With the massive injection provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, 2023 will mark the start of the “prime time” of rapid growth for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in the US. In Europe, with the war in Ukraine continuing, energy security will continue to be at the forefront of government considerations across Europe and beyond, although the debate around nuclear will continue to be dogged by political dithering and NIMBYism.
Closer to home, we predict that the North Sea Economy will become increasingly important in the clean energy transition with exciting potential for projects which combine grid interconnectors, offshore wind, green hydrogen production and carbon capture and storage. Investors’ appetite for energy storage (in particular alternatives to lithium-ion), energy optimisation (especially with industrial application), and other ClimateTech (e.g. net zero emission tech) will continue to show strong growth despite global economic headwinds especially in the worst offending industries (such as heavy industry, power and energy, and heavy-duty transportation).
As energy systems become ever more complex and as greater renewable capacity continues to be added to the energy mix, artificial intelligence (AI) looks likely to be a game changer with applications such as demand forecasting, grid and asset management, and predictive maintenance. We’ll also likely see the beginning of breakthroughs using quantum computing in the energy and climate space which will allow massive and complex simulation modelling leading to improved strategies for climate change mitigation such as carbon capture.
