Energy plans in practice: The making of thermal energy storage in urban Denmark

Much of the academic literature that investigates energy planning focuses on the development of plans but overlooks how they shape actors’ situated sensemaking in the field. This paper followed the process of realizing a sector-coupling investment in a thermal energy storage in Copenhagen from 2017 to 2020. The analysis shows that while plans may help to define technological qualities and purposes, they do not always convince actors. Plans simultaneously close down technological uncertainty and open up others and through this cycle the energy planning process moves forward. The paper concludes by outlining new perspectives on the making and use of plans and provides recommendations for those who are participating in increasingly complex energy system transitions.