THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Powering Change: Technologies fuelling the future
The need to rapidly accelerate the transition to cleaner energy is now more important than ever.
A much greater focus on cleaner energy is imperative to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions, and the business community plays a critical role in facilitating this transition.
Now in its fourth edition, our Powering Change report clearly demonstrates the extent to which corporates understand this and are committed to playing their part. Based on a survey of more than 2,000 senior executives and managers involved in energy decision-making we explore the technologies they are currently investing in, where they think the best future opportunities are – in terms of both new technologies and geographies, and where they expect the funding to come from.
Key findings
- Pressure to cut emissions is being driven from within companies. Three quarters of senior business leaders state that pressure to invest in renewable energy from their own corporate boards was either "extreme" or "significant" exceeding the perceived pressure from customers, regulators and even NGOs.
- Nearly two thirds of senior business leaders expect their organisation's investment to flow away from traditional fuels and towards renewable energy at an accelerated pace over the next 12 months.
- Solar energy is the most popular investment technology, targeted by nearly three-quarters of respondents.
- Emerging technologies are set to grow in appeal, with green fuels the most favoured.
- The investor base is diversifying, with a wide range of investors looking to enter the energy transition market as their understanding of it grows, and the risks and opportunities become better known.
- The top four barriers to investment were identified as, lack of raw materials, manufacturing capacity, regulation, and skills shortages.
- Legal disputes are set to rise. More than two thirds of respondents expect increased legal disputes related to the energy transition.
Powering Change: Technologies fuelling the future
Powering Change:
“It is no surprise that those working in the energy industry expect the pace of change and investment in the energy transition to accelerate. However, what our research does highlight is the lack of certainty about what the next phase of the transition looks like. It's clear that when it comes to meeting the targets being set by governments, there are enormous opportunities for those organisations willing to take a bold and strategic approach.”
Michael Burns
Partner
Key opportunities for energy transition:
Against a backdrop of increasing pressure to deliver on their energy transition investment plans, organisations identified the following as key opportunities to leverage over the next five years.
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“Leaders are facing increasing pressure to transition their own business, as societal attitudes towards carbon emissions continue to evolve. Balancing interests is complicated and no easy feat, but businesses which understand the challenges and opportunities the transition presents, and are prepared to act confidently will be best placed to succeed and make substantial headway in realising their ambitions.”
Dan Brown
Partner
Hotspots for renewable technologies:
For nearly all of the countries surveyed, the number one investment market for renewable energy, energy transition and clean technologies, is their own. China is the only exception in this case, their number one current investment market is the Middle East (44%).
“The industry needs certainty from government, but it also needs collaboration. While things are always going to be competitive, to get projects across the line, parties need to collaborate. For example, the only hydrogen projects that are making headway are those where people are working together – where you have export offtake market investors partnering with developers on those deals. Industry collaboration is vital to remove friction and bring down costs.”
Bree Miechel
Partner
Private equity – the new investors in non-power generation
Canada, France and Germany, in particular, expect private equity to become the new investors in non-power generation technologies over the next five years.
Predicted fully operational technologies in the
next 5 years:
Green fuels
Nature-based solutions
Air storage
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