Explaining choices in energy infrastructure development as a network of adjacent action situations: The case of LNG in the Baltic Sea region

This paper contributes to the development of a polycentric perspective on energy infrastructure governance by developing the concept of network of adjacent actions situations (NAAS). Examining the case of LNG infrastructure development in the Baltic Sea region, it clarifies how choices made in interlinked policy areas may affect infrastructural policy output in a regional context. It is argued that LNG is expanding as a new major energy technology around the Baltic due to its capacity to fulfill policy expectations in three issue-areas: enhancing energy security, providing low-sulphur bunker fuel, and balancing renewables in the power sector. The analysis of linkages between these actions situations emphasizes the spatial, temporal, and discursive aspects of energy infrastructure governance at the regional level. The application of NAAS as an analytical tool to map out the unintended consequences of infrastructural choices is relevant in policymaking.