Future of Energy

Although there are many similarities between the renewable energy development trajectories in Africa, South East Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, these 4 regions each have their own characteristics, challenges and opportunities. In a reporter-style session, we will take a tour around the world with a developer and an investor and bring you up to speed on the key global market trends.

How big a part will green hydrogen play in the future of energy? Believers and criticasters will discuss different aspects of the business model, such as its feasibility, sustainability and the offtake potential for green hydrogen. Get involved in an energetic debate around the potential of green hydrogen to achieve the 2050 climate goals.

Though still a relatively underserved market segment for solar systems, the C&I sector will become increasingly renewable-energy hungry as governments increase incentives to deliver on decarbonization targets, and fossil-fuelled electricity prices continue to be volatile. The market segment is picking up the pace quickly. By 2026, 125 GW of C&I rooftop solar is forecasted to have been installed, making C&I solar an increasing and significant contributor to the global renewable energy supply. Join this session to stay on top of the latest market dynamics and trends in the C&I sector and learn from experienced developers.

Storage technologies like batteries are deployed to balance the intermittent nature of renewables and to support grid stability and reliability. As 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. Though the business case, however, is not yet as clear everywhere. Get up to speed with the fast developments in storage, from a technology, market and financial 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.

T&D is vital to the future of energy. With a huge need for further grid optimization, there's ample opportunity for innovation and investment. In this sector that's traditionally dominated by state-owned companies, shifts to more private-sector involvement are finally becoming visible. How do we nurture and encourage this development, while at the same time building upon the past learnings related to financing T&D projects from state-owned enterprises?

For many years, offshore wind was considered to be the expensive cousin of onshore wind. This has changed dramatically, as prices have continued to drop - largely thanks to technological improvements and economies of scale. Now, offshore wind is also increasingly gaining traction in emerging markets. Projections suggest that offshore wind will reach installation rates between 15 and 21 GW/year from 2025 to 2030. There is ample potential for developing countries to ride on the wave of this momentum and ramp up their local offshore markets.

Along with a sustainable energy transition numerous risks are arising: social issues (such as forced labor in our supply chain), rising mineral demand, the environmental impact of manufacturing materials and other risks are at the forefront of it. At the same time, the focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors is rightly increasing, due to shifts in corporate values and strategy, new regulations, and customer and investor priorities. In this session financial and renewable representatives meet and discuss how these two trends can either support or complicate one another.

The most sustainable energy is the energy we don't use. Energy efficiency is the single largest measure to avoid energy demand in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. According to IEA figures almost half of emissions reductions must come from energy efficiency. Furthermore, most efficiency measures result in cost savings to consumers, lowering energy bills. The technological solutions are already at hand. In this session we will share some operational examples, because seeing is believing.

Mini-grids are a great cost-effective solution to further electrifying rural villages. Although the opportunity is huge we don’t see them scaling up as fast as we would like yet. 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 around electric mobility are emerging in several 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 and at the same time bring development benefits to urban and rural areas. In this session, we will discuss the business case for investing and developing in e-mobility.

Current global trends such as increasing interest rates impact risk perception and risk appetite. This leads to a need for innovative approaches to financing renewable energy project development. In this session, we will dive into the newest financing structures and look ahead at what's needed to secure the future of energy in the global south.