Energy systems are often defined by physical boundaries and framed as either connected (interconnected grids) or isolated (energy islands), yet this binary view obscures how they actually operate and are governed.

To move beyond this limitation, the concept of “island-ness” is introduced as a socio-technical analytical lens capturing varying degrees of isolation and connectedness across systems — from spacecraft, energy communities, and microgrids to geographically bounded islands and nation-states. Rather than treating islands as fixed categories, this lens shows how infrastructure design, governance arrangements, operational practices, resource dependencies, and collective perceptions combine to produce different forms of island-ness.

Motivations driving systems toward greater isolation or stronger connectivity include energy security and independence, climate goals, economic and technical constraints, ideological preferences, and broader geopolitical conditions, all of which both shape and are shaped by island-ness. Together, these factors influence infrastructure choices, governance arrangements, operational practices, and economic performance. As technologies evolve, ideologies shift, and geopolitical contexts change, the degree and character of island-ness change as well. Comparative case studies show how different combinations of motivations and conditions generate distinct configurations of island-ness.

Prof Parag's talk will conclude with the case of Montserrat, a Caribbean island where recognising island-ness helps clarify vulnerabilities and opportunities. This case shows why analysing energy systems in isolation is insufficient and highlights links with other critical infrastructures through the co-location and co-design of water, sewage, and energy microgrids. At the same time, islands are embedded in wider geographical and social contexts, where regional exchange, cooperation, and shared identity shape opportunities and resilience. Viewed through this lens, islands emerge not as fixed entities but as dynamic configurations whose degree of island-ness changes over time.

Yael Parag is an interdisciplinary scholar working at the intersection of energy systems, public policy, and socio-technical change. Her research examines the design and governance of decentralized, decarbonized, and digitalized electricity systems, with particular focus on innovation the edge of the grid, including prosumers, community energy, and microgrids. Her work addresses energy resilience, security, and new forms of energy governance, combining conceptual development with applied research.

She has developed analytical frameworks for understanding emerging energy infrastructures, including the multi-dimensional “island-ness” perspective on electricity systems and research on energy security and resilience metrics for the energy transition. Professor Parag serves on the editorial boards of Energy Research & Social Science and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, and her work has been published in leading journals including Nature Energy, Joule, Applied Energy, and Energy Policy. 

Before returning to Israel in 2011, she spent six years as a researcher at the Energy Group of the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford.

'Between isolation and connectedness: understanding energy islands through the island-ness lens' with Prof Yael Parag