As another calendar year ends and the publication of the World Energy Focus draws to a close in its current format, the World Energy Council’s Secretary General Christoph Frei reflects on the trends we’ve seen in 2017 and some predictions for next year.

In this month’s feature, uncover an exclusive preview of the key findings of the World Energy Trilemma 2017 and its Energy Trilemma Index. How is decentralisation impacting the energy transition and distributed energy resources playing a key role to meet the ‘energy trilemma’ challenge? Improved efficiency, falling technology costs, better energy storage and a new active prosumer will radically change the way we deal with energy and challenge governments in managing market actors and resources!

This is the last edition before the great World Energy Week to be held next week in Lisbon, where the global network will reunite in a series of events, allowing for greater dialogue and engagement within the network and to share inspiring content and discussions with energy leaders! This is the last week to REGISTER and learn at our Members’ workshops, or to attend the Energy Trilemma Summit and the Portuguese Energy Conference which programmes will explore new emerging signals such as disruptive digitalisation, the impact of decarbonisation and the key roles of transport and innovation.

This September edition comes right before an important series of events that will put Mexico’s energy reform and the North American energy dialogue in the spotlight during the “Dialogues for the Future of Energy Mexico 2017” week (DEMEX). The World Energy Council, its network and partners are gathering approximately 100 Ministers, CEOs and energy experts from across the world to drive change and deepen understanding of the grand energy transition holding three major events: the World Energy Leaders’ Summit, the North American Regional Forum and the Empowering Energy workshop.
Ahead of his participation to these dialogues, Jaime Hernandez, CEO of the Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) who is also the new president of the World Energy Council’s Mexico chapter, speaks to World Energy Focus and outlines the impact and opportunities of this ambitious reform and what it means for its country and the region.

In the August edition, World Energy Focus explores energy in the cities of the future. With cities currently accounting for more than 70% of global energy-related GHG emissions and urban population forecasted to reach 66% of the global population by 2050, new low carbon model cities from around the world will play a crucial part in securing a sustainable energy future. Looking at another game changing area, our Innovation Feature is on Transport, diving into the new hype around electric vehicles (EVs). Recent announcements, from car manufacturers to governments, demonstrate that EVs are no more the expensive badge of an eco-warrior, but what will this mean for the energy sector.

In the July interview, Michael Hannibal, CEO of Offshore operations Siemens Gamesa, the company’s renewables division, explains the drivers behind its development and how the industry is planning to keep lowering the cost of wind energy. World Energy Focus explores what the Opec decision to extending its production cuts to regulate the market really means against the forecasted US oil production surge? Our Country Focus takes you to the far east where Malaysia’s primary energy mix is looking to evolve over the next two decades. While fossil fuels are expected to remain the country’s dominant source of energy, Malaysia has ambitious plans to expand its use of renewables in power generation to reduce its dependence on oil and gas and cut its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, from 2005 levels. How are they planning to do it? And how will this impact their Energy Trilemma ranking from their current position in the top 50?

There has been much talk of energy integration in Latin America and the Caribbean for decades but progress has been patchy. A new report from the World Energy Council presents potential scenarios up to 2060

This 33rd edition of the World Energy Focus starts with a roundup of news from around the world impacting the energy sector: from the mitigated results of the Global Tracking Framework report on progress to achieve UN sustainable energy goals, to Christiana Figueres’ new “Mission 2020” campaign, we explore how access and decarbonisation are impacting the energy sector. At the same time, this edition looks at how new technologies are lowering costs and bringing new prospects in the oil sector, especially for the US Permian basin’s tight oil, whilst cooperation and regional dialogue are creating further opportunities between UK and India and in Arab countries. In this month’s interview, Charif Souki, former head of US Cheniere Energy now running Tellurian Investments, tells World Energy Focus about his vision for the future of LNG.

Commodity prices and climate change policy remain the top issues keeping energy leaders awake at night, according to the latest iteration of the World Energy Council’s ‘World Energy Issues
Monitor’. The survey of 1,200 energy leaders in business, industry, government and academia from 95 countries also reveals that regional integration and resilience issues are likewise high
on the list of concerns.

As Masdar, the famous sustainable City and renewables energy company from Abu Dhabi, celebreted its 10th anniversary, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO since February 2016, looks ahead to the next decade. ” We were blessed with fossil fuels”, he says in an interview with World Energy Focus. “But renewable energy will increasingly be the future”. Masdar is counting on continued growth, Al Ramahi, says.

The most significant US energy policy update in a decade, the energy Policy Modernization Act 2016, will be introduced into the new Congress in January 2017. With provisions for accelerated permitting for oil and gas drilling, construction of export LNG terminals, as well as energy efficiency standards and grid-integration of renewables, the outlook for US energy security is bright, according to Barry Worthington, Executive Director of the US Energy Association (USEA). He predicts that business, not policy, will be the major driver of decarbonisation.

The 21st century can be an African century – but only if energy access is enabled for the more than 620 million people living without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Decentralized energy is a faster and cheaper route than grid extension, according to Paul Smith Lomas and Aaron Leopold from international development charity Practical Action. A bottom-up approach to energy planning, including training, mapping and a tiered approach to energy access – instead of counting to the numbers of connections and megawatts available – can help ensure that Africa achieves universal energy access by 2030.

The critical role that the energy sector plays in the functioning of a modern economy makes it a highly attractive target for an increasing number of cyber-attacks. Addressing this recent phenomenon, a new report: ” The road to resilience: managing and financing cyber risks”, published by the World Energy Council in collaboration with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and Marsh & McLennan Companies, was launched on 29 September, ahead of the World Energy Congress in Istanbul.

“I don’t think the Climate Paris Agreement will change things hugely”, says Francesco Venturini, the head of Enel Green Power, one of the largest (if not the largest) gree energy producers in the world. According to Venturini, the Paris Climate Agreement the business case for renewables primarily rests on their low fixed costs, scalability and speed to the market. He increasingly sees companies from other sectors moving into energy space. “Until recently I could not have imagined that I would have meetings with people in the automotive industry once a week.”

“Since the World Energy Congress in Daegu, Korea, in 2013, the Korean people have developped a deep interest in reducing greenhouse gas emissions” says Hwan – Eik Cho, President and CEO of KEPCO ( Korea Electric Power Corp). ” And KEPCO has been assigned a leadership role in realising this ambition”. In an exclusive interview with World Energy Focus , Cho explains how his company is living up to the climate challenge. ” “We are focusing on energy storage systems and energy efficiency and see great prospects for electric vehicles.” In its overseas activities, the Korean electricity giant, with $52 billion revenues in 2015 and a presence in 21 countries, wants to invest more in renewables and nuclear.

Finland is one of the few countries in Europe in which a solid consensus has been forged in favour of expansion of nuclear energy. In fact, it is the first country in the world that is building a final repository for nuclear waste. At the same time, the country is developing innovative renewable energy solutions, particulary in heating, that can serve as models for other cities in the world. Transport will be the most difficult nut to crack in the way to a low carbon society, says Lauri Muranen, Executive Director of World Energy Council Finland.

On 1 -2 June in San Frnacisco, the 7th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) will be held. The CEM, whose member countries represent 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 90% of clean energy investment, is all about “personally engaging ministers so that they want to push forward clean energy initiative in the world”, says Jonathan Elkind, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the US Department of Energy (DOE), in an interview with World Energy Focus. In San Francisco an already impressive list of activities will be expanded with several new initiatiatives, including a Corporate Sourcing of Renewables Campaign and an Advanced Cooling Challenge.

The energy strategy of the member economies of APEC (Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation), which represent 60% of the world energy demand and include four of the five largest energy users in the world, has evolved from a narrow focus on security of supply to a much broader concern with security of the environment, says Dr. Alan Bollard, Executive Director of APEC in an exclusive interview with World Energy Focus. “APEC used to be all about growth. Now it’s all about soustainable growth.”

“The energy transition presents great opportunities for oil and gas companies to develop new forms of energy and gradually move away from fossil fuels” , says Jeroen van der Veer, former CEO and Chairman of Shell and Chairman of the project team of the World Energy Council’s Financing Resilient Energy Infrastructure project, in an interview with World Energy Focus. Van der Veer adds that a stable CO2 price is “essential” for the private sector to be able to invest in low-carbon options. He calls on policymakers to set up a Central European Bank for CO2 allowances to create a stable CO2 -market work, “I am convinced that investment will follow”.

The combination of low commodity prices, economic slowdown and the need to innovate to meet the climate demands is what is mostly keeping energy leaders awake night. That is the main outcome of the seventh annual World Energy Issues Monitor of the World Energy Council, a survey of 1200 ministers, CEO’s and other top-decision makers from 85 countries. Interestingly, energy leaders in China – a special focus of this year’s Monitor – are concerned most of all with innovation challenges, such as eletric storage, smart grids and energy efficiency.