The Next 20 Years—Utilities Get Ready for Decarbonization

As the energy transition accelerates and scales, the grid could serve as a critical enabler. It is the backbone that connects fast-growing economical renewable energy sources with new loads, such as electric vehicles that are growing equally fast, but with little to no coordination with the grid. The grid also needs to transition from a centralized passive grid to a decentralized active grid, representing a new and, as yet, unproven control and operating paradigm, while at the same time maintaining the reliability and cost levels that utility customers have grown accustomed to. We clearly see the clash between fast-moving risk-taking commercial sectors and conservative risk-averse regulated sectors. With the complexity of so many fast-moving technologies and sectors, all intersecting through the grid (which is itself changing very slowly), the future may not only be difficult to predict, but it may also be unknowable. How do we plan for such a future, how do we make investment decisions, what actions do we take today, and how do we course correct when we have to adapt to unexpected realities on the ground? Finally, we need to ask the question that as these new technologies take us toward a sustainable energy future, will the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) be left behind once again? These are vexing questions, the answers to which will shape the future that we will create, for ourselves, and for our future generations.