed functions of the

Energy Valley network in the regional socio-technical energy regime; the processes of transition Energy

Valley contributes to; the transition phase the region is situated in and what opposing forces the transition

faces, it is synthesized how Energy Valley contributes to the socio-technical shift of the energy regime.

Please find a visualization of the research approach in Figure 5.

Figure 5 – Research Approach

4. Energy Valley

Energy Valley is a foundation and inter-organizational network organization based in the Northern-

Netherlands. It was founded in 2003 by a consortium of public and private partners as a networkorganization in order to facilitate regional growth of the energy sector. Its main goal is the economic

development of the Northern-Netherlands, with the ambition to create new jobs and work on clean,

reliable and innovative energy. Additionally, Energy Valley is the name given to the region that is comprised

of the provinces Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe and the northern part of Noord-Holland. However, the topic

of research is the Energy Valley organization. The information for this chapter is derived from internal

documents of the Energy Valley organization (Energy Valley 2008; 2011).



24

4.1. Organization and Structure

On the broadest level, Energy Valley’s main task is to create the right environment in the region to achieve

success in public and private energy initiatives. The core part of the Energy Valley foundation exists of a

coordination office created for this task. The main activities of the foundation are undertaken from this

office, including the development of ideas and support, transporting and facilitating knowledge, the

promotion of Energy Valley as a prominent energy region and to help businesses and local governmentsthrough project support. The latter is achieved, among others, through coalition forming, demand

articulation and through support in finding investment sources. In addition, an Energy Valley platform has

been developed. Here, connected organizations can network and gain access to Energy Valley’s services.

4.2. Funding

4.2.1. Energy Valley I, II & III The majority of Energy Valley’s funding is obtained from public funds, complemented with contributions

from private (founding) partners. Energy Valley’s funding is project-based, meaning that each 3.5 years

(connecting with the public service cycle) a new project plan is required for the whole Energy Valley

organization. During the first three stages of Energy Valley, the Cooperation North-Netherlands (SNN) wasthe main source of income, as well as contributions from the European Union, the ministry of Economic

affairs, regional governments, knowledge institutes and partners from the private sector.

For Energy Valley I, the first phase, no specific information is available except that the large majority of the

funding, €2.130.000, is obtained through the SNN agreement. The same goes for Energy Valley II, the

majority of the funding, €3.675.00, is obtained through the SNN agreement.

For Energy Valley III, the budget has been increased to €8.050.000, based on a Koers Noord subsidy from

SNN and further contributions from both public and private stakeholders. Here, funding is based for 50% on

the SNN agreement, 35% from provinces and municipalities and the remaining 15% on private funding.

4.2.2. Funding Energy Valley IV

More information on the funding of Energy Valley IV is available. This also gives an insight into the previous

funding structure and how the funding structure is shifting towards a larger percentage of private funding.

For Energy Valley IV, 65% of funding is obtained from public funds and 35% from private and knowledge

institutes funds.

Figure 6 - Organizational structure (Energy Valley, 2011)



25

A total funding of €11.500.000 is obtained for a period of four years, of which €7.500.000 comes from

public funding, distributed among the provinces of Drenthe, Friesland, Groningen and Noord-Holland, the

national government and the municpalaties of Groningen, Leeuwarden, Assen, Emmen and Den Helder. Of

the private funding, an even distribution among Gasunie, GasTerra, NAM, Groningen Seaports, Enexis,

Alliander, KEMA and the NOM is seen. Together they contribute €3.2000.000. Combined with a

contribution of €800.000 from Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Hanzehogeschool Groningen, KenniscampusLeeuwarden and Noorderpoort College, the total funding of Energy Valley IV equals €11.500.000.

For a quick overview of Energy Valley’s funding, please review Figure 7.

Funding % Private funding

Energy Valley I €2.1 million Small, exact number unknown

Energy Valley II €3.5 million Small, exact number unknown

Energy Valley III €8 million 15%

Energy Valley IV € 11.5 million 35%

Figure 7 - Overview of Energy Valley funding (Energy Valley, 2011)

4.3. Context and History

4.3.1. Introduction

In the economic planning of the province of Groningen, the Economic Business Plan (EBP, 2000), energy

was selected as one of the core-competencies the region should develop itself in. The biggest energy

industry Groningen, and the North-Netherlands in general, was and still is the gas sector, ranging from

production, transport, treatment, research and trade. With a high level of technical knowledge and safety,

the gas sector had the opportunity to build a strong export base. The combination of a few larger players,

such as the NAM, Essent, Nuon, Electrabel and Gasunie, with a support base of suppliers, outsourcing

operations and spin-offs had created a cluster of related business operations that together offered around

14.000 jobs in Drenthe, Friesland and Groningen alone. This made it interesting, also on a national level, to

maintain and grow this cluster. Another leading trend was the European Union’s energy policy. Focusing on

reliability of supply and sustainability, an opportunity existed to position Dutch gas as a clean transition fuel

and as an addition to a diversified supply of energy to the European market. This could lead to an increase

in export and trade, strengthening the Dutch gas sector.

Due to the liberalization of the Dutch energy market, the trading and production facilities of Gasunie, one

of the largest players in the region, were to be divided in 2003, which could mean a movement of trading

jobs abroad. In this light, attempting to avoid a possible loss of jobs, the municipality of Groningen

performed a study (Van Werven, 2003) on the possibilities of the extension of the energy sector in the

Northern-Netherlands. Other stakeholders involved were the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and

Drenthe and the Gasunie itself. The study resulted in a collection of opportunities for the whole region,

based on three core competencies.



26

Given the liberalization of the Dutch energy market, the importance of the energy market as a job creator

and the opportunities arising from the transition towards a sustainable energy supply, a favored scenario

was created stating that the region should focus on the further development of the conventional energy

sector, the stimulation of sustainable energy and the development of energy-related knowledge and

innovation, eventually resulting in a stronger regional economy based on sustainable energy.

4.3.2. Energy Valley I – 2003 - 2005

Based on this initial study, the provinces of Drenthe, Friesland, Groningen and the NOM together with

Gasunie have continued the development of the foundation Energy Valley with the main goal of facilitating

development on all three focus areas. These first two years were mainly spent on expanding the coalition

and developing strategic opportunities, where Energy Valley acted as the intermediary between private

and public organizations. In total 2.5 fte were employed during this period, under the supervision of a

board of directors existing of members from the NOM and the connected provinces. Also a support group

with members from the NOM and the municipality of Groningen was initiated. Branding and lobby resulted

in the positioning of the Northern-Netherlands as energy region, complemented with several studies and

stakeholder sessions. This eventually resulted in a broad coalition and a connection between Energy Valley

and the national transition policy via the Support Transition Coalition (OTC).

4.3.3. Energy Valley II – 2005 – 2008

Due to the complementary energy sector and mutual stakes in the Waddenfonds the northern part of the

province of North-Holland was added to the Energy Valley organization. Also, the coordination office was

expended to 7 full time employees, as well as the addition of actors from the ministry of Economic Affairs

to the support group. An Energy Valley platform was created, where businesses and other organizations are

formally connected. In terms of activities, next to the branding activities, the stimulation of project

developments became the main focus. Energy Valley also managed to increase its institutionalization in the

region through joining several regional development programs and agreements.

4.3.4. Energy Valley III – 2008-2011

During 2008-2011 the focus points of Energy Valley remained the branding of the region and the

stimulation of energy projects. As for branding, the extension of the cluster and the positioning of the

Energy Valley as a gas region, including a gas hub and large-scale electricity production were the main

points. The stimulation of projects was divided into two separate clusters, Bio-energy & Warmth and

Decentralized Energy and CCS. Under these clusters, projects focused on biomass, green gas, energy

transition parks, smart grids, offshore wind and carbon capture storage were stimulated. Internationally,

cooperation was started with the German north-west region via the Hansa Energy Corridor. Also, four large

partners joined Energy Valley: Enexis, Alliander, KEMA and Eneco. The organization itself was expanded to

17.5 fte, with the majority of the employees working on energy projects.

4.3.5. Energy Valley IV – Current strategy and goals

For the period of 2012 – 2015, the main goal of Energy Valley remains the economic development of the

energy sector through innovation and the expansion of energy-related activities. Energy has been selected

as one of the nine top sectors in the Netherlands by the national government, with Energy Valley as one of

the main drivers. The regional cluster has developed itself towards a strong player in large-scale

decentralized and centralized energy production, (inter)national infrastructure and knowledge.



27

On a European level, the region strives for a growing position in a stabilized electricity supply, especially in

the gas sector. Building on the regional strength of the energy sector and looking to increase its stake in

improving the competitive position of the Dutch energy sector in Europe, Energy Valley’s strategy for the

coming three years is built on further specialization along four main themes. These are the (Green) gas hub,

power production and balancing, decentralized energy systems and lastly, bio-based energy. Connecting all

four themes are research, development and education. In addition, Energy Valley will focus more oncoordinated lobbying and international cooperation. For the (green) gas hub, an improvement of the

competitive power and export of the gas sector is sought through improving the level of organization and

increasing the interaction with alternative energy sources. For power production and balancing, core points

are the growth of large-scale decentralized energy production and the ‘greening’ of central production. For

bio-based energy, scale advantages, technology renewing, innovation and interaction with the chemical

sector are being sought. For decentralized energy, more pilots and the clustering of business and

knowledge should lead to increased growth. Research and knowledge is, in line with demand, extended

through the bundling of education and research in the newly founded Energy Academy. And lastly,

(inter)national cooperation is focused on the four identified core themes of Energy Valley IV, expanding

project-based national and international cooperation projects looking to strengthen both the national-based top sector Energy as well as the European-based innovation policy.

Figure 8 - Focus themes Energy Valley 2012-2015 (Energy Valley, 2011)



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5. Results

The results are based on thirteen interviews with different actors from the region and complimented with

data coming from secondary sources. In the first section, the different identified functions of the Energy

Valley network are discussed. In total, eight different functions, some overlapping, were identified. Based

on the established functions of the network, the second section of this chapter will look at what processes

of transition, as facilitated by Energy Valley, can be identified. Next, in the third section, based on theprevious results and complemented with quotes from interviewees and secondary data, it is identified in

which transitional phase the region currently is. In the fourth section, an analysis using the concepts of

path-dependency and lock-in is performed to identify possible opposing forces to the regional transition. In

the last section, a synthesis of the previous sections provides a conclusion on how the Energy Valley

network organization contributes to the fundamental transition of the regional socio-technical energy

regime of the Energy Valley region.

5.1. Functions of the Network

5.1.1. Calibrating party

Energy Valley operates in between the market and the public administration, functioning as a stockbroker

for different projects. As one respondent from Energy Valley states: “I am not a civil servant, I can go further

in the facilitation of business. At the same time, I am not responsible as an entrepreneur. In between these

two, I have a broad freedom of action”. In the network of Energy Valley, more than two-hundred businesses

are united, allowing for a stronger voice towards politics: “ A collective of two hundred businesses makes an

impression in The Hague and the provincial houses, the public-private stakes that are brought together

through us(Energy Valley respondent )”.

This in-between position means that the EV project employees need to understand both languages, but also

that they are in a position to bring the two spheres closer together: “What we often see is that

entrepreneurs have a certain kind of jargon. When they take these plans and their jargon to the province,

who speaks a different kind of language, this is often where it goes wrong. Our role is to translate public

administration language in to the language of the entrepreneur and vice versa…For example, I chose to

frame new projects from an economic perspective, like jobs created...this is more effective to achieve my

goals ( Energy Valley respondent)”.

This calibrating of the two different spheres (public and market) also plays a role during times of change in

the public administration. For example, when new public officers enter into office, they might not know

much about the energy business or what exactly has been the path of development in the region until then:

“Politics has a cycle of regularly just four years…when a new deputy enters office, you often don’t know from

which context they arrive…and then suddenly, they have to operate in a stream of developments that oftenhave been going on for ten years already…and have an opinion about that. In t hat case, someone who has a

consistent and well-practiced story, like Energy Valley, has a role to play (Attero respondent )” . New

developments in the field of sustainability are not uncommon after a political change: “When a new

ambitious deputy arrives in office, the whole spectrum of sustainable energy is put on the table again. Here,

you need someone like Energy Valley who applauds, but at the same time is able to steer the deputy in the

right direction a bit. They are closer to politics (idem).”



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Even though Energy Valley operates close to the political field, their independent position and proximity to

the market allows them to sometimes intervene without a sense of conflict of interest: “ When a party like

GasTerra presents a list of bottlenecks for green gas, quickly a sense of conflict of interest could arise.

However, Energy Valley has limited self-interest in green gas, preventing such a situation (GasTerra

respondent ).” About this, the respondent from the University of Groningen (RUG) says: ‘In that respect,

they hold an interesting position: Executing projects while being generic towards the general energy policyof the provinces but at the same time very close to the market. An impossible position for civil servants, but

not for them. So, once in a while, ideas and requests from the market are brought to the table by Energy

Valley”. Summarizing, the independent position of Energy Valley, in between the market and the public

administration, allows them to calibrate the two different spheres of market and public administration. This

is done through translating the different languages of both spheres into a common jargon, facilitating a

consistent policy through acting as storyteller and advisor towards new public servants and through

providing a lobbying-platform that is perceived to be less inclined towards conflicts of interest.

5.1.2. Scaling up

Energy Valley helps scaling up projects and technologies on two different levels. Firstly, by helping

businesses work together, an economy of scale is created in the actual business operation. An example of

this is the planned Biogas pipe-line ‘Noord-Oost Friesland’, which connects several stand-alone

fermentation plants and makes it possible to centrally upgrade the biogas into green gas: “All those

vulnerable smaller installations, at farms and so on, they are simple not economically feasible. Still, green

gas is important so by clustering them you make it unique and protected and more interesting for the

deciding parties (Energy Valley respondent )”. This is confirmed by another respondent from Energy Valley:

“Because of the larger scale of operation, we will be able to create an economy of scale. This is the most

important thing to the ministry, being able to produce at a lower cost than a stand-alone installation“ .

Secondly, by clustering different parties working on energy projects, Energy Valley enables them to achieve

a larger striker power towards the public administration, be it to influence existing regulations or for

funding: “We try to cluster as much as possible, the more the private initiatives coming from the market are

visible, the stronger our position towards the administration becomes (Energy Valley respondent). Talking

about the green gas casus, an Energy Valley respondent provides two examples of this: “The green gas

concept was ready to go, however, regulations were still obstructing. Using the Green gas task force, we

were able to collect the right people at the table: public administrators from the provinces, Ferd Crone, the

mayor of Leeuwarden with a large network in The Hague and large gas players such as GasUnie and

GasTerra. With this collective, we started lobbying for a change in feed-in regulations”.

In the case of funding, Energy Valley played a similar role. When several different companies were

interested in further developing the green gas concept and faced similar development issues, Energy Valley

organized for them to collectivity opt for the ‘Koers Noord’ subsidy: “What we did to put the different

parties together at one table and suggesting the bundling of all the development questions together into

one funding request. This way, we were able to fund all the projects and make sure no double work was

being done. This resulted in a project estimated at 7 million euro’s, of which 2.2 million were granted for

subsidy (idem)”.



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Summarizing, Energy Valley facilitates the scaling up of energy projects in two different ways: Firstly by

organizing a physical economy of scale, resulting in a lower production price. Secondly, by bundling the

lobby and funding efforts of market initiatives, a larger striking power is created towards the public

administration.

5.1.3. Place-to-be

Making the Energy Valley region the ‘place-to-be’ for all energy related business in the Netherlands and

other regions in the vicinity is one of the main goals of the Energy Valley organization. Since 2003, the

region has slowly become a common name in the industrial reality of the Netherlands. For example, the

region was mentioned as an important industrial area together with Brainport Eindhoven and Schiphol in

the governing agreements of the cabinets Rutte I and II and was part of the Green Deals, made during the

previous Balkende IV governance. Several interviewees stressed the branding function of the region as an

essential element of Energy Valley: “You could draw a comparison with The Hague, branded as the justice

capital of the world. That’s what we are trying to do with energy: If you want to do anything in the field of

energy in North-West Europe, come to Energy Valley (Energy Valley respondent )”. Next to the regions citing

in various governing agreements , the respondent from the Ministry of Economic Affairs also confirms the

region has succeeded in establishing a well-known brand: “Energy Valley naturally has a great sound to

it…consequently propagating their selling point has resulted in a prominent name…Groningen, Friesland

and Drenthe have benefited from this positive branding”. One of the Energy Valley respondents states the

same: “If you look at what role Energy Valley has played for the region…distinguishing it from the rest of the

Netherlands in terms of accelerating in one field, it has done a great job”.

Next to a national branding function, Energy Valley also has a regional branding function, providing

inspiration and common ground for those active in the region: “One of their main functions is marketing;

from where I stand they are an important marketing tool for the philosophy that is present in the region

(Attero respondent )”. This philosophy is described more precisely by the respondent from the Ministry of

Economic Affairs : “It is very interesting to see how Energy Valley has given the ‘North’, previously known as

a somewhat lagging and reactive region, a new s pin; changing the mindset from reactive to active”. One of

Energy Valley’s tools to inspire the region is the ample amount of examples provided by the organization.

The organization hosts around fifteen to twenty local events built around different energy topics per year,

has its own newsletter, its employees frequent public hearings on energy issues and Energy Valley’s

website hosts a map of the region indicating all current energy projects. Additionally, a booklet called

‘Energy Valley Works!’ was issued in 2010 (Energy Valley, 2010), providing a host of examples ranging from

sustainable smart grid systems to high-capacity transport cables and coal-fired plants. Indeed, Energy

Valley is an organization that “has the overview and provides a spotlight for new initiatives, inspiring others

by doing so (Waddenvereniging respondent )”. And the examples do resonate in the region: “Examples, we

are almost functioning through examples, we warm ourselves to examples so to speak (GasTerra

respondent )”. Finally, as is suggested by the respondent from the City of Leeuwarden: “Even just by

mentioning the name Energy Valley consistently, a sense of community spirit is created: We are all working

with energy”. Summarizing, Energy Valley has a place-to-be or branding function on two levels: Firstly to

provide a branding that distinguishes the region from the rest of the Netherlands, and secondly, to provide

inspiration within the region through their various communication outlets.



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5.1.4. Coordination of stakeholders

One of the main functions of the Energy Valley organization in the region is the coordination of different

sets of stakeholders before and during projects. The nature of the energy business is as such that often

different stakeholders are needed and involved in order to successfully complete a project. This requires a

party that is able to connect different players and coordinate the unfolding process. Briefly put, Energy

Valley “works with private parties, public administration and knowledge institutions on a pr oject-base tostart laying bricks as soon as possible (Energy Valley respondent )”. Even though Energy Valley is a small

organization, with currently 19fte, “they sure know about organizing, how to interlink different parties

(GasTerra respondent )”.

Through the interlinking of parties and processes, new enterprises and consortia can arise in the region:

“Imagine you are working with three different parties, and quickly they are connected with each other,

creating a new sustainable enterprise. Initiating, propagating, conceptualizing, finding the right subsidies

and the right players to connect to the initiative, that is what Energy Valley does (Attero respondent )” .

An interesting example of this role is the realization of the first physical green gas tank station by Green

Planet in Pesse, that brings together the green gas production of Attero and the direct-sales channel of

Green Planet’s tank station: “Energy Valley seems to be able to make connections that other don’t. For

example, they were the ones that made sure a FES subsidy was allocated to the Green Planet project,

effectively making us the first green gas producer to physically provide the gas from the side of the road

(idem)”. A similar suggestion is given by the respondent from the Natuur & Milieu Federatie Groningen:

“Energy Valley has lots of knowledge and insight into how the chain operates, what product might do well,

what else you could make of it, what the next steps are and how this is all inter-connected”.

Operating as a stockbroker, the Energy Valley organization utilizes its large network to make connections

that otherwise, most probably, were never realized. In the case of Attero, when the organization was

looking to develop a transition park, in which several operations are clustered to achieve a more efficient

energy use, Energy Valley was responsible for the first introductions: “Energy Valley has had an important

role in the initiation. We had a plan, but still needed clients and the first client came from the Energy Valley

network: Noblesse, a large user of steam. This has been their virtue (Attero respondent)”. Please refer to

Box I for a short description of the transition park.

Next to bringing different stakeholders together during the initial phases, the working groups, task forces

and events of Energy Valley also function as a coordinating forum in the region: “The gatherings organized

by Energy Valley are very important. This is where agreements are made as to what you can and what you

can’t do and how you could help each other (City of Leeuwarden respondent )”. Summarizing, Energy Valley

has a coordinating function in the region: The organization brings together different actors, keeps

coordination of projects and provides several coordinating forums.



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5.1.5. Access to funding

Next to having the right stakeholders at the table, access to funding is a critical dimension of successfully

starting a new energy project. Although Energy Valley does not do any investing, they do play an important

role in access to funding: “ In the last ten years of operation, we have not invested a penny. This is not what

we do, as an organization we only cost money. We do however facilitate third parties to come to an

investment. This is what we do and what we get paid to do (Energy Valley respondent )”.

One of the most apparent ways of facilitating access to funding is helping companies to be assigned a

subsidy, either coming from the provinces, The Hague or Brussels: “ Along the subsidy lines they seem quite

well informed, when there are subsidies available, they are very capable of getting them and broker them to

companies. The other way around, when companies have funding opportunities, I can imagine they will find

the right subsidy too (RUG respondent )”.

The various subsidies available require in-depth knowledge about following the right steps and opening the

right doors, something that most companies or entrepreneurs simply do not always have enough time for.

Although commercial subsidy consultants do exist, Energy Valley is described as skilled in this field too:

“ Their skills are to know the right phone numbers, having the network but also to have time to, in a rather

pit-bull-like way, chase subsidies. For me, this is something I have to do on the side…for them it is a primary

task (Attero respondent )” .

Especially smaller organizations can benefit from Energy Valley’s expertise and network in the field of

subsidies: “ For the smaller players, they function as a trustee. For example, you are looking for a subsidy

from GasUnie. Having Gerrit van der Veen introduce you (director EV), makes this easier from the onset

(IMSA respondent ). In this sense, the Energy Valley organization has a guiding approach towards funding,

introducing new players and bringing stakeholders together, who once they have generated new ideas can

opt to receive help during their funding rounds:

Transition Park Wijster, Drenthe.

The Wijster Energy Transition Park in Drenthe is an initiative of Attero, a large waste collector

and processing company. Besides Attero, the provincial government of Drenthe, municipality of Midden-

Drenthe, the Reest & Wieden Water Board and Energy Valley are involved in the development of the Energy

Transition Park. The goal of the transition park is to connect energy-intensive companies on site, allowingthem to use renewable energy produced by Attero, as well as other services. Noblesse Proteins, an animal-

waste processor, was the first large client, using waste-steam coming from Attero in their process.

Furthermore, Attero will receive a €4.8 million subsidy from the province Drenthe as well as a national SDE+

subsidy to realize a green gas hub at the transition park (Provincie Drenthe, 2012). When finished, local

farmers and Attero can use the hub to upgrade biogas and feed-in the resulting green gas in a more cost-

efficient way. The current ambition is to produce and upgrade 10 million m3 of biogas each year at the

Wijster location. Due to disagreements on the estimated prices of the gas, the project has as of yet not been

realized, but has been scheduled for 2014.

Box 1 - Transition Park Wijster



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“ Take the Dutch Torrefaction Association (DTA), it is a small club but they do know a lot about this specific

concept. So, when you put them together in a room, you get an explosion of ideas and possibilities. However,

once they need financing for these ideas, they are lost. That is where we can be of significance (Energy

Valley respondent )”. Summarizing, creating access to funding is an important function of the Energy Valley

organization. The organization is described as having in-depth knowledge in the field of subsidies, having

the time and skills necessary to obtain them and having access to a broad network of investors.

5.1.6. Parenting

Building on the guiding approach for smaller players in the previous paragraph on funding, the parenting of

new projects or companies is another function of the Energy Valley organization. This means that the

Energy Valley employees go to great lengths to help their clients, be it a small or larger company, with a

variety of issues that might arise before or during a project: “ How I see it, they are a facilitating

organization. So for example, when we have a project that we would like to demonstrate in the Energy

Valley region, we can ask them to clear the path for us so to speak…this is what makes it interesting for

organizations to be part of the Energy Valley network (GasTerra respondent )”. This is described by one of

the Energy Valley respondents too: “We enter the domain that is bothering most entrepreneurs, for which

they have no time or interest”, or in the words of another Energy Valley respondent: "We are the physician,

the general practitioner of the energy projects”

Often, the smaller companies need the most guiding or parenting: “Smaller companies can benefit from our

services more. We can support them, take them by the hand, protect, accelerate; in that respect we can

have a significant impact. Larger players like GasUnie; we really do not need to tell them how the game is

played (Energy Valley respondent )”. Working with smaller companies makes the nature of Energy Valley’s

business more personal according to one of the Energy Valley respondents: “How y ou can be of any

assistance, it’s all about trust, building a relationship…and knowing what keeps the entrepreneur awake at

night ”. However, the large scale operations of Energy Valley do not always go hand in hand with the

building of a trustful relationship with a smaller company: “When we started working with Energy Valley,

they were asking for quite some information: What were we doing, how far we were and what our planning

was. However, this information would be shared with the larger stakeholders too. As a small organization,

you have to think twice before taking such steps I would say ( ATO respondent ).

A final parenting function is helping companies find new initiatives in the market that otherwise would

have possibly remained less visible to them as well as keeping track on the company’s progress: “One of the

functions they have is pointing us in the direction of new or interesting initiatives…They filter all the

information, supply us with synthesized information…and keep track on whether or not you are utilizing it. Iwould say that is important too ( Attero respondent)”. Summarizing, the parenting role of Energy Valley

accounts for several functions in one, all related to making the professional lives of different stakeholders

in the region easier: Be it through clearing the paths for new projects, scanning for new initiatives in the

market and presenting them to companies, building meaningful relationships with entrepreneurs or

keeping track of a company’s progress.



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5.1.7. Lobby

The Energy Valley organization has been described as being an active lobbyist numerous times by the

interviewees. Since its start, the organization has been able to propagate itself and the Energy Valley region

into the policy domain. For example, they are being mentioned in various policy programs: “It started as a

small club, financed by the provinces...and after a while they showed up in public documents, like ‘ Pieken in

de Delta’ . Here, energy was a described as a viable option for the North, giving Energy Valley as a primeexample. As such, they have some influence… They are clearly working in that level too, not just with

practical smaller projects (RUG respondent )”.

The organization function as a vehicle for the Northern provinces to create the critical mass they need

towards The Hague: “The North needs, to a certain degree, to cooperate to create a larger critical mass

from companies, local governments and knowledge institutes. This way, you get more done in the Hague:

Energy Valley is an organization that is able to create that critical mass (City of Leeuwarden respondent )”.

Building critical mass is described as one of the success factors of Energy Valley: “We have a large group of

stakeholders from the market and government who pull their weight. We started in 2003 and are nowmentioned in the Government Agreement together with Brainport Eindhoven and the harbor of

Rotterdam/Amsterdam. This is a position that has been achieved in just nine years (Energy Valley

respondent)”. On a national level, next to the ‘Pieken in de Delta’ and the Government Agreements of Rutte

I and II, the Northern Green Deal from 2011 is another example of how Energy Valley operates: “The Green

Deals from Maxime Verhagen are an example of Energy Valley’s lobbying. Different stakeholders in the

North create a proposal, e.g. a green gas hub, and in turn Energy Valley greatly helps in the lobby-process,

getting our Green Deals (City of Leeuwarden respondent )”. However, as one interviewee notes, even

though the striking power of the Energy Valley lobby is significant, the scale of the lobbying process is

mainly directed toward larger projects and organizations: “ What we have encountered is that Energy Valley

clearly has a strong lobby towards the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is a good thing. However, forsmaller players like us, the projects will always be put in a larger context and become (too) widely known

(ATO respondent).

Interesting is that due to the way Energy Valley organizes their lobby, the organization itself does not

always become visible during the process: “I get the impression Energy Valley is not that visible in the lobby -

process. This is more a task for the public officials, they are the ones you hear talking about sustainability.

Energy Valley appears to take a different approach, but I’m finding it hard to put my finger on it ( Ministry of

Economic affairs respondent )”. When asked about this, one of the Energy Valley respondents explains why

this is the case: “Well, we organized the lobby. Energy Valley is not a lobby organization as such, so for

outsiders it makes sense that they only see public officials, deputies or one of the chiefs of the Queen. Weinitiate the lobby and make sure they have the right arguments to present”. A brief description of the Green

Deal Northern Netherlands 2011 is presented in Box 2.



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5.1.8. Social Relations

Being part of the main networks and having the right social relations can be considered a key variable in

successfully doing business. In the Energy Valley region, Energy Valley has a role in facilitating several

events where the different stakeholders in the region can meet each other: “Building a network is a

strategic part of doing business. When you join Energy Valley as a starting entrepreneur, within no-time you

are can meet everyone in the field during a networking event (IMSA respondent )”. This is also mentioned bythe Ministry of Economic Affairs respondent: “Energy Valley has an active role in bringing together people

that jointly can achieve certain developments….bringing together a coalition”. Two interesting examples

how Energy Valley facilitates the relationship building in the region are given by the Attero respondent and

by one of the Energy Valley respondents:

“What they do well in terms of networking, for example, at a formal meeting, presentations and so on, very

interesting, everybody applauds. Then, we go to the bar and that’s where it happens, those last ten minutes

at the bar. So, what does Energy Valley? They come up with a networking event during a soccer match,

‘Energy Valley Topclub’. Sounds good, and it appears to be so simple: you create an environment, you give it

a name…and slowly, people are starting to get that feeling, I need to be a part of that. And all this is in a

pleasant and informal environment with meatballs and a match. And then again, that’s where it happens;

having a quick five minute meeting, arrange this or that. And they come up with the guest-list ’May I

introduce you to…?’ and so on, that’s how it works!”

A second example of how Energy Valley facilitates social relations in the region is the The Green Gas Task

Force. Next to its formal functions, the task force also is used a tool to create a sense of belonging within

the green gas community. What started as a small gathering has turned into a key event in the green gas

network according to one Energy Valley respondent: “Sometimes all we do is have a BBQ and some drinks

together. The Green Gas project is a good example of this. We have become an institution of sorts, first we

only had local players attending, but currently people are coming to our Green Gas BBQ from all over the

country!”

Summarizing, the Energy Valley organization facilitates the social relations within the Energy Valley region.

Through various networking events, formal and informal, they are able to socially connect different actors

within the energy sector and facilitate a more coherent community in the region.

5.2. Processes of transition

As described previously in the literature section, the general dynamic pattern of a transition is

characterized by transitions resulting from the interaction between processes at different levels: (1) niche-

innovations build up internal momentum, (2) destabilization of the regime creates windows of opportunity

for niche innovations and (3) changes at the landscape level create pressure on the regime. The alignment

of these processes enables a breakthrough of novelties in the mainstream markets where they compete

with the existing regime (Geels, 2011). In the next section, it is analyzed to what processes of transition the

Energy Valley organization contributes.

5.2.1. Landscape pressure

When large exogenous changes in the landscape are being felt in the regime, this is called landscape

pressure. Although Energy Valley itself does not have any direct influence on the landscape level, it remains

interesting to briefly describe what pressures on the regime are visible in the region.



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One of the key pressures is the increasing worry from several stakeholder groups about climate change.

One of the largest stakeholders, the national government, has set ambitious goals with regards to

sustainability: Fourteen percent sustainable energy in 2020 and hundred percent sustainable energy in

2050. It also developed the Green Deal program to stimulate green innovations and recently (Summer 2013)

a national ‘Energy Agreement’ has been presented. In addition, the European government has set similar

climate and energy goals. Although considered ‘soft’ goals, they do play an important role in the furtherdevelopment of sustainable energy sources and as such might put pressure on the Energy Valley region to

accelerate its transition. Additionally, the growing awareness in the Dutch society with regards to climate

also puts pressure on the existing regime.

Another source of pressure is the growing awareness that fossil fuels are finite. In the words of one of the

Energy Valley respondents: “We know fossi l fuels will be depleted in the future. You can spend a lot of time

considering what will be the best alternative, but what’s needed is a mix of solutions” . The reality of

depleted fossil fuels also is visible in the Energy Valley region, the omnipresent gas in the region has

become harder to extract and reserves are depleting. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the

Dutch gas production will be able to produce at current volumes until 2030, after which they will continue

to decrease, resulting in the Netherlands becoming a gas importer by 2025 (Economische Zaken, 2011).

As suggested by several interviewees, large gas players in the region, such as the NAM and GasUnie are

increasingly willing to work with alternative energy sources such as green gas in order to safeguard their

right to exist in the future. This is also in line with the national policy to spread opportunities in the gas

sector, for example through gas hubs importing gas from, mainly, Russia, the increased capitalization of gas

specific knowledge and by increasing the use of green gas (idem).

Figure 9 - Expected Gas Production Netherlands in million m3 (Economische Zaken, 2011)

A third source of pressure is the worldwide rise of energy prices. This is caused by the increasing demand

for energy, the decreasing supply of fossil fuels, CO2 reduction schemes, the increasing share of renewable

energy in the mix and the forthcoming necessary infrastructural investments (Economische Zaken, 2011).

In the Energy Valley region, this leads to increased resources derived from extracted fossil fuels. Most

notably of these is gas, of which the total added value to the regional economy equaled €13.3 billion in

2008 (EnergieMonitor, 2012).



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Figure 10 - Energy prices 2005 - 2012 (Financial Times, 2011) & Expected Primary Energy Demand (World Energy

Demand from IEA, 2010)

A last source of landscape pressure is the current ‘Energiewende’ in neighboring Germany. The phasing out

of fossil fuels, including nuclear already has led to an increased demand for sustainable energy in Germany.

However, volatile demand and lacking infrastructure occasionally lead to a situation where Germany is

forced to export its excess energy from wind power to the Netherlands. The energy is offered at a reduced

price or even for free, putting pressure on the operating profits of existing coal and gas plants in the

Netherlands, including those in the Energy Valley region (ABN Amro, 2013).

Summarizing, several sources of landscape pressure were described in this paragraph. These include the

growing awareness of climate change, a depletion of fossil fuels, rising energy prices and the German

‘Energiewende’.

5.2.2. Windows of opportunity in the regime

In order for niche innovations to find its way toward the market, windows of opportunity in the existing

regime are necessary. Changes in the regime, such as consumer wishes, policy, regulations or infrastructure

create favorable openings in the regime selection environments. Based on the data, three different

windows of opportunity facilitated by the Energy Valley organization were identified.

5.2.2.1. Regulation

For new technologies, existing regulations or other unfavorable institutional arrangements often act as a

barrier to the current regime. As can be seen in the ‘Functions of the Network’ section, three functions of

Energy Valley are primarily related to influencing regulations: Calibrating party, lobbying and the access tofunding function. This is confirmed by the respondent from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, who believes

the main function of Energy Valley “is taking away the bottlenecks in current regulations”.

The Green gas casus again provides an interesting example: By bringing together different stakeholders in

the Green gas task force, Energy Valley was able to organize a lobby towards The Hague to change certain

regulations regarding the re-feeding of green gas into the network: “Specifically to influence the

institutional barriers, we established a task force with several public officials, members of the university and

directors of the gas companies.



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Here, under the management of Ruud Paap (Green gas EV, QH), we discussed what institutional barriers

there were and what pathways, individually and together, we could employ to change them (Energy Valley

respondent )”. For a broader description of the development of green gas in the Netherlands, please refer

to Box 3.

Another example of influencing existing regulations is the re-feeding of electricity that is needed in order tooperate smart grids: “Take smart grids, this field still has plenty of ‘fossil’ regulations. They need to be

changed, so you need to understand how the regulation works, pick your niche. When you succeed, for

example with the regulations regarding re-feeding electricity, that is a very important achievement (Energy

Valley respondent ).”

5.2.2.2. Policy and Lobby

Since 2003, Energy Valley has been active in creating a favorable position for the region within the national

and local policies. As described in the ‘Functions of the network’ section, the organization plays a role as a

calibrating party between business and governments and within governmental cycles and as such has some

influence on new policies. Additionally, through creating a ‘place to be’, it has been able to put the Energy

Valley name firmly on the map for policy makers. With regards to actively influencing national policy, the

lobbying function of Energy Valley is significant too:

Green Gas Developments

When biogas is upgraded (CO2 is removed, methane are levels increased to the 88% level of natural gas),

green gas is created. This gas has the exact same specification as the natural gas extracted from, for example,

the Slochteren gas field in Groningen. Green gas has seen a relatively quick development in the Netherlands.

This box provides a brief overview of that development. In 2006, a green gas taskforce from the

AgentschapNL (national innovation platform) was created, with the goal of developing the potential of green

gas on a national level. At that point, regulation for the injection of green gas was non-existing, and subsidy

arrangements for renewable energy (MEP at that time) did not include green gas. GasUnie, comprised with

the task of maintaining the gas-infrastructure, did not yet trust the quality of the greengas. This was changed

when a subsidiary from Gasunie, Vertogas, was founded in 2009 with the goal of providing quality-certificates

for green gas. This certification was entered into national law in 2011. In 2009, Energy Valley founded the

Green Gas Task Force, looking to stimulate the green gas production to 100 mn3 per year and growing

towards 200 mn3 in 2015 and 500mn

3 in 2020. Following the lobbying of a range of politicians, some of them

informed by the Green Gas Task Force (The mayor of Leeuwarden, the Deputy of the province Drenthe) andlarge companies like the gas companies GasUnie and GasTerra, Green gas was included in the SDE+ subsidy

arrangements from 2010 onwards. Additionally, green gas was made part of the national green deals from

2011, with a special green gas green deal included in the Nortern Netherlands Green Deal. Here, the goals as

set previously by the Green Gas Task Force were copied into national policy. Currently, the Energy Valley

region is looking to develop at least five green gas hubs in the region, of which one (at the Transition Park in

Wijster) is set to be constructed in 2014. In total, the current production of green gas in the Energy Valley

region equals 2.4 petajouls, approximately a quarter of the total national production. Despite positive

developments, the Noordelijke Rekenkamer (2013) has estimated that in order to reach the policy goals,

production of green gas needs to more than double in the Energy Valley region until 2015.

Box 3- Green Gas Developments



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“On this level, I would say they could play an interesting role, it is a strategic issue, the energy politics of the

North and they are quite busy with that, especially with green has and the gas hubs (RUG respondent )”.

Since 2003, the region has been included in several policy documents, including ‘Pieken in de Delta’, the

Northern Energy Agreement, the ‘Green Deals’, including the Green Deal Northern Netherlands and the

consecutive government agreements of Balkenende IV, Rutte I and Rutte II.

However, it seems that the policy activity is almost exclusively located in the domain of green gas: “In the

field of Green gas, they are very active. However, this is an activity that suits Energy Valley I would say

(GasTerra respondent)” . This is confirmed by other interviewees too, as most lobby examples concern

green gas: “Take for example green gas, when we see, practically or in the Hague, that something goes

wrong, for example last year at the ministry of Finance, we make sure to actively lobby. In this case, I was

involved because of my network and as a worthy proponent of green gas. During this process, Energy Valley

was backing me (City of Leeuwarden respondent). One of the Energy Valley respondents also provides a

green gas example of Energy Valley’s lobby: “We are being consulted by civil servants concerning new

energy policies and programs, yes. Renewable energy for example, but this was limited to the green gas

sector (concerning the Green Deal, QH)”.

The Energy Valley organization also has some power in the regional policy developments concerning

sustainable energy. Although most interviewees state that this remains the domain of the civil servants,

with organizations such as Energy Valley operating around them, indirectly they do have some influence.

This is mostly through their events, their network and several task forces, which enables the Energy Valley

organization to influence the knowledge, opinions and general discourse in the regional energy field.

On this, the respondent from the RUG mentions: “We also have some large municipalities that are looking

to become energy neutral. It might just be that Energy Valley and the Energy Valley Topclub have more

effect in this sense than the municipalities themselves” A noticeable example is the City of Groningen,

which is aiming to become the most sustainable city in the Netherlands as well as completely energy-neutral by 2025 (Noorderlink, 2007). The Attero respondent thinks that “this might be connected with, but

might even be a direct consequence of the Energy Valley lobby ”.

Another form of lobbying, together with creating access to funding, is suggested in the data too: Energy

Valley has the expertise to effectively engage with the various civil servants and maneuver around possible

institutional barriers with regards to subsidies or environmental permits for new projects: “The way I see it,

regulations in terms of permits, subsidies, making sure you are at the right window so to speak, they know

their way around that, especially at the various ministries. It’s often quite hard to know where to go, but

they seem to know without failure (Attero respondent)” .

5.2.2.3. Connection with regime-players

Within the Energy Valley region, several large regime players are active. Of these, most notable are gas

companies like the NAM and GasUnie. Interesting to note with regards to creating a window of opportunity

within the regime, is that Energy Valley has achieved to bring new sustainable energy options under the

attention of these regime players. Working with niche and regime players, the Energy Valley organization is

able, most notably in the field of green gas, to bring together old and new technologies.



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One of the Energy Valley respondents describes this process: “ In the beginning, the fossil players were

looking on from the sides, considering whether the technology had potential or would stay in its niche. After

that, green gas started gaining momentum; more projects were started and so on. Those projects were

connecting to the fossil infrastructure, so they could not ignore it anymore…This was difficult, but after a

while they were able to make it land in the organization, even creating a rub-off effect on their organization

regarding sustainability…and then you start to notice they are willing to take it even further… And now wesee even the NAM is starting to see the potential and they are seriously looking at the role of their own

infrastructure for t he evacuation of green gas…That dynamic, in the beginning, fossil and green were

separate, then some co-existence arose and now a symbiosis appears to be happening, with green standing

and growing on the shoulders of fossil”.

As another Energy Valley respondent describes, the technology of green gas is getting more entrenched

within the regime companies: “Once people inside the organization have an opposed goal as to what the

organization as a whole is trying to achieve, you have passed a tipping point. For example, within GasUnie

there are employees who have targets concerning green gas, so the more green gas they produce, the

better they have done their job, they might even receive a larger bonus. Once you’ve reached that point as

an organization, you can’t stop it anymore” .

Summarizing, Energy Valley facilitates three windows of opportunity within the regional socio-technical

regime: They help change ‘fossil’ regulations, lobby in national and regional policy circles and help niches to

connect to the regime.

5.2.3. Niche momentum

In order for niche-innovations to increase their proximity to the regime, they need to build op momentum.

Through networks of supporting actors, learning processes and the linking of different elements, niche-

innovations can manage to gain a foothold and increase their internal momentum.

Four of the functions of the Energy Valley organization play a role in creating niche-momentum: The

coordination of stakeholders, the scaling up of projects, parenting and facilitating social relations.

Regarding the coordination of stakeholders as well as parenting, two primary examples mentioned in the

data are the New Energy Business Collective and the Smart Grid Task Force: “The New Energy Business

Collective (NEBC) is an example; here we regularly bring different partners together from solar, ICT, smart

grids and so on. We have some possibilities to test ideas and products in a professional business or research

environment. We need to cultivate this further though, but these are real breeding grounds (Energy Valley

respondent )”. For a brief description of the NEBC, please refer to Box 4.

The respondent from the City of Leeuwarden provides the example of the Smart Grids Task Force : ” Due toa weak construction sector, there was a need for a better connection with the existing real estate in order to

develop testing grounds where you can work with smart grids”. This resulted in the Smart Grids Task Force,

presided by the mayor of Leeuwarden. Here, different actors within the smart grid come together to

coordinate and work on new initiatives. Concerning the up scaling of technology in order to gain

momentum, green gas and the creation of centralized gas-plants that change biogas into green gas

provides a good example, as described in the scaling up function in 5.1.2. on page 29.



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Another function that could contribute to creating niche-momentum is the facilitation of social relations.

Through various events, Energy Valley has been able to create several (smaller) networks with

entrepreneurs, researchers etc. of specific niche technologies. As mentioned often in the data, new

introductions and access to specific networks is a key function of doing business, and as such, contributes

to creating a niche-momentum. However, some interviewees communicated concerns regarding the

effectiveness of Energy Valley’s approach in the niche domain: “If you, as a smaller player, decide to joinEnergy Valley, this means your projects will be put in a larger context too, meaning they will also be more

widely known. This is something you normally only can risk when you already have established a certain

position, one that you can’t share too easily, that’s the strategic game you need to play. This is something

we have encountered with Energy Valley, they are asked for all kinds of information, what kind of projects,

what ideas, what is your timeframe. Sure, they tried to share similar information with us too, but two

parties of un-even strength exchanging information, that’s just not possible (ATO respondent )”.

The Natuur & Milieu Federatie Groningen respondent commented that he did not see a strong presence of

Energy Valley in the niche domain: “Small scale initiatives that still need development; I do not feel like they

play a very serious role there. Maybe they accelerate some innovations by providing a stage for them, but I

can’t really give you any examples.”

Summarizing section two of the results chapter, some processes of transitions facilitated by the Energy

Valley organization were identified. Some landscape pressures were visible in the Energy Valley region: the

rising concern about climate change, the depletion of fossil fuels, rising energy prices and the

Energiewende in neighboring Germany. In addition, three windows of opportunity were identified in the

regulatory and lobby sphere as well as in connecting niche innovations with regime players. Lastly, some

niche momentum was facilitated by Energy Valley, most significantly through the coordination of niche

actors, parenting, the up scaling of projects and by facilitating social relations.

New Energy Business Collective

The New Energy Business Collective (NEBC) is a network for small and medium sized companies, looking to

bring together stakeholders that are working on Smart Grid and Smart Energy related initiatives and support

them in generating business. Currently, demand and availability of smart technologies is lacking calibration in

the region and the NEBC is looking to stimulate and coordinate efforts in order to help small and medium

sized companies grow, resulting in a strong market position for the Energy Valley smart technology cluster.

Several activities and other possibilities are organized: Matchmaking, knowledge sharing, support on funding,

consulting on projects, the availability of lab and office space, joined communication and branding and lastly,

a showroom. The NEBC was founded by five Northern partners: KEMA, TNO, the municipality of Groningen,

the Northern Development Organization (NOM) and the Energy Valley organization (NEBC, 2013).

Box 4 – New Energy Business Collective



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5.3. Transition phase

The multi-phase framework is used to describe the different phases of transition (Loorbach et al., 2009):

predevelopment (tension is building on a vested regime but not much seems to happen), take-off (multiple

developments interlock and cause a sudden chaotic period), acceleration (change is quickly materializing

and leading to radically new structures) and stabilization (the process of change slows down and results in anew but fundamentally different dynamic equilibrium).

In the pre-development stage, it is often hard for niche actors and companies to enter the regime, facing

opposition from dominant practices both in thinking and acting. This is caused by a lack of sensed urgency,

opposing regulations and policies, lack of viable alternatives or because there is no shared vision on the

future. Only when pressure on the regime rises, under pressure from landscape activities or niche

momentum, tipping points arise. This leads the transition into a phase of acceleration, a chaotic phase

where new developments occur regularly and are combined with uncertainties and battles between the

existing regime and the niche. Hereafter, a new dynamic equilibrium is achieved, the stabilization phase

(Bosman et. al., 2013).

The Netherlands currently is in, or just before, the tipping point, between the pre-development phase and

take-off. Niches from sustainable energy are developing and the regime is looking the reposition itself in

order to find an answer to the growing pressures (idem). The Dutch natural gas companies are a good

example, presenting natural gas (in line with the IEA) as a transition fuel towards more sustainable energy

sources. At the same time, the contrasts between the niche and regime are becoming starker and conflicts

arise (idem). Recent examples of this in the Energy Valley region are the strong opposition against the

(planned) construction of several new coal-fired energy plants from local NGO’s and the controversy

surrounding the planned extraction of local shale gas.

Since the start of the Energy Valley organization, the Energy Valley region has seen several developments in

the field of sustainable energy. Two main reports, the EnergieMonitor 2012 by the Rijksuniversiteit

Groningen (RUG) on commission from Energy Valley and the rapport from the Noorderlijke Rekenkamer

from 2013, provide some key insights into these developments (EnergieMonitor 2012, Noordelijke

Rekenkamer 2013).

The EnergieMonitor states that between 2004 and 2018 investments related to energy total €26 billion. Of

these, approximately two-thirds of the investments are in conventional energy (€17.7 billion). These are

mainly in the field of coal and gas-fired plants, gas hubs, the re-design of distribution networks and the

‘cleaning’ of conventional energy sources. Approximately €8.1 billion is invested in sustainable energy

development, comprised of both production and energy savings. Of these, €6.2 billion has already been

realized (as of 2011) with the remaining €1.9 billion being committed and planned investments.

The renewable energy production of the Energy Valley region has been estimated at 17.4 petajoules (PJ) in

2011. The main contributions come from biomass and wind power. However, as no index number has been

recorded, it is hard to exactly estimate to what extent the sustainable energy production has increased

over time. Still, it is safe to say that one of the main goals of the region, between 40 and 50 petajoules of

sustainable energy production in 2011 according to the Northern Energy Agreement has not been achieved.



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The investments have been mainly directed towards energy saving and the production of biomass and wind

power. Until now, these investments have not resulted in the necessary acceleration. Additionally, the

Rekenkamer concludes that the relative contribution of the Energy Valley region in sustainable energy

production equals around 20% percent of the national total. This means that in 2011, the region has not

substantially contributed more to sustainable energy development than the rest of the Netherlands.

Currently, it is estimated that the share of renewable energy of the region in 2020 will be between 9 and12%. Summarizing, numerous new initiatives have been developed in the Energy Valley region. However,

the realization of sustainable energy production lacks far behind on the ambitions and is similar to those in

the rest of the Netherlands. Please refer to Figure 11 and 12 for an overview of the investment levels and a

comparison of the region with national sustainable energy production.

Figure 11 - Investments in Energy Valley Region 2003 - 2018 (EnergieMonitor, 2012)

Figure 12 - Comparison of the national and regional sustainable energy production (Noordelijke Rekenkamer, 2013)



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Based on the interviews, a similar picture of visible developments but unmet ambitions arises. During the

coding of the data, the majority of the quotes point toward a pre-development stage, set to turn into a

take-off. This is mostly based on the amount of experiments and innovation in the region, the scaling up of

certain niches, especially the green gas niche and the increasingly turbulent sentiments among the

inhabitants and NGO’s in the region.

Even though the Energy Valley region has been, in a brief period of time, able to propagate itself as a key

energy region, doubts are expressed if the ambitions and investments are leading to real innovations,

especially from smaller companies. Interviewees addressed that mostly large projects are undertaken,

leaving out the middle and small companies. As the Natuur & Milieu Federatie Groningen respondent says:

“ A lot is happening, lots of investments, but is it really that innovative? Groningen ( with the development of

new coal and gas plants, QH ), builds a strong position in the Dutch energy field because of the large

production volumes, but that’s mostly old -fashioned production. Almost no innovation when you are talking

about sustainable energy”. Although it is important to note that according to the Rekenkamer (2013),

Friesland and Drenthe focus more on smaller initiatives, they do also confirm that Energy Valley focusses

too much on industrial-scale energy projects with mostly large regime knowledge institutes and energy

companies involved, leaving the niche companies behind. Initiatives like the Smart Grid Task Force and the

New Energy Business collective do facilitate niche innovations, but remain too little to achieve a significant

growth of renewable energy production.

Still, some large developments have also been going on in the renewable energy production, most notable

in the green gas sector. The scaling up of projects has led to an increase in investments and regime players

are joining in green gas production and other alternative biofuels: “I don’t see GasUnie for example not

cooperating, they have to cooperate. All the developments going on with green gas, the biomass plant of

Eneco, the plans of BioMCN, if they want to survive, they will have to join (IMSA respondent )”.

Furthermore, investments in green gas and biofuels are growing, “they are not small investments

anymore…I believe the Suikerunie will now invest € 18 million…bioMCN has a planned project of €700

million for bio-ethanol, these are not the small projects with a couple of tons (€) investments, these range

from a couple of million to hundreds of millions (Energy Valley respondent )”.

Despite the recent rise in investments, the Rekenkamer (2013) does note that the ambitions as formulated

in the Green Deal North-Netherlands for 2015 are as yet still far away: In order to reach these goals, the

production of green gas for example will have to more than double within the next two years. In addition,

as can be seen in Figure 11, the investments in sustainable energy production are decreasing from 2015

and onwards, with investments in conventional energy decreasing at a lower rate.

Lastly, a growing turbulence and increasingly sharper contrasts among inhabitants and local NGO’s can be

seen, as is typical for a (pre) take-off phase. The recent (planned) construction of new coal plants in the

Eemshaven faced continuous opposition from several NGO’s. At the same time, it is interesting to note that

according to the Natuur & Milieu Federatie Groningen respondent: “when you raise doubt about the coal

plants in the Eemshaven, the whole of Groningen seems to be against you…most people in the Netherlands,

specifically national politicians, don’t seem to realize that the largest support for coal plants lies with the

inhabitants themselves and that actually, there is more resistance against the construction of wind power

farms”.



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As previously mentioned, the controversy surrounding the extraction of shale gas is another example: local

inhabitants together with local and national NGOs are currently attempting to frustrate the first try-out

drills and strongly oppose the possible following extraction, while simultaneously opposition exists against

the construction of wind farms in the Eemshaven.

Summarizing this section, it is concluded that the Energy Valley region currently is situated between the

pre-development and take-off phase. The landscape pressures and several windows of opportunity have

increased the sense of urgency and have influenced national and regional policy leading to ambitious goals.

Also, investments in sustainable energy production have increased from 2003 to 2015.

Viable alternatives are scaling up, of which most notable green gas, and some other niches are gaining

momentum. At the same time, tensions within the regime and within civil society create turbulence within

the system, continuously building pressure. However, conventional energy production and investment

remain dominant and niche players, compared to national levels, do not have a substantial higher

contribution to sustainable energy output. In short, so far ambitions have surpassed realization. The Energy

Valley region is still building up pressure and some developments are visible, but have as of yet not

interlocked and caused significant (so to speak) chaos in the system. This leads to the final conclusion that

the region is currently situated between the pre-development and take-off phase. To conclude with the

words of the GastTerra respondent: “ An energy transition only works when we believe in cooperation, if we

don’t we can continue running but there will be a deep hole waiting for us at the end. Concerning energy,

we have mainly regime players, but new players do arrive and larger players get smaller and vice versa, that

is the phase we are in right now, estimating where to go”.

5.4. Opposing Forces

In the previous sections of chapter five, it has been described what functions the Energy Valley network

organization has in the region, what processes of transition are facilitated by the organization and in what

current transitional phase the region is. Despite several positive developments in the field of sustainable

energy in the region, the primary and secondary data of this research suggest that so far, ambitions have

been higher than actual achievements. In the following section, the concepts of path-dependency and lock-

in are used to provide an analysis why this is the case.

Socio-technical systems provide stability through different mechanisms. Following the seminal articles by

David (1985) and Arthur (1988) authors have used the notions of path-dependence and lock-in to analyze

the stability at the level of existing systems (Unruh, 2000; Jacobsson and Johnson, 2000; Walker, 2000;

Araujo and Harrison, 2002)(Geels, 2004). The development of technologies both influences and is

influenced by the social, economic and cultural setting in which they develop (Rip and Kemp, 1998; Kemp,

2000). This leads to the idea that the successful innovation and take up of a new technology depends on

the path of its development - so-called ‘path dependency’ and the ‘lock-in’ of incumbent technologies,preventing the take up of potentially superior alternatives (David, 1985; Foxon, 2002). Factors that

influence path dependencies include the particular characteristics of initial markets, the institutional and

regulatory factors governing its introduction and the expectations of consumers. Of particular interest here

is the extent to which such factors favor incumbent technologies against newcomers. The different sources

of path dependence are a powerful incentive for incremental innovations in socio-technical systems,

leading to particular paths or trajectories (Foxon, 2002; Geels, 2004). Four different factors effecting path

dependency and lock-in were identified for the Energy Valley region: the role of gas, the width of the

Energy Valley network, a lack of vision and greenwashing.



47

Figure 13 - Influence of lock-in on transition phase (Avelino, 2011)

5.4.1. The Role of GasThe Northern Netherlands has been traditionally been a supplier of energy to the rest of the Netherlands,

originally with biomass (turf), later with oil and currently with natural gas. The discovery and extraction of

natural gas has been of great significance for the development of the Northern economy (Noorman et al.,

2006). Within a few years after the first gas discoveries in the 1960’s, a new high pressure gas transport

system was constructed and the existing networks were upgraded and integrated in a new gas system that

not only covered the Dutch territory but also became an essential part of an emerging international gas

network (idem). Crucial for this expansion was a political agreement between the Dutch state and two oil

companies (Shell, Exxon) and the national monopoly transferred to a new actor, Gasunie (Verbong and

Geels, 2007) The GasUnie and NAM (Nederlands Aardolie Maatschappij) are based in the region and due to

the willingness of the Dutch government to stimulate large industry; several large industries such aschemical and metal production are based in region too, relying on affordable energy sources. Most notably

are the Delfzijl and the Eemshaven harbor. Additionally, a strong knowledge cluster with a focus on gas has

been developed in the region. Summarizing, natural gas holds a dominant position in the region and as

such provides a characteristic of the market and institutional environment (such as infrastructure) that

creates a path-dependency towards large scale energy production (gas in particular) and contributes to the

lock-in of existing technologies.

According to several interviewees, the strong position of the gas sector and the corresponding large

regional players has its influence on the focus and preferences of the Energy Valley organization:

“Traditionally, the large organizations have more power, but in everyday practice it is always attempted toreach out to the middle and smaller companies (City of Leeuwarden respondent). The IMSA respondent

takes a more critical stance: “Even though the ambition was there ( towards sustainability, QH) , Energy

Valley seems to stand very close to the large coal and gas companies”. The Waddenvereniging respondent

argues in a similar line: “Even though they do work in the field of sustainable energy, I see a clear

intervention with the gas sector. This might be a transition fuel, and not as bad as coal, but still I sometimes

have my doubt s”. The Natuur & Milieu Federatie Groningen respondent takes it one step further: “I just

mentioned the position of GasUnie and GasTerra…the energy policy of the region that Energy Valley is

involved in, you always see the gas stakes strongly represented i n those”.



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One of the respondents from Energy Valley confirms some if these sentiments: “I always feel like we have

received, from a strategic level, the mandate to propagate gas as very important…Gas as a transition fuel,

this message is internalized in the Energy Valley organization”. The Waddenverening respondents confirms

Energy Valley’s role in the framing of gas as a transition fuel: “I would say that statements such as gas is a

transition fuel are partly based on what Energy Valley propagates. I have also learned this during my studies

at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG), but still”.

The framing of natural gas as a transition fuel and the coupled increase use of green gas in the Energy

Valley region is particularly interesting for this research, as it might compete with and slow down the

development of other renewable energy sources and might therefore be a source of lock-in. ‘Natural gas is

widely considered to be a crucial ‘bridging fuel’ in the transition to the low-carbon energy systems

necessary to mitigate climate change (Stephenson, Doukas and Shaw, 2012)’ and the International Energy

Association (IEA) has heralded a golden age of gas (2011). This claim rests on ‘the argument that natural gas

is relatively inexpensive, burns cleaner and more efficiently than coal or oil, and is a leading option for

backing up intermittent renewable sources with easily dispatchable, scalable generators(idem)’.

These arguments support a growing popular and academic discourse characterizing natural gas as atransition fuel for a low carbon energy system. However, as Stephenson, Doukas and Shaw (2012) have

found, the transition fuel argument for gas development has been so far unsubstantiated by the best

available evidence: ‘Emissions factors for shale gas and LNG remain poorly characterized and contested in

the academic literature, and context-specific factors have significant impacts on the lifecycle emissions of

shale gas but have not been evaluated (idem)’.

Figure 14 - Visualization of the rapid increase in national natural gas usage from 1960's and onwards (Vringer and

Block, 2000)



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In this respect, framing gas as a transition fuel can be considered a legitimization strategy from regime

companies to extend their life-span. In the Energy Valley region, (natural) gas is also regarded as an

important transition fuel in the energy transition, providing options for new, biomass based gasses, and

ultimately, heading towards an economy based on renewables. The gas industry plays a leading role in this

transition (Noorman et al., 2006). It is considered that the gas network is suitable for green gas also and

that empty gas fields are fitted for carbon capture storage (CCS) (idem) The latter has already faced strongopposition from local NGO’s and inhabitants. In brief, the gas producers in the Energy Valley region follow a

common frame that gas is an important partner in the development towards a sustainable energy supply,

thereby possible competing with other renewable sources.

Summarizing, the role of gas provides a factor of lock-in and of path dependency towards gas in the Energy

Valley region. ‘The organizational commitments and vested interests of existing organizations in the system,

including the public and private utilities, industrial and governmental knowledge institutes and educational

institutions (Walker, 2000)’, may lead to the suppression or slowing down of innovations (Unruh, 2000). In

the case of Energy Valley case, ‘the system interdependence of industry, policy, power generation and

education is a powerful obstacle for the emergence and incorporation of radical innovations’ (Geels, 2004).

Additionally, the ‘hardness’ of the socio-technical regime in the Energy Valley region, in particular the

material structures or technical systems, makes it hard to shift to a new technological path, as this would

destroy sunk investments. This leads to firms sticking to established technologies as long as possible (idem).

In the Energy Valley region, this is most visible in the framing of gas as a transition fuel and the propagation

of green gas developments, even though production volumes are still very limited compared to the

production and import of natural gas. Based on primary and secondary data, it is concluded that the Energy

Valley organization, by actively propagating the use of gas as a transition fuel, contributes to a path

dependency towards gas in the Energy Valley region. In addition, the vested interests of the gas community

within the network promote a lock-in of existing gas technology.

5.4.2. Lack of vision The development of ‘guiding visions’ has been identified as a central element of governance strategies

which aim at directing sociotechnical regime transitions towards desired outcomes and are confirmed to

have an important role in the strategies of actors attempting to influence the socio-technical change (Späth

and Rohracher, 2010). They play an important role as they travel across spheres and (governance) levels

and can be used intentionally to co-shape socio-technical change in a multi-level, multi-actor process

(idem). Broader and rather abstract visions of sustainable energy futures can ‘translate’ into more concrete

agendas reflecting the specific requirements and opportunities of a particular regional context (idem).

Among others applications in academia, guiding visions play an important role in transition management,

the accelerating equivalent of transition dynamics: ‘Long-term visions can function as a framework for

formulating short-term objectives and evaluating existing policy (Rotmans and Van Assalt, 2001) ’. With

regards to influencing path dependencies and preventing lock-in, visions can contribute to creating a

favorable institutional and regulatory environment, as well as influence regional discourse and culture

towards favoring renewable energy sources.



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The data of this research suggest that the Energy Valley organization is not occupied with creating a broad

vision for the region. As the RUG respondent says: “They don’t seem to think ‘this is really important and

we will do everything it takes to achiev e this’. They are more pragmatic than that, and they also might not

have enough tools for that. So in that sense, it might be a good thing that the organization is not occupied

with creating a vision”. This is confirmed by one of the Energy Valley respondents, who mentions that “we

are a very pragmatic organization, looking to realize real projects as opposed to creating visions. There areenough other institutes to do so, and sure, we keep track of those” As such, the organization takes a more

reactive stance in the regional energy debate, for example by long-lasting support for CCS or coal fired

plants: “We see more opposition against new wind farms than coal plants. We would like to see that

differently, but it also for a large part forms the position of the Energy Valley organization. Their biggest

‘success’ appears to be the realization of two large plants in Groningen that will constitute a large part of

the Dutch energy production. Questioning these developments appears to be nearly impossible (Natuur &

Milieu Federatie Groningen respondent )”.

One of the main reasons for Energy Valley’s pragmatic stance seems to be the short financing period of the

organization. Every four years, Energy Valley presents its results to its public and private partners, lookingto re-assure its existence. Important parameters for this are the amount of investments made and the

amount of jobs created. CO2 reduction, for example, is not a focal parameter in this process (Noordelijke

Rekenkamer, 2013). One of the Energy Valley respondents provides a suiting summary of the situation:

“We might invest for eight years in algae, that might be a wonderful technology and we might achieve

great success, but hey, we are financed in periods of 3-4 years, so we need to prove ourselves. That is the

balance we are looking for ”. Concluding, creating a guiding vision is considered an important tool in

achieving a transition. Due to the nature of the organization and the financing cycles, Energy Valley does

not has a ‘visionary function’ in the regional energy system and as such, contributes to, or at least does not

significantly decreases, the effects of unfavorable institutional and regulatory path dependency factors and

possible lock-in effects of existing technologies.

5.4.3. Broad coalition A third factor of path dependency and lock-in in the regional energy system Energy Valley is the

embeddedness of the organization (Geels, 2004) in broad interdependent national and regional networks.

From the start, in 2003, the key (founding) partners of the Energy Valley organization have been existing

regime players such as provinces and large utility companies like the NAM and GasUnie. The provinces have

been closely involved via the deputy consultation (see Figure 6 on page 24) and additionally, the ministry of

Economic Affairs, which has ties with large industrial players via, for example the VEMW (Vereniging

Grootgebruikers Energie), has been involved in yearly meetings with Energy Valley (Noordelijke

Rekenkamer, 2013). Furthermore, several respondents and the Noordelijke Rekenkamer (2013) have

commented that mostly large players are involved in the Energy Valley network. As such it is concluded

that a broad coalition of (mostly regime) partners is brought together in the Energy Valley network.

According to several interviewees, this has its effect on the organization’s view points and actions regarding

the regional energy transition: ‘There is a risk, because they have not been created for sustainable

development but for the economic position of large energy companies, next to facilitating the ambitious

provincial goals regarding sustainable energy, that they re-enforce the status-quo of the market…



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5.4.4. Greenwashing

A fourth and last factor influencing path dependency and lock-in in the Energy Valley region is the practice

of greenwashing. Briefly put, greenwashing is the misleading of consumers about firm environmental

performance or the environmental benefits of a product or service. It is defined as the intersection of two

firm behaviors: poor environmental performance and positive communication about environmental

performance. Greenwashing can have profound negative effects on consumer confidence in green products(Furlow, 2006), eroding the consumer market for green products and services. Likewise, greenwashing can

negatively affect investor confidence in environmentally friendly firms, eroding the socially responsible

investing capital market. Greenwashing also entails some risks for greenwashing firms when consumers,

non-government organizations (NGOs) or government entities question firms’ claims (Delmas and Burano,

2011).

The Energy Valley organization has the potential to become a platform for greenwashing, and in some

cases also has been described of doing so: “Joining the Energy Valley platform is in a company’s self -interest.

However, there is also this other aspect, giving something back to society. The platform helps in creating a

favorable spotlight towards the Northern governments; companies such as GasUnie, GasTerra and the NAM

simply have no option but to join in that sense…the platform can even be interesting for companies thatwant to promote something ‘grey’ ( as opposed to green/sustainable, QH )(Energy Valley respondent).

A more vicious suggestion comes from the Natuur & Milieu Federatie Groningen respondent: “Energy

Valley has a position as such, that they realize that the region needs some ‘fun’ sustainable projects next to

those two new coal plants. Otherwise, they have no socially responsible story to tell, that my image. Putting

on a green coat, so to speak, that's my impression”

Concluding, some evidence exists that Energy Valley provides a platform for greenwashing. Considering the

possible negative effects of greenwashing on the demand for green products, the availability of socially

responsible investment capital and the effect on accused firms, greenwashing is considered to contribute

to suboptimal path dependencies for new technologies and the lock-in of existing technology in the region.

Summarizing the opposing forces section, the concepts of path dependency and lock-in have been used to

analyze why the regional ambitions regarding a fundamental change in renewable energy production have

largely remained unmet. This section has looked at the particular characteristics of the initial market, the

institutional and regulatory factors, the expectations of consumers and lock-in effects. Four different

factors contributing to suboptimal path dependencies for new technology and the lock-in of existing

technologies were identified: The dominant position of gas and the connected industrial system, the width

of the Energy Valley network, a lack of vision and greenwashing.

5.5. Conclusion Results This chapter has analyzed primary and secondary to look at the regional inter-organizational networkorganization Energy Valley and how it helps create a fundamental transition in the socio-technical energy

regime of the Northern Netherlands; the Energy Valley region. In order to do so, the first section of this

chapter has looked at what functions of the inter-organizational network could be identified. In total, eight

network functions have been identified through the data. The organization functions as a calibrating party

between the market and public administration, facilitates the scaling up of energy projects through physical

scaling up and the clustering of lobby initiatives, provides a ‘place-to-be’ branding outside and within the

region, coordinates the different stakeholders in the region before or during projects,



53

creates access to funding (be it subsidies or investments), has a parenting role for (mostly) smaller

companies, has a strong lobbying function predominantly in regulations and policy and lastly, facilities

social relations within the energy domain through various outlets.

The second section of this chapter has analyzed to what processes for transition, on the landscape, regime

and niche level, the Energy Valley organization contributes. Although not directly influenced by theorganization, several sources of landscape pressure were identified. These include the growing awareness

of climate change, a depletion of fossil fuels, rising energy prices and the German ‘Energiewende’.

On the regime level, Energy Valley facilitates three windows of opportunity within the regional socio-

technical regime: The organization helps change ‘fossil’ regulations, lobbies in national and regional policy

circles for renewable energy and helps niches to connect to the regime. On the niche level, some niche

momentum was facilitated by Energy Valley, most significantly through the coordination of niche players,

parenting, scaling up of projects and by facilitating social relations.

The third section of the chapter has looked at in what phase of transition is the regional socio-technical

energy regime is currently situated. Here, it is concluded that numerous renewable energy initiatives havebeen developed in the Energy Valley region. Furthermore, landscape pressures and windows of opportunity

have increased the sense of urgency leading to ambitious goals. Also, investments in sustainable energy

production have increased from 2003 to 2015, viable alternatives are scaling up, and some other niches are

gaining momentum. Additionally, turbulence within the regime is building. However, due to the fact that

conventional energy production and investments remain dominant and niche players, compared to

national levels, do not have a substantial higher contribution to sustainable energy output, it is concluded

that the Energy Valley region is currently situated between the pre-development and take-off phase of

transition.

The fourth section of this chapter has looked at possible explanations for the lacking transition of the

regional socio-technical energy regime using the concepts of lock-in and path dependency. Four separate

functions that facilitate lock-in and suboptimal path dependencies were identified: The role of gas, the

width of the Energy Valley network, a lack of vision and greenwashing. These sources of lock-in and path

dependency are powerful incentives for incremental innovations in the socio-technical regime.

The identified functions of the network, the facilitated processes of transition and the current transitional

phase of the region lead to the conclusion that the Energy Valley organization does play a role in the

regional energy transition; however, due to the nature of its operation, incremental change rather than

radical change is promoted and achieved. Therefore, the effect of the Energy Valley organization on the

regional socio-technical transition is considered to be limited.



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6. Discussion

6.1. Theoretical implications

This research has looked at the effect of the inter-organizational network Energy Valley on the regional

socio-technical energy transition. In order to so do, it has looked at the inter-organizational network

functions of the organization in the region, the processes of transition the inter-organizational networkorganization contributes to, in what transitional phase the regional transition currently is and what

opposing forces of the transition can be identified. This section will firstly discuss the results in the light of

the existing literature, after which the general theoretical implications will be discussed.

Burstrom (2000) and Rowe (1998) describe that regional inter-organizational networks are particularly used

to support private companies and small and medium sized enterprises. The results of this research indicate

that indeed private companies are supported and that some functions of the network particularly support

smaller enterprises, such as parenting, creating access to funding and facilitating social relations in the

region. However, the majority of the functions as well as the processes of transition that are facilitated

predominantly benefit existing large companies in the region. Good examples of this are the lobbying

function, where the majority of the efforts is directed towards green gas, more and more becoming an

extension of existing gas companies, and the windows of opportunity that are created by the network: The

achieved changes in regulation, the success in policy changes through lobbying and the connection of niche

actors with the regime all are connected to the development of green gas. The findings from Burstrom

(2000) and Rowe (1998) are therefore only partially supported by the results of this research.

In line with the findings of Clark & Roome (1999) and Gulati & Gargiulo (1999) it is concluded that the inter-

organizational network is capable of accommodating complex situations: Through the calibration of market

and public administration, the coordination of stakeholders, the facilitation of access to funding, helping

technologies or organizations with up scaling and through the parenting of companies and entrepreneurs,

Energy Valley is able to promote, facilitate and manage complex energy projects with a variety of

stakeholders successfully. Furthermore, the organization is capable of connecting communities of practice

within and between organizations (Clarke and Roome, 1999). This is most significant in the calibrating

function, where the organization is shown to bring together the spheres of the market and public

administration and in the connection of niche and regime actors in the niche-regime window of

opportunity.

Some of the results do indicate that, in line with Clarke and Roome (1995), the inter-organizational network

is capable of facilitating innovation through the linkage of actors and knowledge exchange. Most notably

here is the green gas case, where different actors in the gas field are connected through the Green Gas

Task Force, resulting in economies of scale and the sharing of knowledge. In addition, the organization hasseveral communication outlets to share knowledge. For example, network events organized by Energy

Valley regularly contain presentations and other moments of knowledge sharing, and as such can be seen

as learning instruments (Boons & Berends, 2001; Dyer & Nobeoka, 2000). However, one of the main results

of this study is that despite some facilitation of innovation, this effect is confined to some particular

technologies, especially green gas. Other sustainable technologies, such as smart grids and torrefaction, do

receive some stimulation through actor linkage and the sharing of knowledge via task forces, but do not

seem to have gained much momentum as such.



55

Therefore, the findings by Clarke and Roome (1995) have to be contextualized for this research: The inter-

organizational network does indeed support innovation, but does so only for selected niches.

The Energy Valley network has several functions that foster trust and social relations (Roome, 2001).

Understanding what companies need and building a meaningful relationship with them is considered a core

part of the parenting function. Additionally, through the calibrating function, the organization is considered

a balancing and trustful partner by the different stakeholders involved. Also, by introducing new partners

to each other through the coordination function, the facilitation of social relations and the connection of

niche to regime actors, the organization contributes to building trust and social relations in the region.

However, the results also indicate that due to an uneven representation of large and small actors not all

smaller actors feel comfortable sharing their knowledge: a sign of lacking trust. As such, the suggestion by

Roome (2001) is only partially supported by this research.

The results of this research show that the Energy Valley network organization helps businesses in finding

new opportunities: Energy Valley is described in the data as filtering new information, delivering it to

companies and making the appropriate connections to help them capitalize on the provided knowledge.

This finding is in line with Larson (2000) who illustrates the importance of networks (and supply chain

development) for discovering and creating environmentally relevant opportunities. The results of this

research indicate that Energy Valley plays a role in creating and maintaining partnerships in the regional

network leading to and therefore supports the finding by Larson (2000).

Some examples have been provided in the data indicating that the creation and maintenance of

partnerships leads to the development of new sources of sustainable energy. This is suggested by

McCormick and Kaberger (2005) too, who found that partnerships in regional networks might help co-

ordinate the development of a bioenergy system. Even though Energy Valley does create partnerships that

lead to new sustainable ventures, this research has found that due to the nature of the inter-organizational

network, so far no real bioenergy system has started to exist in the region. As such, the finding by

McCormick and Kaberger (2005) is not supported. This also results from the fact that next to partnerships,

McCormick and Kaberger (2005) also looked at the introduction of a carbon tax and the attraction of local

knowledge and investments, of which the former has not been included in this study. A result of this study

however is that the Energy Valley organization is capable of stimulating local knowledge and of attracting

new sources of investment. Again though, it is concluded that especially regarding investments, the

network organization does not specifically attract more investment in sustainable than in conventional

energy.

Not just the right network is important for partnerships and businesses; the location of the business affects

its success too. Clusters of similar industries and companies gain market advantages due to the dynamics of

the cluster, like the proximity of competitors and partners or the entrepreneurial spirit in the cluster. It is

concluded in this study that the Energy Valley inter-organizational network has managed to create a ‘place

to be’ effect for the Energy Valley region:

Through the continuous propagation of the name, the function and the prominence of the region in the

field of energy, the inter-organizational network organization has succeeded of creating a name for the

region as well as providing a motivational spirit in the region itself.



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This might, as Cohen (2006) suggests, lead to a network that facilitates successful sustainable ventures.

However, this study finds no direct indication that especially sustainable ventures are attracted by the

region. Although ‘Energy Valley‘ is concluded to be a strong brand with a ‘place-to-be’ effect, the inter-

organizational network does not especially contribute to an attractive network of sustainable ventures. As

such, the finding of Cohen (2006) is not supported by this study.

This study shows that the Energy Valley network organization does facilitate social learning in the region. It

has been described previously that the organization facilitates, to some level, trust in the region, and is

capable of reframing knowledge. A good example of the latter is the reframing of sustainable projects

towards public officials in jobs created by the project, as described in in the calibrating function

(see 5.1.1). By doing so, the organization is capable of teaching public officials the benefits of sustainable

energy projects in their own language. The results also indicate that a result of the network is increased

commitment towards sustainable development in the region: Cities are looking to become more

sustainable, large organizations are committing to the development of green gas and several policy goals

regarding sustainable development have been formulated in regional policy agreements. This study has not

looked at the interaction between trust, commitment and reframing in social learning as Sol, Beers and

Wals (2013) have done and as such cannot provide a conclusive argument on their finding. This study

however does indicate that the inter-organizational network facilitates these three functions and as such

stimulates social learning in the innovation network. Therefore, the results by Sol, Beers and Wals (2013)

are only partially supported by this study.

Another result of this study is that, in line with the findings of Barackenko and Olgethorpe (2012), co-

operative businesses might deliver environmental advantages through economies of scale, knowledge and

skills transfer, the sharing of risks and other means. Examples of cooperative businesses in this study

include the scaling up of green gas initiatives through the linkage of different actors before and during

operationalization as well as the Transition Park Wijster. Nevertheless, the concept of co-operative

business used by Barackenko and Olgethorpe (2012) implies the exclusion of investor-owned activity. As

this factor is not included in this study, the results of this study cannot entirely be compared to Barackenko

and Olgethorpe’s (2012) results.

Even though this study has not looked at the specific concept of natural advantage plans as proposed by

Potts (2013), one of the results is that, in line with Potts (2013), it is valuable for a region to benefit from its

regional strengths regarding sustainable development. The success of green gas in the Energy Valley region

can be partially attributed to the (natural) characteristics of the region: The presence of a gas-infrastructure

and the presence of large amounts of biomass due to farming have created a favorable setting for the

development and growth of green gas in the region. Potts’ (2013) additional advice to local authorities to

develop plans that should transform local businesses, grow the sustainable industry base, supportenvironmental innovation and focus on local issues and regional strengths, and finally, aim to support the

development of environmental products and services, is put into perspective by this study. Even though

having a vision for the region has been described in the results as an important attribute to achieving a

sustainable transition as well as concrete plan to stimulate sustainable development, the results of this

study indicate that visions and plans for sustainable development often lead to an oversimplification of the

reality ‘on the ground’ and therefore do not always contribute significantly to the projected sustainable

development.



57

A key result of this study is that the use of an inter-organizational network to achieve a sustainability

transition in the regional socio-technical energy regime does not seem to lead to an actual radical

transformation of the energy regime. Instead, incremental change is achieved. This has been described in

the literature section by three different authors. The finding by Khan (2013) that the effects of network

governance are mixed are supported by this study. It has been found that while indeed the inter-

organizational network contributes to some niche developments, such as the momentum of green gas andthe development of smart grids, the elitist character of the network risks maintaining unsustainable

patterns and the mainstreaming of problems and possible solutions: The nature of the Energy Valley

network leads to a dominance of gas and other large industry related interests, resulting in the continued

favoring of gas-related solutions to sustainable development, the lock-in of existing gas technology (e.g. the

framing gas as transition fuel) and a general frame where gas and other large scale solutions are seen as

the main part of the environmental solution, as opposed to radical transformation of the energy regime.

Considering that all provinces of the region as well as several municipalities are represented through the

Energy Valley organization in the region, it can be (albeit carefully) be considered a local authority approach.

The finding from Malmborg (2007) that the use of a local authorities approach for the transfer of

sustainable knowledge in regional networks leads to incremental change in the short run is supported by

this study. Additionally, looking at the effects of the Energy Valley organization since its foundation in 2003,

ten years ago, it is concluded that also on the medium-long term of ten years, the effect of the Energy

Valley organization is incremental. Important to note though is that Malmborg (2007) does not define

‘short run’ or ‘long-lived’ which makes it more difficult to draw a comparison between the studies. The

suggestion from Malmborg (2007) that dialogue, experimentation and strategic niche management might

lead to more radical change is especially interesting for the Energy Valley case example, since the data of

this study point out that such activity, with the omission of dialogue, are not predominantly exercised

through the Energy Valley network organization. This again supports this study’s finding that the Energy

Valley network organization leads to incremental sustainable developments.

This study also supports the finding by Fadeeva (2005) that the efficiency of multi-stakeholder networks in

solving complex sustainability issues frequently falls short of expectations. The results indicate that, in line

with Fadeeva (2005), the process unfolding in the inter-organizational network is misused for blocking and

promoting vested interests, as is most visible in the dominance of (natural) gas and the related industry.

Also, the constant propagating of gas as a transition fuel as well as the focus on the development of green

gas can be seen as the result of actors with resources and skills using their legitimating power of

collaborative initiatives to promote their own agendas.

Finally, this study also finds support for Fadeeva’s (2005) conclusion that using a network organization for

the promotion of sustainable development leads to the underestimation of the inherent complexities ofcollaboration, lowering expectations and results: The region has formulated ambitious sustainability goals

and has not met them, resulting in critical reviews from civil society, intermediaries and knowledge

institutes. For an overview of the implications of this study for the recent literature, please see Figure 16 on

page 59.



58

Several authors in the field of business and the natural environment have argued for the implementation of

‘strong sustainability’ and the acknowledgement that currently sustainability challenges require a systems

thinking perspective, taking into consideration the whole system in which an organization operates in (e.g.

Gladwin in Bansal and Hoffman, 2011; Roome in Bansal and Hoffman, 2011; Khurana, 2007). This should

lead to a multi-actor process where a resolution of meta-problems, such as climate change or the change in

the socio-ecological system, is achieved. One of the key beliefs from this ‘strong sustainability’ view is theneed to move beyond the firm/actor perspective. This has resulted in considerable attention for the,

especially regional, inter-organizational network as a tool to work on complex issues and achieve

resolutions for meta-problems. As described more extensively in the literature section of this study, the

inter-organizational network is seen to have numerous characteristics that make it applicable to such

complex issues.

This research has shown that indeed the inter-organizational network has several functions that make it

especially useful for complex situations: Its functions facilitate coordination, calibrating, up scaling, learning,

access to funding, lobbying, social relations and the parenting of organizations. Furthermore, this study

concludes that the inter-organizational network does have a function in facilitating processes of transition,

of which most notable on the regime level are the changing of fossil regulations, the influencing of regional

and national policy and the connecting of regime and niche actors. On the niche level, this study has found

that the inter-organizational network also helps create some niche momentum through the coordination of

niche players, parenting, the scaling up of projects and through facilitating social relations.

However, this study has also shown that in order to successfully facilitate a regional energy transition, the

composition, structure, funding, vision, strategy and evaluation of the inter-organizational network

organization has a key role in the effectiveness of the network in achieving a regional energy transition. The

unbalanced representation of regime actors, the embeddedness of the provinces and the national

government with their own stakes, the existing institutional environment of dominant gas stakes, the short

term funding and resulting strategy without a long term vision and the lack of evaluation of the results have,

in this case, resulted in an inter-organizational network organization that facilitates incremental change as

opposed to radical change.

As such, the application of transition studies to the field of business and the natural environment has

contributed to a better understanding of the use of inter-organizational networks in the growing paradigm

of ‘strong sustainability’: It is concluded that although the inter-organizational network has valuable

characteristics that lead to sustainable development, its contribution to the resolution of meta-problems

such as climate change through the fundamental transition of socio-technical regimes strongly depends on

the specific characteristics of the inter-organizational network organization and the system it operates in.

The application of the inter-organizational network as a tool for transformation in the strong sustainabilityparadigm should therefore be applied with a better understanding of the essential network’s

characteristics and the respective contextually of the network organization. Finally, it is suggested that the

current interest for the inter-organizational network in the quest towards sustainable development and

especially towards the resolution of meta-problems in the business and natural environment literature is

not entirely consistent with its practical contribution to date and should therefore be applied more

critically.



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Title Findings Support by this study

Sustainable innovation through an

entrepreneurship lens (Larson, 2000)

Network development is important for

discovering and creating environmentally

relevant opportunities.

Yes, network organization helps

companies find and benefit from

knowledge and new connections.

Exploring a pioneering bioenergy

system: The case of Enkoping inSweden (McCormick and Kaberger,

2005)

1. Introduction of carbon tax made

bioenergy competitive 2.Local knowledgeencouraged local investments 3.

Partnerships in regional network of

actors, helped to co-ordinate

development of bioenergy system.

No, investments in sustainable projects

are not significantly higher; networkorganization leads to partnerships but

not to a bioenergy system. Carbon tax

not included in this study.

Sustainable Valley Entrepreneurial

Ecosystems (Cohen, 2006)

Sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem

(SEE) and branding has positive impact on

the attraction and development of

successful sustainable ventures

No, strong regional branding exists but

no evidence found for the specific

attraction of sustainable ventures.

Social learning in regional innovation

networks: trust, commitment and

reframing as emergent properties of

interaction (Sol, Beers and Wals,

2013)

Trust, commitment and reframing are

interrelated aspects and emergent

properties of interaction in the process of

social learning in innovation networks.

Some, network organization has some

contribution to trust and a contribution

to commitment and reframing.

Interactions between aspects are not a

part of this study.

The potential environmental benefits

of co-operative businesses within the

climate change agenda (Baranchenko

and Oglethorpe, 2012)

Where co-operative businesses achieve

efficiencies through economies of scale,

knowledge and skills transfer and sharing

of risks this can also lead to coincidental

reductions in greenhouse gas emissions

that may not be achieved if investor-

owned activity prevails.

Yes, some evidence found of

greenhouse gas reductions through

scaling up and knowledge and skill

transfer. However, study not entirely

comparable due to use of different

concepts.

The natural advantage of regions:

linking sustainability, innovation, and

regional development in Australia

(Potts, 2013)

Local authorities should explore the

linking of sustainable development,

innovation and economic development in

their regions through the development of

natural advantage action plans.

Some, region is found to benefit from

natural advantages in development of

green gas. However, study also shows

the pitfalls of looking to stimulate

sustainable development through plans.

What role for network governance inurban low carbon transitions? (Khan,

2013)

Effects of network governance are mixed:It can contribute to niche developments

and innovation. Elitist character of

network risks maintaining unsustainable

patterns and mainstreaming of problems

and possible solutions.

Yes, some niche developments, butdominance of gas leads to lock-in of

existing gas, favoring of green gas-

related solutions and framing of gas as

main solution as opposed to radical

transformation of energy regime

Stimulating learning and innovation in

networks for regional sustainable

development: the role of local

authorities (Malmborg, 2007).

LA approach leads to incremental change

in the short run. However, long lived

multi-actor networks with dialogue,

experimentation and strategic niche

management may lead to radical change.

Yes, study sees short term and mid-long

term incremental change. Not all factors

leading to radical change from

Malmborg (2007) are used significantly

by the EV network organization.

Promise of sustainability

collaboration—potential fulfilled?

(Fadeeva, 2004)

Collaboration frequently fall short of

expectations: The process can be misused

for blocking and promoting vested

interests. Actors with resources and skillsmay use the legitimating power of

collaborative initiatives to promote

their own agendas. Inherent complexities

of collaboration can be underestimated,

lowering expectations and results

Yes, dominance of gas and large industry

promotes vested interests. Propagating

of gas as transition fuel and the strong

push of green gas is seen as promotingof own agenda. Also, sustainability goals

are unmet, resulting in critique from civil

society, intermediaries and knowledge

institutes.

Figure 16 - Implications for recent literature



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6.3. Practical implications

Given that the current operation of the Energy Valley inter-organizational network organization does not

significantly contribute to a transition of the regional socio-technical energy regime, this section provides

some practical advice to increase the effectiveness of the organization in this respect. The practical

implications provide advice for the Energy Valley organization, but can also be applied to similar existing or

future inter-organizational networks looking to promote fundamental sustainable development.

Currently, the Energy Valley organization obtains financing in short cycles of three – four years. Although

this has some positive effects, such as a desire for direct and concrete results in the organization, it also

hinders the realization of complex sustainable energy projects that do not provide immediate measurable

results. It could therefore be interesting for the financing partners to facilitate a second stream of financing,

earmarked for projects that have a longer time-span, for example eight years. In this way, the cultural

effects of a brief financing cycle do not get lost while promising but complex sustainable energy projects

can still be facilitated by the organization.

As found by the Noordelijke Rekenkamer (2013), the organization currently lacks strict goals for sustainable

development as well as a systematic approach to measuring their contribution to sustainable development,

such as a benchmark year. The author agrees with the Noordelijke Rekenkamer that concrete goals as well

as a benchmark system should be operationalized as soon as possible and concludes that a systemic

approach to measuring the contribution to sustainable development should be a part of every inter-

organizational network organization looking to stimulate sustainable development.

Currently, the success of the organization is measured by parameters that do not incorporate the

development of renewable energy or other environmental parameters. In order to entrench the goal of

sustainable energy development deeper into the organization, it is advised to include parameters such as

total generated renewable energy production and total reduced CO2 emissions into the benchmark system.

This research has found evidence that the current organization of the Energy Valley network leads to an

uneven representation of regime and niche actors and as such leads to an elitist character of the network.

This is undesirable, as radical innovations leading to system transformation generally do not originate from

regime actors. It is therefore advised to organize a more even division of regime and niche actors in the

network. This could be done through organizing frequent stakeholder dialogues and by setting up stricter

safeguards or even quota to include all relevant actors.

Summarizing, this paragraph has identified four practical implications following from this research. Inter-

organizational network organizations that seek to promote fundamental sustainable development should

complement brief financing cycles with longer cycles, implement a systematic approach to measure its

contribution to sustainable development, include environmental parameters in the benchmark and

carefully safeguard the even representation of regime and niche actors in the network.



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6.4. Limitations

This research is based on thirteen interviews and complemented with secondary data. Regarding the

respondents, it has been attempted to organize a sample that accurately reflects the different actors in the

region and represents a variety of viewpoints and opinions. Most important here is the even representation

of regime and niche actors. Despite having been able to include other critical respondents from civil society

and knowledge institutes in the sample as well as one niche organization, it has proven difficult to findwilling respondents from small and medium sized companies for this research. This might have to do with

the larger cost of time for (in particular) small and medium sized companies or lack of interest and

perceived importance from their side. However, regarding one case, it appeared as if the possible

respondent did not consider co-operating with this research very tactical. This might have to do with the

importance of the Energy Valley organization in the region. This in itself is an interesting insight into the

dynamics of the Energy Valley region. Concluding, a limitation of this research is the possible miss-

representation of small and medium sized companies due to a skewed sample of respondents.

Even though the single-case approach is particular useful for collecting thick data and in-depth knowledge

on one specific case, and that the suggestion from Dyer and Wilkins (1991) to contextualize the case

allowing it to become a deep case study has been followed, a limitation of the single-case study is the

limited generalizability of its results. An additional effect on this could be the limited amount of

respondents used for this research. Through extensive application of existing literature, the application of

thick data and contextualization of the case, it has been attempted to increase the generalizability and

reduce this limitation.

This research has looked at the effects of one organization on a regional socio-technical regime. Although it

has looked specifically at the workings of the organization itself regarding the research questions and use of

primary and secondary data, it does remain difficult to pin-point the exact effect of the organization in the

context of the complete existing regional dynamics. Therefore, a possible limitation of this research is that

its results cannot be entirely valued or justified without considering the specific regional dynamics at hand.

In order to conceptualize the effect of the Energy Valley organization on the regional socio-technical regime,

this research did not include any quantitative indicators of the functioning of the regional ecosystem.

Although this is not uncommon in the business management literature (Whiteman, Walker and Perego,

2012), ‘research that focuses on corporate behavior in isolation from ecologically material impacts

(Whiteman and Cooper, 2011)’ might decouple social and organization efforts for sustainability (Banerjee,

2003) from ‘the on-the-ground, in-the-air, and through-the-water material impacts of collective corporate

and consumer activity’(Whiteman, Walker and Perego, 2013). Since the researcher believes that next to

making a contribution to the academic literature, the practical application of research is paramount to

sustainable development, this decoupling can be considered a limitation of this research.

The researcher has been involved in the field of sustainability for over five years and as such has a

normative perspective on the importance of sustainable development. Although it has been attempted to

conduct this research in a balanced and non-normative way, it still is possible that some of the researcher’s

opinions and selective knowledge have influenced the results of this research. The researcher however

believes that constantly keeping an open and critical state of mind as well as the use of measurable

secondary data has limited this effect.



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7. Conclusion

7.1. Main conclusion

Our society faces fundamental sustainability challenges in several domains. Of these, our energy supply is

confronted with a rapid depletion of natural resources, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear

risks, uncertainties related to short- and long term security of supply and energy poverty (IEA, 2011).Awareness that ‘business as usual’ is not an option anymore is growing among governments, businesses,

NGO’s and the general public. On a global level, the Kyoto protocol has been developed to curb global CO2

emissions. On a European level, targets and roadmaps have been developed to increase the share of

renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gases. On a national level, most European countries lack

progress, with the exception of Germany and Denmark. The Netherlands also lacks progress in the

development of renewable energy sources: Renewable energy only accounts for 4.7% of the total

production (Rijksoverheid, 2012) and not many believe that the national goal of 14% in 2020 will be

reached. On a regional level, the ‘Energy Valley’ region may provide a welcome development in the Dutch

renewable energy progress. Since 2003 an inter-organizational network organization under the same name

has been founded to facilitate business and local governments in establishing an energy region. Althoughthe main goal is economic development, renewable energy also is considered a key goal of the organization.

This networked approach to sustainable development has also received attention in the business literature.

It has been argued that due to the complexity of the current sustainability issues, a firm or single actor

approach does not suffice. Instead, co-operation in inter-organizational networks compromised of

businesses and (local) governments may provide the proper tool in moving forward to a more sustainable

future. At the same time, a new paradigm is emerging in the business and sustainable development

research. Instead of looking at new ways of operating in an old system, it is proposed to achieve a more

radical form of transformation, or ‘strong sustainability’. Proponents of this paradigm argue for a systemic

and complexity perspective, where the goal should be system transformation or a transition in the (local)

socio-technical system. Although the network approach has been mentioned and researched as a tool for

sustainable business development, until date few studies in the field of business and the natural

environment have looked at how this network approach contributes to a fundamental change in the socio-

technical system. Addressing this literature gap, this thesis has looked at the effect of the Energy Valley

inter-organizational network on the regional transition of the socio-technical energy regime. In order to do

so, the following research question has been formulated:

How do regional business and inter-organizational networks help create a fundamental transition in

the socio-technical energy regime?

In order to structurally answer the research main question, four sub questions have been formulated:

What functions of the inter-organizational network can be identified?

To which processes for transition does the inter-organizational network contribute?

In what phase of transition is the region currently situated?

What opposing forces of the transition can be identified?



63

In order to answer the research questions, this research brings together the fields of business and the

natural environment with the field of transition studies. The field of transition studies is occupied with the

study and support of long-term fundamental shifts in the social and technological domain and has

developed several frameworks and concepts to analyze and accelerate transitions. Using the concepts from

transition studies to look at the Energy Valley case and its influence on the transition of the regional socio-

technical energy regime, this study provides an insight into how inter-organizational networks may helpbring about a transition in a regional socio-technical energy system. The results of this study will be

presented using the sub-questions and main research question as structure.

- What functions of the inter-organizational network can be identified?

In total, eight network functions of the Energy Valley inter-organizational network have been identified in

this study. 1)The organization functions as a calibrating party between the market and public

administration through translating the different languages of both spheres into a common jargon,

facilitating a consistent policy through acting as storyteller and advisor towards new public servants and

through providing a lobbying-platform that is perceived to be less inclined towards conflicts of interest.

2) The organizations facilitates the scaling up of energy projects through organizing a physical economy of

scale, resulting in a lower production price and by bundling the lobby and funding efforts of market

initiatives, leading to a larger striking power towards the public administration. 3) The organization creates

a ‘place to be’ through providing a branding that distinguishes the region from the rest of the Netherlands

and by providing inspiration within the region through their various communication outlets. 4) The

organization has a coordinating function in the region, bringing together different actors, keeping the

coordination of projects and providing several coordinating forums. 5) The organization creates access to

funding; it has in-depth knowledge in the field of subsidies, has the time and skills necessary to obtain them

and has access to a broad network of investors. 6) The organization has a parenting function, making the

professional lives of different stakeholders in the region easier, be it through clearing the paths for new

projects, scanning for new initiatives in the market and presenting them to companies, building meaningful

relationships with entrepreneurs or keeping track of a company’s progress. 7) The organization has an

important lobbying function in the region; it creates critical mass, is able to get the appropriate and highly

connected players involved, maps the regulatory bottlenecks makes sure the lobbying story is synchronized

among the different the stakeholders involved. 8) The organization facilitates social relations within the

Energy Valley region through various networking events, connecting different actors within the energy

sector and facilitating a more coherent community in the region.

- To which processes for transition does the inter-organizational network contribute?

Although not directly influenced by the organization, several sources of landscape pressure were identified.

These include the growing awareness of climate change, a depletion of fossil fuels, rising energy prices and

the German ‘Energiewende’. On the regime level, Energy Valley facilitates three windows of opportunity

within the regional socio-technical regime: The organization helps change ‘fossil’ regulations, lobbies in

national and regional policy circles for renewable energy and helps niches to connect to the regime.

On the niche level, some niche momentum was facilitated by Energy Valley, most significantly through the

coordination of niche players, parenting of niche actors, the scaling up of niche energy projects and by

facilitating social relations.



64

- In what phase of transition is the region currently situated?

Numerous renewable energy initiatives have been developed in the Energy Valley region. Furthermore,

landscape pressures and windows of opportunity have increased the sense of urgency leading to ambitious

goals. Also, investments in sustainable energy production have increased from 2003 to 2015, viable

alternatives are scaling up, and some other niches are gaining momentum. Additionally, turbulence within

the regime is building. However, due to the fact that conventional energy production and investmentsremain dominant and given that niche players, compared to national levels, do not have a substantial

higher contribution to sustainable energy output, it is concluded that the Energy Valley region is currently

situated between the pre-development and take-off phase of transition.

- What opposing forces of the transition can be identified?

This question was answered using the concepts of lock-in and path dependency. Four separate functions

that facilitate lock-in and suboptimal path dependencies were identified: 1)The role of gas, that leads to a

dominant path-dependency towards (green) gas technology in the region as well as the lock-in of existing

gas technology as a transition fuel. 2) A lack of vision, contributing to and/or not significantly decreasing

the effects of unfavorable institutional and regulatory path dependencies as well as possible lock-in effectsof existing technologies. 3) A broad coalition and the resulting embeddedness of the organization in broad

interdependent national and regional networks, resulting in incremental rather than radical change and 4)

Greenwashing, that has a negative effect on the demand for green products, the availability of socially

responsible investment capital and on the accused firms, contributing to suboptimal path dependencies for

new technologies and the lock-in of existing technology in the region.

- How do regional business and inter-organizational networks help create a fundamental transition in the

socio-technical energy regime?

In order to answer the main research question, this study has looked at the functions of the network, the

processes of transition it facilitates, in what transition phase the region is in and what opposing forces of

the transition are present in the network. It has been found that the eight different function of the network

lead to several processes of transition in the region, thereby helping to create a fundamental transition in

the socio-technical energy regime. It has been found in this study that the Energy Valley inter-

organizational network contributes to processes of transition regarding the change of ‘fossil’ regulations,

the lobby in national and regional policy circles for renewable energy, the connection of niches and regime

actors as well as to some degree to the coordination of niche actors, the parenting of niche actors, the

scaling up of niche projects and to the facilitation of social relations creating niche momentum.

However, a key result of this study is that the composition, structure, funding, vision, strategy and

evaluation of the inter-organizational network organization has a key role in the effectiveness of thenetwork in achieving a regional energy transition. In this study, the unbalanced representation of regime

actors, the embeddedness of the provinces and the national government with their own stakes, the

existing institutional environment of dominant gas stakes, the short term funding and resulting strategy

without a long term vision, the role of the network in greenwashing and the lack of evaluation of the

results have resulted in an inter-organizational network organization that facilitates incremental change in

the socio-technical energy regime as opposed to radical change. Therefore, it is concluded that the inter-

organizational network Energy Valley does not significantly contribute to the fundamental transition of the

regional socio-technical energy regime.



65

Regarding the theoretical implications of this study, the application of transition studies to the field of

business and the natural environment has contributed to a better understanding of the use of inter-

organizational networks in the growing paradigm of ‘strong sustainability’: Although the inter-

organizational network has valuable characteristics that lead to sustainable development, its contribution

to the resolution of meta-problems such as climate change through the fundamental transition of socio-

technical regimes strongly depends on the specific characteristics of the inter-organizational networkorganization and the system it operates in. The application of the inter-organizational network organization

as a tool for transformation in the strong sustainability paradigm should therefore be applied with a better

understanding of the essential network’s characteristics and the respective contextually of the network

organization. It is suggested that the current interest for the inter-organizational network in the quest

towards sustainable development and especially towards the resolution of meta-problems in the business

and natural environment literature is not entirely consistent with its practical contribution to date and

should therefore be applied more critically.

This study has looked at how the business and inter-organizational network Energy Valley contributes to

the fundamental transition of the regional socio-technical energy regime. It has been found that, despiteseveral contributions to the regional development of renewable energy, the dominant effect of the inter-

organizational network organization constitutes incremental change. It is therefore concluded that the

Energy Valley inter-organizational network organization does not significantly contribute to a fundamental

transition of the regional socio-technical energy regime.

7.2. Future Research

This study has been based on a single case study. Although this has allowed for in-depth research of the

topic, it also has limited the generalizability of the study. It is therefore suggested that future research on

the effects of inter-organizational networks on sustainability transitions incorporates multiple cases,

preferably from different regions or countries in order to prevent any location-specific results.

Alternatively, future research might include several cases derived from the literature in order to more

easily increase the size of the data-set. Additionally, this research has looked at the effects of inter-

organizational networks on transitions from a qualitative perspective. It might therefore be very interesting

for future research to provide a first attempt at the quantification of the data. This might lead to more

robust and generalizable research outcomes.

This study has been performed in the domain of sustainable energy. This domain has been identified as one

of the most important domains for the solutions of meta-problems such as climate change. However, the

sustainability crisis is not limited to the energy domain. Domains such as mobility, food and healthcare also

face considerable challenges in the years to come. It is therefore suggested that future research on the

effects of inter-organizational networks looks at different domains. Most importantly, this leads to valuable

information regarding the possible solutions for challenges in that specific domain. Furthermore, the

application of the concepts in a different domain than energy widens the academic knowledge on the topic

of the inter-organizational network concept and its effect on transitions.



66

7.3. Acknowledgements

This master thesis constitutes the last part of my formal education and as such is a significant milestone for

me. I have always learned that although it is vital to continuously make plans and try to be one step ahead

of time, one can only truly see the logic of developments in hindsight. This is certainly been true for my

education so far. Commencing my university education, I could have never guessed that this journey would

take me to three different universities in two different countries, allow me to meet a great variety ofinteresting fellow students, professors, schools of thought, cities or just people in general, nor could I have

imagined the privileged position where I am today. I would therefore like to express my appreciation to all

those who made my study years invigorating, extremely educational and best of all, fun!

Regarding this thesis, I would especially like to thank my coach Dr. Ir. Jan Rotmans for his time and support,

my co-reader Prof. Dr. Gail Whiteman for her invaluable advice and Dr. Derk Loorbach for tirelessly

supporting me. Furthermore, I would like to thank the people at DRIFT for their warm welcome and my

respondents without whom this thesis would not have been possible. Lastly, I would like to express

immense gratitude and pride towards my parents, my sister, my friends and my everloving girlfriend

Rosanna for always being there for me in every way possible. The future is bright and I cannot wait for it to

begin!



67

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Annex A - Interview protocol

Semi-structured - Master Thesis Energy Valley

Energy Valley and sustainability

o What is the role of the Energy Valley network in increasing the sustainable energy production in the

Northern-Netherlands?

o What stakes are predominantly driving this?

o What is the actual effect of the Energy Valley organization on the stimulation of sustainable energy

in the region?

o What is the division between conventional and sustainable energy within Energy Valley’s projects?

o Do you see any change now or in the future of this division?

o How does Energy Valley stimulate sustainable energy projects?

o Do you recognize a structural approach?

Discourse

o How is the concept of sustainability considered/described within Energy Valley?

o Economical vs. Ecological

o How does the Energy Valley organization influence the discourse surrounding sustainability in the

region?

o What is the sense of urgency regarding sustainable development?

Transition studies:

o To what extent do you see large regime players within the Energy Valley region try to remain

existing structures?

o To what extent do middle-large players have the ability to create new structures?

o To what extent do niche players within the region have the ability to prosper?

o How does the Energy Valley organization promote the stakes of sustainable energy enterprises

within the region?

o Does the Energy Valley organization projects vulnerable sustainable initiatives, if so, how?

o Does the organization have a long-term vision and/or transition agenda?

o Does the organization organize monitoring and evaluation practices?

Master Thesis - Energy Valley - RSM - [email protected]

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