Leading companies, startups and policymakers recently convened at the second edition of IRENA Innovation Week in Bonn to explore the ground-breaking innovations that are driving the global energy transformation.
Remarkable cost reductions driven by technological innovation and an increasingly conducive policy environment have made renewable energy increasingly competitive with conventional fuels in many parts of the world. In parallel, innovations such as the Internet of Things, blockchain, artificial intelligence, smart charging of electric vehicles, and hydrogen power and storage are making energy systems increasingly integrated and flexible and are supporting the transition to a renewable-powered future.
Innovation is key to ensuring that all countries can benefit from low-cost renewable power and reliably integrate high shares in their power systems at a time when significant acceleration of renewable energy deployment is needed if the world is going to achieve the Paris Agreement target and meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Renewable energy coupled with technological innovation are changing the way that energy is produced, distributed and consumed. The new global energy paradigm that is emerging is more sustainable and has greater socioeconomic benefits for an unprecedented number of people”, said Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA Director-General. Innovation Week brought “leaders from diverse fields together to share their vision for the energy sector of the future, and is a crucible for the innovative ideas that are moving the energy transformation forward.”
More than 400 corporate leaders, government officials and experts at the forefront of energy system innovation discussed, debated and dissected the disruptive technologies, business practices and policies that are driving the energy revolution. Thought leaders from the China State Grid Corporation, ENGIE, GE, NREL, IBM, Masdar, the German Energy Agency, Statnett, Toyota, Schneider Electric, ENEL, governments and regulators and many others explored how digitalization, decentralization and end-use electrification are changing the way that we produce, trade and consume power. A senior-level public-private roundtable explored the transformative impacts of innovation in the energy system, and emerging startups demonstrated their work in an innovation showcase.
See the full plenary session recordings of the event.
Follow discussions online via #IRENAinnovation