Reframing decommissioning as energy infrastructural investment : a comparative analysis of motivational frames in Scotland and Germany

Abstract

Decommissioning is often understood to mark the end of an energy infrastructure, associated supply network or even an entire industry. The long-term nature of this process for large scale infrastructure offers, however, a strategic opportunity for businesses. The paper argues that pro-industry Scottish business interests have proactively reframed decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure as an investment opportunity, whereas their German counterparts in the nuclear industry have struggled to mobilize a positive reframing of the phase-out. A detailed analysis of eighteen interviews reveals critical insight into how each industry approaches mobilizing support for their interests through motivational framing in the decommissioning context. Four key differences between the case studies (materiality, industry trajectories, rise of small business and national political identity) are then identified and reflected upon.