Future of Energy

Storage technologies like batteries are deployed to balance the intermittent nature of renewables and to support grid stability and reliability. As of such, storage is a vital element to the future of energy. Its contribution to the energy transition in developing economies, island states and other countries in need of clean and affordable access to energy is clear. The business case, however, is not yet as clear globally. Get up to speed with the fast developments in storage, from a technology, market and finance perspective.

The renewable industry is moving to the next phase of market integration, in which projects will be partially or fully exposed to wholesale prices and the associated risks. This session will discuss the transition from gold-plated PPAs to merchant markets. Both financial institutions and developers will share lessons learned so far related to dealing with the risks and opportunities of merchant electricity markets.

For many years, offshore wind witnessed large scale investment, largely thanks to technological improvements and economies of scale. Now, offshore wind is increasingly gaining interest in new geographies. Projections suggest that offshore wind will reach installation rates between 15 and 21 GW/year from 2025 to 2030. This session will explore the potential for offshore wind to continue its role in the future of energy and if new geographies can ride on the wave of past successes and ramp up their local offshore markets.

The energy transition will increasingly require significant investments towards the upgrading of transmission and distribution systems. Although state-owned companies have historically dominated the transmission and distribution sectors, private sector participation is increasing rapidly. How do we nurture and encourage this development? Join this session and learn from real-life examples.

According to the EIA, energy efficiency improvements have saved 12.3 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions globally between 2000 and 2019, and could provide up to 40% of global emission reductions to meet 2040 climate goals. However, to achieve this goal, more needs to be done - especially in emerging markets where energy performance standards are often weak. Aside from the impact story of energy efficiency, there is a compelling business case to be made for reducing operational costs and improving competitiveness. In this session, we explore both the business case and the impact case of energy efficiency measures.

Mini-grids are a great cost-effective solution to further electrifying rural villages. Although the opportunity is huge, we don’t yet see them scaling up as fast as we would like. Challenges such as higher capex investments, and lack of a beneficial regulatory framework and structure might be at the root of this. In this session, we will discuss the key bottlenecks and potential solutions to scaling up this market segment faster. 

Opportunities involving electric mobility are emerging in many developing countries. Electric buses and electric two- and three-wheeled vehicles can play a vital role in moving people and products in a more sustainable way, while at the same time bring development benefits to urban and rural areas. In this session, we will discuss opportunities and challenges for investing in, and developing, e-mobility infrastructure.

As we strive to harness the limitless potential of wind energy, we find ourselves faced with an intriguing paradox: the best winds often dance where challenges are plenty. In this session, we'll delve into the practical aspects of scaling onshore wind energy projects with the current challenges at hand. Join us as we explore the strategies that enable us to harness wind power sustainably in these challenging settings.