Thinking With, From and Across the Energy Transition in Barbados: Island Spatiality Between Connection and Separation

ABSTRACT Small island spatiality affects the range of possibilities for decarbonising the energy system. In the Caribbean region, many island states depend heavily on fossil fuel imports. Barbados is one such island. The political goal is to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030. However, contextual factors of the past, present and future and the particular spatiality of an island influence the trajectory of the energy transition. In our study, we ask how place‐based conditions of islands shape regional energy transitions. We analyse the ongoing energy transition process in Barbados by applying the concept of regional foundations of energy transitions in , of and by the region viewed through the analytical lens of the island as a political interstice along the continuum of separation and connection. Based on qualitative interviews and policy analysis, the study demonstrates that the energy provisioning system of the region is predominantly structured by separation. Additionally, the small size of the energy market and the lack of interconnecting subsea power cables follow the separation narrative of the energy transition in the region. At the same time, dynamics of connection emerge through the agency of island states, financing options and cooperation by the region as well as the resource endowment in the region. By linking regional energy transition research to an understanding of the island as a political interstice, this paper highlights island‐specific particularities that must be accounted for in energy transition processes.