Even if one group views a certain type of electric system architecture as probable and desirable, possibly even unavoidable, other groups that see other trends or emphasise other values may consider totally other directions to be most reasonable. In this subproject we open a discussion around alternate system solutions and their analysis. We cover the range from global supernetworks in which the majority of people continue to be rather passive consumers – possibly while becoming more interconnected, to smart grids with many interconnected and more active prosumers, and systems in which balance and self-sufficiency are established in increasingly smaller networks, right down to the level of the individual household. One method that can be used to consider the question is deductive analysis: which configurations are possible? Another method is to study what is happening around the world: are there any seeds of new electric system configurations in wealthy and developing countries, with different forms of governance and in different latitudes, that can spread to other parts of the world? What barriers and drivers shape these, and which actors influence and are influenced by the change?
In several studies, we are trying to clarify the theory behind how different system configurations can be described and in this way start a discussion on the possibilities of shaping sociotechnical systems and analysing their effects. Other studies look at how new configurations develop in different places around the world, and the roles that different actors, institutions and technologies play in the process of change.