Between Repurposing and Innovation
Governing the Resilience of Critical Offshore Energy Infrastructures in Italy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22017649 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrea Prontera (0000-0003-3656-6295, University of Macerata), Claudio Christopher Passalacqua (0000-0003-3885-491X, University of Bologna) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Politics and Governance (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2183-2463 • E-ISSN: 2183-2463 |
| Publisher | Cogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT) |
| DOI | 10.17645/pag.12244 |
| OpenAlex | W7165769055 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
Offshore energy infrastructures are becoming increasingly central to the low-carbon transition while raising pressing questions of resilience and security. Assets such as offshore wind installations, subsea electricity cables, and pipelines are exposed to a growing range of environmental, technological, and geopolitical risks, as well as cyber and physical threats. This article develops an analytical framework for the study of critical offshore energy infrastructure governance, combining two dimensions: modes of governance, ranging from public-led to private-led arrangements, and problem-framings, spanning threat-based and risk-based approaches. The framework is applied to the Italian case to trace recent institutional and policy developments in critical offshore energy infrastructure governance. Findings reveal an increasing securitisation of offshore energy infrastructures and a shift towards more public-led and threat-based approaches, alongside the consolidation of risk-based instruments focused on resilience and coordination with private operators. The article argues that these dynamics are shaped by path dependence: While the repurposing of existing institutional capacities enables rapid responses in an emerging policy field, it also contributes to fragmented governance arrangements and constrains the development of a more coherent framework. More broadly, the study highlights how competing governance modes and problem-framings shape critical infrastructure governance during the low-carbon transition
Corporate governance · Critical infrastructure · Electricity · Energy transition · Offshore wind power · Repurposing · Submarine pipeline · Global Energy Security and Policy · Global Security and Public Health · Infrastructure Resilience and Vulnerability Analysis
Process-Tracing Methods
Historical institutionalism
Critical maritime infrastructure protection
Security Beyond the State
Security
Civilizing Security
Institutional Layering
Quiet power
Learning from crisis
Governments and Markets in the Digital Age
Still on the same path? Italian foreign and defence policy in the Enlarged Mediterranean
The New Offshore Frontiers of EU Energy Security in the Mediterranean
Case Studies
Securitisation and ‘Riskification’
Reconceptualizing layering—From mode of institutional change to mode of institutional design
After Nord Stream
Securing cyberspace
Risk analysis – A field within security studies
Securitization' revisited
Path dependence in historical sociology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |