Travelling tales of modern green nations: Sociotechnical imaginaries of wind energy in Denmark & Taiwan

Since the 1970s, after starting from small, grassroots-inspired businesses, Danish wind energy has become industrialised and took on the form of global corporations operated from European centres. Using Taiwan as a steppingstone, those corporations became increasingly active in the Asia-Pacific region.

This talk shows that through its technological legacy and the narrative of pioneering wind energy, Denmark served as a model of what offshore wind could be for Taiwan and what Taiwan could be for offshore wind. Based on the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries, the talk identifies three prevalent imaginaries in Denmark and Taiwan: The first imaginary applicable to the early phase of wind energy development in Denmark pictures wind energy as a clean, natural, locally empowering, and anti-capitalist energy source. It was succeeded by a second imaginary of wind energy as a modern “win-win” solution to climate change and a means to green growth.

In Taiwan today, a third imaginary is aligned with the political planning tradition of Taiwan as a developmental state. It evokes wind energy as a means of green industrial nation building. Based on this analysis, the speaker will argue that the sociotechnical imaginaries examined did not simply change but went through a process of transformative co-production where visions transformed material reality, and material reality transformed visions.

Format:

2pm             Welcome & introduction
2.05pm      Presentation by Dr Thomas Harbøll Schrøder, International College of Innovation, National Chengchi, Taiwan
2.45pm      Q&A moderated by Dr Wendy Russell, Research Fellow, ANU Centre for Energy Systems (ACES)
3pm            Close

About the speaker

Thomas Harbøll Schrøder is an assistant research fellow at the International College of Innovation at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. He received his PhD in 2025 from the Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. His thesis examined the history of wind power in a transnational study with a focus on early wind power in Denmark and ongoing offshore wind development in Taiwan. This narrative was examined from the perspective of the broader history of global environmental governance. In August 2026, Thomas began the three-year project “A social history of renewables in Taiwan”. This project is sponsored by Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and attempts to build and move beyond the PhD research by looking at how renewables entered into Taiwan’s strongly centralized and fossil fuel dominated energy system. Thomas research falls in the fields of environmental humanities, history of science, technology and environment and Science, Technology, and Society (STS).

More information

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