Reinventing energy sector through innovation

AS GLOBAL energy experts and decision makers gather at the Singapore International Energy Week, the role of innovative technology in reshaping the global energy landscape lies at the heart of their agenda. Energy has always enabled ingenuity and powered innovation. To support growth and avert dangerous climate change, ambitious innovation in the energy sector itself is urgently needed.

Countries in the Asia-Pacific region are already working to reinvent the sector. In the past decade, our innovations in wind and solar energy have made major contributions to lowering costs and increasing efficiency. The cost of solar panels has fallen by 80 per cent and wind turbines by up to 40 per cent. Many countries have become global innovation leaders, pioneering advances in the way we generate, store and use energy.

India now has the newest and cheapest solar technology anywhere in the world. Solar power in cities across China has become cheaper than grid electricity. Singapore has established itself as an innovation hub, a big investor in solar research and development, from which others can learn. The region looks to its leadership in clean energy solutions, such as industrial micro-grids, floating solar power installations and solar forecasting.