Energetica India 89 - May 2020

energy sector? How it is changing the business landscape for a greener tomorrow? A ngela W ilkinson : The interaction of these multiple, global drivers of change is enabling fundamentally new ways of using, trading, supplying and producing clean, reliable and affordable energy. In response to the faster pace of technol- ogy innovation and increasingly stricter environmental and climate mitigation policies, another ‘d’ has entered the field - demand-side disruption. A broader set of energy system shapers are emerging, with energy transition leaders in non-energy sectors, new us- ers and shifting uses, and the rise of a new people power – digitally empow- ered customers, prosumers, globally connected cities and autonomous en- ergy communities. At the same time, societal acceptability and affordability issues associated with the accelerating the pace of technology innovation and stricter environmental policies are be- coming evident. The outlook is for a customer-centric system, with increasing demand for val- ue-adding, energy-plus services and the rise in power of digitally empowered, ac- tive customers and greater leveraging of citizen’s and human rights. E nergetica I ndia : The energy sector is moving towards technology-based operational transformation. What im- pact has the technology innovation made catering to meet its present and future energy demand? A ngela W ilkinson : The risk of fragmen- tation is increasing – the accelerating pace of combinatorial (digital and phys- ical) technology innovation is a dou- ble-edged sword. The social impacts of faster and cleaner energy transition are poorly understood and inadequately ad- dressed. For example, price and value need to be reconnected. There is a role for imagination, collaboration and gen- erous leadership. Adopting a whole sys- tem approach to energy transition is es- sential to enable new and more effective collaboration which combines top-down strategy and bottom-up innovation. There is a need to engage new uncon- ventional players including energy tran- sition leaders from non-energy sectors, digital demand aggregators and those impacted by transition. Energy transition cannot be pushed against society. It is being pulled by new energy societies. E nergetica I ndia : Please tell us about the key risks/concerns that the sec- energetica INDIA- May_2020 21 INTERVIEW