Writer: Suvi Silfvenius, Research Assistant, Flaire & University of Helsinki
Our energy systems not only power, but also shape our societies. The narrative around renewable energy and the electrification of our energy systems has, for a long time, been one of continuity; how renewables and batteries can enable us to live our lives materially unchanged facilitating at minimum, the same standards of comfort in our dwellings, transport methods, long-distance travel habits, food consumption, amongst many other areas.
The past few years have revealed flaws in this narrative. Geopolitical tensions have, on one hand, diverted attention from the urgent need to achieve climate targets and, on the other, accelerated the adoption of renewable energy as nations have sought to reduce dependence on Russia’s oil and gas. In Finland, this increased dependency on electricity, which is produced mostly through nuclear power and renewable energy sources, has resulted in Finland becoming one of Europe’s most unstable energy markets, leading to unpredictable energy costs for end-consumers.
In April, the widespread blackouts in the Iberian Peninsula raised another concern about not just pricing driven by renewables but also the intermittency of a renewable-heavy energy system. Some takeaways are already being drawn, most notably that diversified energy mixes improve system resilience, and that the EU’s grid infrastructure requires an overhaul, and electricity grids ought to be better connected to friendly neighbouring states, such as in Spain’s case, France. But these cases can also be interpreted as valuable sneak peeks into the kinds of questions we will increasingly grapple with in the future; in what way will less reliable access to energy shape our societies? Will we be able to reconcile the need for reducing energy demand and for social equality?
It seems for many reasons, including environmental, geopolitical, economic, and even defence, that there is a case to be made for increasing the resilience of energy systems through increased flexibility of energy consumption, especially in terms of reducing energy demand. This is true in the context of entire countries, as well as amongst housing associations, households, and individual energy consumers. On a wider scale, strategic thinking is needed across ministries on the impact their policies have on the medium and long-term energy demand in Finland. As an example, subsidising the electricity consumption of energy-intensive industries risks incentivising high levels of consumption at the disadvantage of energy prices for individual consumers, as has been seen recently with data centres in Ireland.
In the case of households, Hasselqvist et al. (2022) have proposed a new framework aiming to establish ways in which resilience can be built against what are termed as “energy shortages” and “outages” in affluent contexts. Hasselqvist et al. argue that instead of investing in new, costly energy infrastructure, we should consider accepting the need to change our ways of consuming energy to adapt to the new circumstances through what they have grouped as energy efficiency, sufficiency, flexibility, and backup energy sources. These different methods are proposed as tools that can be leveraged to assimilate to a status quo where energy access is increasingly intermittent, whilst maintaining a “good life”.
In the words of Bonneuil and Fressoz (2017, p.101), “The bad news is that, if history teaches us one thing, it is that there never has been an energy transition. There was no movement from wood to coal, then from coal to oil, then from oil to nuclear. The history of energy is not one of transitions, but rather of successive additions of new sources of primary energy”. Whilst Bonneuil and Fressoz are referring to energy consumption on a global, societal scale, this is nonetheless worth reflecting upon also in the case of individual countries – if we truly seek an energy transition, we can not expect every aspect of our day-to-day lives to remain unchanged.
A true energy transition will require significant changes in practices regarding how and when we consume energy. In affluent contexts, it may also increasingly mean being comfortable with not consuming energy.
15.5.2025.
References
Bonneuil, Christophe, and Jean-Baptiste Fressoz. 2017. The Shock of the Anthropocene: The Earth, History and Us. Trans. David Fernbach. London: Verso.
Hasselqvist, H., Renström, S., Strömberg, H. and Håkansson, M., 2022. Household energy resilience: Shifting perspectives to reveal opportunities for renewable energy futures in affluent contexts. Energy Research & Social Science. [Accessed 9 May 2025].
Lemonde. (24.6.2024). In Ireland, power consumption by data centers surpasses that of residential homes. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2024/07/24/in-ireland-power-consumption-by-data-centers-surpasses-that-of-residential-homes_6696043_114.html
Chestney, N. (6.5.2025). EU power grid needs trillion-dollar upgrade to avert Spain-style blackouts. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/eu-power-grid-needs-trillion-dollar-upgrade-avert-spain-style-blackouts-2025-05-05/
Reuters. (5.6.2025). EU’s Ribera urges against hasty conclusions on Iberia blackout. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eus-ribera-urges-against-hasty-conclusions-iberia-blackout-2025-05-05/
Reed, S. & Gross, J. (29.4.2025). How Spain’s Success in Renewable Energy May Have Left It Vulnerable. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/business/spain-renewable-energy-power-grid.html
Shinde, P. (31.5.2025). Finland: Europe’s most volatile short-term electricity market. https://montel.energy/commentary/finland-europes-most-volatile-short-term-electricity-market
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