Energetica India 89 - May 2020

tor is dealing with. What opportunities does it provide for the global energy transition? A ngela W ilkinson : It is critical that we recognize the difference between the marginal costs of energy supply and the value-add to users of energy plus ser- vices. A mindset shift is already evident – a move away from supply or demand to the influence of demand on supply in customer-centric energy systems. A re- thinking of supply-side security is also evident in the search for dynamic resil- ience toto cope with disruption-as-nor- mal. E nergetica I ndia : The World Energy Council has launched the Issues Mon- itor 2020: Decoding New Signals of Change. Please tell us more about the report? A ngela W ilkinson : As the pace of energy transition accelerated and more factors and actors are involved, leaders need to decode signals of change and distin- guish key issues from the noise. Our An- nual Energy Issues Monitor survey is now in its 11th year. The interactive online tool can be used to track shifts in leadership attention and contrast perspectives – on a global, regional, sectoral and themat- ic basis. It provides a reality check – a snapshot of what keeps energy leaders awake at night and their action priorities. The latest 2020 edition uses data col- lected from 3,000 energy leaders from 104 countries. A new feature this year - we have included a survey of individual customers, detailing their perceptions of their role in energy transition, based on responses of individual energy users in 50 countries. E nergetica I ndia : What are your views on emerging Asian Renewable Energy Market like India? A ngela W ilkinson : Using the World Ener- gy Issues Monitor, we can highlight the three critical uncertainties relating to the development of India’s energy market - extreme weather risks, Middle East dy- namics and climate framework. Regarding renewables, excluding large hydro India’s renewables capacity cur- rently account for over 23% of India’s total. India’s Nationally Determined Con- tribution (NDC) aims at achieving about 40% non-fossil power capacity by 2030, but while the share of renewables in In- dia’s energy mix is set to increase sub- stantially, coal will continue to play a sig- nificant role. Energy storage is a priority action area for the country, given its potential to improve the transport sector’s sustain- ability, reduce import dependence and enable integration of greater renewable capacity. Energy efficiency also contin - ues to be an action priority, with growth in areas like Smart Meter programmes and national initiatives like the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), which aims to reduce cooling demand in different sectors. India’s economic development is an in- creasingly important shaper of global energy transition. As the country aims to become a US$5 trillion economy in the next five years – it will be challenging to secure sufficient clean, reliable and af - fordable energy to satisfy demand and the fastest-ever energy consumption growth rate. E nergetica I ndia : Climate Change has been one of the prominent issues in present times as the world takes its cognizance. In your view, how energy innovation can be one the answer to fighting this global concern? A ngela W ilkinson : Better use of all exist- ing technologies and a role for non-tech- nology innovation (institutions and behaviors’) are central to successful energy transition. It requires more open and integrated systems thinking that looks at the whole energy system and energy as a connector, not only a sec- tor. We need to think of innovation not as one technology choice versus another, or substituting old technologies for new, but a whole-systems transformation. E nergetica I ndia : What are your views on the future of the energy sector in the upcoming time? A ngela W ilkinson : The future of humani- ty depends on managing global energy transition and moving forward faster and further together. We promote new op- portunities for customers, communities, cities, companies and countries to work succeed together, by sharing knowl- edge, expertise and promoting better solutions which include the need to ad- dress the social energy agenda - behav- ior change, social impacts and societal acceptability – in progress innovation opportunities. Only when society is ful- ly engaged will it be possible to achieve the breakthrough performance required to secure the benefits of clean, reliable and affordable energy for all. 22 energetica INDIA- May_2020 INTERVIEW