Transitions from conventional to more sustainable systems, such as in
the case of energy transitions, depend on new technological developments and
social change processes. To understand how the formation and growth of more
sustainable technologies work, we apply the theory of technology innovation
systems (TIS) and functions of innovation systems (FIS) to the flywheel energy
storage technology. Flywheels are rotating masses allowing energy storage in
kinetic form and can be a green alternative to chemical-laden batteries, amongst
others. Using a qualitative embedded case-study with multiple units of analysis
in German-speaking countries, our research reveals a mitigated situation, several
malfunctioning processes and negative causal dynamics. Central is the lack in
consistency in the direction of search, important legitimacy issues, strong market
segmentation and unfavorable market support mechanisms that lead to low
resource availability, together preventing the TIS to grow from isolated
experiments to niche markets.