When Success Becomes the Challenge EP. 300

As we celebrate a milestone 300 episodes of Energy Unplugged, Richard Howard, Aurora Energy Research's Global Research Director, is joined by Aurora's regional Managing Directors from around the world to explore a defining question for the energy transition: what happens after the first phase of success?

 

 

For much of the past decade, the challenge was clear: deploy clean technologies at scale. Wind and solar needed to become cheaper. Investment needed to accelerate. Policymakers needed to create the right incentives. While significant work remains, that first phase has delivered enormous progress. 

 

The next phase may prove more difficult. The challenge is no longer simply building clean generation but adapting the systems around it. As renewable capacity continues to grow, grids are becoming congested, curtailment is rising, market designs are being tested, and new sources of demand are emerging. The energy transition's greatest challenge today may be managing the consequences of its own success. 

 

Drawing on perspectives from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Africa, this special episode examines whether power systems, markets and policymakers can keep pace with the technologies driving the transition forward. 

 

Taken together, these conversations suggest that the energy transition is entering a more complex and consequential phase. The first challenge was deploying clean technologies at scale. The next is integrating them into power systems that were never designed for a high-renewable world. From grid expansion and market reform to flexibility, storage and AI-driven demand, the coming decade will be defined not by whether the transition can grow, but by whether the system around it can keep up. 

 

You will learn about: 

• How the energy transition is progressing across different regions of the world. 

• Why renewable success is increasingly creating challenges around grids, markets, and investment. 

• How batteries, flexibility, and electrification are reshaping power systems. 

• What different regions can learn from one another's experiences. 

• What needs to happen between now and 2035 to keep the transition on track.