Maps in the service of sociotechnical imaginaries of energy transition

• Maps are mediums that serve the construction and stabilisation of STIs. • Maps highlight energy transition as a technical and linear, expert-driven process. • Maps reveal the spatial distribution of energy infrastructure and idealised spaces. • Maps fail to address relational spatial and justice aspects of energy transition. • More mappings of alternative energy futures are needed. Maps are widely used in planning and guiding energy systems towards a more sustainable future. This study examines how mapping functions as a performative practice and a medium that contributes to the development and stabilisation of sociotechnical imaginaries (STIs) of energy transition. Maps are shaped by the visions of their makers, and therefore, they have the potential to support the embedding and extension of STIs or to promote alternative imaginaries. Maps are also used for different purposes and read through various imaginaries, and therefore, map users also have a crucial role in these processes. To illustrate how maps construct and circulate the STIs of energy transition, we analyse online maps and digital spatial data portals related to sustainable energy transition in the Finnish context. Our findings demonstrate that maps are active co-productive visual mediums through which STIs of energy transition and associated conceptions of sustainability are spatialised, stabilised, and contested. Most of the studied energy transition maps are produced by energy elites such as administrative authorities, energy companies, and researchers. These maps serve certain purposes, such as promoting energy solutions to decision-makers and citizens, and often address issues of sustainability, energy security, or the economy related to the energy transition. However, concomitantly, these maps also extend a techno-optimistic STI of the energy transition based on various renewable energy solutions. Spatially, the maps highlight the Global North as the forerunner of energy transition and point to idealised spaces for renewable energy production. At the same time, they hide the adverse environmental and social impacts and fail to address relationality and issues of justice. To promote energy democracy, alternative imaginaries of energy futures should be better represented in mapping practices.