Andrea Webster, Senior Advisor at SustainFinance, says innovation must disrupt the status quo in traditional energy systems.

Idealists imagine clean renewable energy powering a content and peaceful world around us. Solar panels adorn rooftops and wind turbines swoop to catch the breeze. Reality paints a very different picture; we not only need to re-think and re-engineer the world around us, we also need to persuade many people it is a priority that needs paying for. While the cost of renewable energy is falling, resistance to re-engineering our daily lives is growing.

This is a battle for the narrative. One size does not fit all and motivations to embrace change differ depending on where you are sitting in the world.

For developed economies, the energy transition means replacing existing reliable but high-carbon energy sources with a clean and affordable alternative. Meeting national net zero commitments creates the imperative; however rises in inflation, interest rates and supply chain woes have pushed up the cost of living and reset priorities. We are seeing this reflected in politics with a move to the right.

For developing economies, the challenge is building new sources of affordable energy to meet increasing demand. Reliable energy is fundamental to economic development because it generates prosperity which ultimately helps underpin social order. Providing reliable, clean supply to millions on a low income is a political challenge for many governments.

Fundamental changes

While the global push toward renewable energy has made remarkable strides, with solar and wind power leading the charge, it is simply not fast enough. This was finally acknowledged in Dubai, reaching a new level of global consensus on the need to tackle climate change. COP28 did not go far enough for the scientists, but it was historical in its commitment to phase down unabated coal power. This text will translate into a scaling of fundamental changes in how electricity is generated, stored and distributed; in other words, it will accelerate the structural shifts taking place in electricity supply across the world.

Within the electricity supply chain, energy storage stands out as the crucial piece in building trust with end users and governments to reshape our power supply systems. Robust storage is needed to integrate and manage renewable energy sources to smooth out the intermittent nature of renewable generation. Being able to manage the peaks and troughs of changing user demands and ensuring a reliable power supply from