GEC2019: tackling new frontiers

2019 might well be remembered as the year of climate consciousness. As the transition to a low-carbon economy gathers pace through technological and market innovation and positive moves in global policymaking, we are facing new frontiers.

We are proud to present GEC2019: New Frontiers. Our flagship conference brings a distinct investment-focused perspective, convening the industry’s thinkers and doers to understand what’s required next.

Talking the talk, and walking the walk

As the recent UN Climate Action Summit has shown, there is an urgent need to accelerate the global transition to renewable energy and adapt to climate impacts. We need to shift to more sustainable and resilient urban infrastructure and align public and private finance with the promise of a net-zero economy.

Many countries and corporates, including Macquarie, arrived at the Summit announcing ambitious new climate initiatives and targets. Now it’s time to walk the walk. The Global Commission on Adaptation has recently outlined this urgency of action , a call echoed by the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative whose new report highlights the powerful role finance can play in the transition to a sustainable and inclusive global economy.

At GEC2019 we will be joined by representatives of these two landmark initiatives to discuss their recent recommendations.

Transformative tech: towards a more dynamic market?

The beginnings of a fundamental transformation in the electricity market has taken hold. The traditional utility model is evolving, more players are entering the market, and renewable energy is becoming the new normal. The role of the consumer is also changing, with many corporates pivoting to greater energy independence by procuring and managing energy consumption and output themselves. Many of these changes are driven by innovations in technology, particularly around digitalisation of systems, electric vehicles, and storage.

So, what does the electricity market of tomorrow look like and how will the next wave of technological developments shape it?

Those are the questions we’ll put to two panels on transformative technologies and dynamic markets, featuring representatives from National Grid, Scottish Power Renewables, Total, Energy Systems Catapult and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

What’s next for wind, solar and storage?

The costs of renewables have fallen at a pace and scale few could have predicted. Wind and solar energy are now the cheapest forms of energy in two thirds of the world – a truly remarkable achievement. We’ve all seen first-hand how innovation can help drive down the price of renewable power generation, but what is the next frontier in wind technology and how are the industry’s vanguards responding to the demand to build bigger turbines onshore and offshore? How will the solar market now evolve and can the power of battery storage be unlocked? To help us find out, we will be joined by senior executives from Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Luxcara, Investments US Solar Fund, Bushveld Energy and AES Distributed Energy.

This time it’s global

While we’ve seen impressive growth in renewable generation across developed markets, according to the CFLI, just 0.1% of global clean energy investment was into ‘low-income’ countries between 2015 – 2018 . Even in some mature markets, we’ve seen a stagnation in capacity growth. How can we continue to grow the pipeline in mature markets, while delivering a step-change in investment in emerging economies?

From high merchant exposure to “safe” infrastructure-type returns, we will compare the emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America with the regional market overviews of Europe and North America. To help us, RES Group, Covanta, KLP Management, UK Climate Investment, Fortum India and Building Energy will unpick the global opportunities for green finance.

Join us for all this and more, including our annual update on GIG’s activities.

Welcome to GEC2019; New Frontiers.