I.JET.IDF

Project overview

This project examines the dynamics of investment in the electrification of the Île-de-France region against the backdrop of a decarbonisation transition that calls for local, fair and sustainable solutions to ensure equitable access to energy for all. It breaks new ground by employing an interdisciplinary methodology at the intersection of geography and law to understand the mechanisms of investment in electricity generation and grid infrastructure. Through a two-pronged approach of tracking investment flows and critically analysing their governance, this project aims to highlight the emerging energy geographies in the Île-de-France region and the actors involved, in order to understand their socio-spatial effects. To date, no study in the social and human sciences has examined these in a structured, multi-scale manner, contributing to a lack of clarity regarding these emerging energy geographies and their long-term consequences for energy access regimes. This project, designed in a participatory manner with local stakeholders, aims to be of direct use to public decision-makers by examining (1) the dynamics of the siting of electricity infrastructure (solar; wind), (2) forms of public-private investment and the power relations at play within them, and (3) the future of the public electricity service. The study addresses a topical issue at both national and regional levels, in light of the threefold regulatory ambition at European and French level to regionalise energy policies, electrify energy use and promote reindustrialisation; a threefold ambition that places the Île-de-France region at the heart of the need for action.

Keywords: Electricity infrastructure – Public-private investment – Territorial transition – Land use – Energy justice – Geo-legal approach – Geo-visualisation – Citizen science

Photo credit: E. Santoire, 2025, Boissise-la-Bertrand solar park (77)