A sustainable energy transition story
Energy makes our life better and easier.
Being able to create heat and light on demand is an incredible achievement. And everybody, everywhere in the world, should have access to this level of comfort.
But we have to face the reality: we can no longer rely on fossil fuels to produce energy.
Fossil energies account for more than 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and their limited quantities cannot satisfy soaring demand for global energy.
We need to redesign the energy system to provide affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
You’re all invited to join the team: the New Energy Odyssey has already started!
Transforming a world dominated by fossil-fuel to one largely based on renewable energy calls for visionary acts. That’s why I wanted to fly around the world on solar energy with Solar Impulse – demonstrating that technologies exist that allow us to achieve the impossible. The Terrawatt Initiative was another such visionary act, recognizing that the rapid uptake of solar energy in key solar markets would not happen if private stakeholders failed to guide states and financial institutions through the needs of an evolving market. This initiative was instrumental in mobilizing the right forces to positively shift the trajectory of solar energy on the global stage. It has been an honour to follow your work over these years and to recognize that a “well below 2 cents” price is indeed achievable.
Dr Bertrand Piccard
Chairman of the solar Impulse Foundation
A world in crisis
Economic, social
and environmental crisis
Our civilisation is facing a conjunction of interrelated global crises: a climate crisis, but also a biodiversity crisis and an economic and social crisis.
The combustion of fossil fuels powered the industrial revolutions. It brought us an unprecedented level of comfort while increasing inequality between countries. This inequality has consequences for social cohesion and can trigger political tension and/or mass migration.
Energy also accounts for more than 60 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions and the stocks are limited. Burning fossil fuels has severe consequences and potentially alters our life-supporting ecosystems beyond our capacity to adapt to them.
The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement aim at achieving a carbon-free global economy and more equal society to address basic human needs, within the limits of our ecosystem.
What if transforming our economic and social paradigm was, above all, an energy issue?
Energy is at the core
Redesigning
the energy system
Putting humankind back on a just and sustainable track will require decarbonising our energy consumption and becoming more energy efficient. This is the sustainable energy transition and it must happen fast. It implies a mass electrification of currently fossil-fuelled end-uses, such as mobility, and developing a vast range of renewable power generation assets on a global scale to replace fossil fuel power generation assets and provide more power for new uses.
A sustainable energy transition is not about adding new renewable power generation assets to a system which has not been designed for them. It’s about redesigning the energy system to provide affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, and rapidly substituting the current fossil fuel-based system. This is one of the main objectives of the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals.
Competing with fossil fuels means that the new energy system must become more competitive as quickly as possible, globally, potentially by 2030.
How can a nascent clean energy system outcompete the existing fossil fuel system at global level? How to outcompete a system which is so deeply embedded in our societies? How is it possible within ten years?
The tough question
Chicken or egg?
The E + I paradigm
Renewable energies have the advantage that they are generally available everywhere and can thus be produced locally, but they have a major disadvantage: we can’t produce electrons on demand. So to make them available precisely when they are required, we need to create a management component on top of this raw energy.
To outcompete the fossil fuel system, the clean energy system made of renewable power generation AND energy management must be cheaper overall than the fossil fuel system. This is what we call the E+I paradigm.
But where do we start? Should we bet on reducing the cost of renewable power generation or rather on reducing the cost of the smart system? In other words, which comes first: the chicken or the egg?
The events of 2019 and 2020 offer interesting answers to these questions and have confirmed the initial assumption of TWI in 2015: cheap electrons must come first.
Recent solar record bids
| Cost (US cents /kWh) | Place | Year |
|
1.569 |
QATAR | 2020 |
|
1.6540 |
PORTUGAL | 2019 |
|
1.6953 |
DUBAI | 2019 |
|
1.7500 |
BRAZIL | 2019 |
|
1.9970 |
USA (Los Angeles) | 2019 |
|
2.175 |
USA (Idaho) | 2019 |
|
2.3420 |
SAUDI ARABIA | 2018 |
|
2.52 |
ETHIOPIA | 2019 |
|
2.7 |
UZBEKISTAN | 2019 |
|
2.7 |
COLUMBIA | 2019 |
|
3.3 |
RAJASTHAN | 2019 |
Recent solar record bids
| Cost (US cents/kWh) | Capacity (MW) | Place | Date |
| 1.569 | 800 | QATAR | January 2020 |
| 1.6540 | 150 | PORTUGAL | July 2019 |
| 1.6953 | 900 | DUBAI | October 2019 |
| 1.7500 | 211 | BRAZIL | July 2019 |
| 1.9970 | 400 | USA (Los Angeles) | June 2019 |
| 2.175 | 120 | USA (Idaho) | March 2019 |
| 2.3420 | 300 | SAUDI ARABIA | February 2018 |
| 2.52 | 125 | ETHIOPIA | September 2019 |
| 2.7 | 100 | UZBEKISTAN | October 2019 |
| 2.7 | 2,200 | COLUMBIA | October 2019 |
| 3.3 | 250 | RAJASTHAN | March 2019 |
WHich DOORS MUST BE UNLOcKED TO ACHIEVE ‘WELL BeLOW 2 CENTS’ FOR SOLAR POWER EVERYWHERE BY 2030?
Our 7 missions
Rethinking leadership
Creating a systemic approach and developing collective solutions to set up a new market framework.
MAIN PLAYERS
Rethinking uncertainty
Because uncertainty cannot be evaluated and priced, what we need is a leap of faith: the necessary strong commitment we need to make when everything is a blur, to federate all the stakeholders.
MAIN PLAYERS
Rethinking communication
Sustainable energies are generally misunderstood and underestimated. A simple and federative narrative is necessary to change people’s perception and gather everyone around a common goal.
MAIN PLAYERS
Rethinking Policy
Essentially decentralised and close to demand, the renewable energy system empowers people. It requires clear policies and symbolic political messages.
MAIN PLAYER
Rethinking regulation
Achieving a ‘well below 2 cts’ target can only happen if cash is available at the right price, in the right quantity, for the right tenure, in the right location.
MAIN PLAYER
Rethinking transactions
Scaling solar power deployment requires the simplification and automatisation of transactions. After having radically decreased the cost of renewable power, we need to focus on the reduction of soft costs.
MAIN PLAYERS
Rethinking financing
The obvious challenge is to shift the affordable institutional trillions to the new energy system, starting with renewable power generation but followed closely by energy management and storage.
MAIN PLAYERS
Which player are you ?
Buyer
Civil society
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★★ |
| Communication | ★★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★ |
| Financing | ★★ |
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★ |
| Communication | ★★★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★ |
| Transactions | ★ |
| Financing | ★ |
Role: buying the energy produced by the energy producer
Buyers can be any kind of intermediary, such as public energy or utility companies, or end consumers. The buyer is the cornerstone of the system as it is the source of the cash flow. Its creditworthiness is an essential criterion of the viability of the entire system.
Role: providing hope and faith for the energy revolution
The activism of civil society leaders, and sometimes their spirit of resistance, is indispensable for spreading the positive message and gathering everyone around a common goal.
De-risking provider
Developer
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★★ |
| Communication | ★★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★ |
| Financing | ★★ |
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★ |
| Communication | ★★★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★★ |
| Financing | ★★★ |
Role: taking on part of the risks on the cash flows via a wide range of legal and financial arrangements.
De-risking providers can be a public, multilateral or private player.
Role: shepherding an energy asset from an idea to reality
Developers are a public or private business that develops renewable energy projects. They are able to demonstrate to all the other parties (in particular investors and lenders) that all processes have been properly executed.
Government
Investor
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★ |
| Communication | ★★★ |
| Policy | ★★★ |
| Regulation | ★★★ |
| Transactions | ★ |
| Financing | ★ |
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★ |
| Communication | ★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★ |
| Financing | ★★★ |
Role: setting policies and regulatory frameworks; enforcement authority
Governments also act as part of the transaction process itself, often also as the procurement/tender organiser, sometimes as a buyer, and often as guarantor. It also acts as the fiscal and customs authority.
Role: providing equity to the energy producer
Investors are industrial and financial players.
Lender
Supplier/Contractor
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★ |
| Communication | ★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★★ |
| Financing | ★★★ |
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★ |
| Communication | ★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★★ |
| Financing | ★ |
Role: providing long-term finance in a typical project finance scheme
Loans are most commonly non-recourse against the sponsors/investors, and are secured by the project assets and paid entirely from project cash flow, rather than from the general assets or creditworthiness of the project sponsors/investors.
Role: engineering, procuring, installing, operating and maintaining a given energy asset
Each of the players relies on more or less complex supply and subcontracting chains.
Which player are you ?
Buyer
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★★ |
| Communication | ★★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★ |
| Financing | ★★ |
Role: buying the energy produced by the energy producer
Buyers can be any kind of intermediary, such as public energy or utility companies, or end consumers. The buyer is the cornerstone of the system as it is the source of the cash flow. Its creditworthiness is an essential criterion of the viability of the entire system.
Civil Society
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★ |
| Communication | ★★★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★ |
| Transactions | ★ |
| Financing | ★ |
Role: providing hope and faith for the energy revolution
The activism of civil society leaders, and sometimes their spirit of resistance, is indispensable for spreading the positive message and gathering everyone around a common goal.
De-risking provider
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★★ |
| Communication | ★★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★ |
| Financing | ★★ |
Role: taking on part of the risks on the cash flows via a wide range of legal and financial arrangements.
De-risking providers can be a public, multilateral or private player.
Developer
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★ |
| Communication | ★★★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★★ |
| Financing | ★★★ |
Role: shepherding an energy asset from an idea to reality
Developers are a public or private business that develops renewable energy projects. They are able to demonstrate to all the other parties (in particular investors and lenders) that all processes have been properly executed.
Government
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★ |
| Communication | ★★★ |
| Policy | ★★★ |
| Regulation | ★★★ |
| Transactions | ★ |
| Financing | ★ |
Role: setting policies, regulatory frameworks and enforcement authority
Governments also act as part of the transaction process itself, often also as the procurement/tender organiser, sometimes as a buyer, and often as guarantor. It also acts as the fiscal and customs authority.
Investor
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★ |
| Communication | ★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★ |
| Financing | ★★★ |
Role: providing equity to the energy producer
Investors are industrial and financial players.
Lender
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★★ |
| Communication | ★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★★ |
| Financing | ★★★ |
Role: providing long-term finance in a typical project finance scheme
Loans are most commonly non-recourse against the sponsors/investors, and are secured by the project assets and paid entirely from project cash flow, rather than from the general assets or creditworthiness of the project sponsors/investors.
Supplier / Contractor
Role in the 7 missions
| Leadership | ★★ |
| Uncertainty | ★ |
| Communication | ★ |
| Policy | ★★ |
| Regulation | ★★ |
| Transactions | ★★★ |
| Financing | ★ |
Role: engineering, procuring, installing, operating and maintaining a given energy asset
Each of the players relies on more or less complex supply and subcontracting chains.
Download the final report
The road map of the energy revolution
This report aims to provide a summary of nearly four years of work carried out by TWI to accelerate the transition to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, starting with solar power.
It was written by Antoine Legrain and Jean-Pascal Pham-Ba.
About Terrawatt Initiative
Launched at COP 21 by a group of energy, industry, technology and finance visionaries, Terrawatt Initiative is an entrepreneurial effort to answer the tough questions of the energy transition: how can a nascent clean energy system outcompete the existing fossil fuel system at global level? How to outcompete a system which is so deeply embedded in our societies? How is it possible within ten years?
Terrawatt Initiative advocates for an open public-private dialogue to reach a new deal and co-construct a new solar market capable of delivering solar power at well below 2 cents per kWh as the foundation of the new energy regime.
Our members
Our partners
Our team
