INTERVIEW WITH ...
“Diversification means they won ’ t be reliant on just one supply chain ”
for greater certainty given the scale of investment . One of the things we noted in our recent industry study , Shocked , was a fairly even split between those energy sector senior decision makers believing the energy crisis was an accelerant for the energy transition or not .
Q . WHAT ’ S YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON RECENT DISRUPTIONS AND WHAT HAVE / CAN BUSINESSES LEARN FROM THEM ?
» There was a real step up in volatility in terms of energy prices that were seemingly localised . There have been big changes on a global scale , but more marked in Europe . It really brought home a couple of points : over-reliance on individual suppliers for energy — an example being Russian gas — and stark awareness at the degree of reliance on Chinese supply chains for batteries , solar panels and , more broadly , rare earth minerals .
Disruption has really caused people to look carefully at rebalancing their supply chains and resources .
Diversification is key : steering away from being reliant on just one supply chain ; but also looking at what else can be achieved through other means . The volatility in commodity prices has also made people turn to question the financial resilience of the industry .
Q . WHAT FURTHER AREAS ARE DISRUPTING THE ENERGY SECTOR IN ITS TRANSITION TO RENEWABLE ENERGY ?
» We are helping companies be more deliberate in their scenario-planning : raising awareness of their reliance on supply chains , certain technologies , resources , perhaps vulnerability to more extreme weather events , which is obviously disconnected from Russian gas .
The focus is more about risk awareness and continually testing lowprobability but high-impact events . There ’ s a greater need to engineer solutions that are more resilient to extreme weather events . Perhaps needing a higher degree of contingency planning for certain designs and arrangements to maintain integrity through whatever is thrown at our energy systems in the future .
Q . HOW DO YOU EXPECT THE ENERGY LANDSCAPE TO EVOLVE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS ?
» In terms of the mix , there is a clarion call for the industrialisation of ‘ bankable ’ renewable energy technologies . We ’ ve got ambition to go large in offshore wind and rethink our approach to onshore wind as well . We ’ ve seen very rapid deployment of PV across Europe and this is set to continue .
I am optimistic about the future energy transition but there are some channel challenges around the industrialisation of and deployment of these renewable technologies , but that will really come down to providing more financial certainty or faster planning processes , rather than the technology itself .
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