Innovation Week 2018: Solutions for a renewable-powered future

This session introduced the objectives and format of IRENA Innovation Week; highlighted key insights from IRENA's work on this topic; and, provided an overview of digitalisation and decentralisation and their relevance to the global energy transformation.

The discussion in this session aimed to cut through the hype and explore promising uses for blockchain technology, including: P2P power trade, managing flexibility at the grid edge, payments, renewable certificate issuance and trading, project financing; and others. The downsides and risks of distributed ledger technology were also examined.

This session: introduced the objectives and format of IRENA Innovation Week; highlighted key insights from IRENA’s work on this topic; provided an overview of electrification of transport, buildings and heating and their relevance to the global transformation.

This session discussed the role that power-to-heat technologies can play in enabling the integration of high shares of renewables in power systems. Experts highlighted real-world examples of the deployment of power-to-heat technologies and discussed what is still needed to improve technology and increase market penetration.

This session explored the links between the electrification of the transport sector and the integration of high shares of renewables in power systems. It highlighted how synergies between the two can help the world meet international climate goals. Progress in transport sector technologies (EVs, vehicle-to-grid and smart-charging) and how these innovations can transform the electricity system and play a key role in the integration of variable renewable energy sources into the grid were discussed.

This session aimed to provide decision makers with a better understanding of the complexities of the next stage of the energy transition and its implications for policy, regulation and investment. The roundtable discussion involving a variety of experts on electricity storage technologies discussed the role of storage as well as the current state of battery energy storage systems deployment and use in various applications.

The session discussed the potential to produce large amounts of hydrogen from renewable electricity and the linked challenges and opportunities for the power sector. The discussions showcased some of the ongoing projects that are exploring the viability of key applications for hydrogen in the transformation of the energy system.

This session explored the origins of the current mismatches between the power system setup and the energy system the transition is aiming for, providing insight on the new paradigm requirements and discussing the characteristics of innovative market designs fit for supporting a renewable-based and integrated energy system and the transition towards it.

Different citizen’s empowerment initiatives are ongoing in the global North and global South, with different scopes and goals. However, important links and common ground exist between these initiatives, with 'fair transition' considerations weaving them together. This session facilitated a structured debate about the ‘whats’, ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of citizen empowerment between different stakeholders in the power system.

The discussion in this session focused on how grids are evolving in order to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy system. Solutions on different scales were discussed, from a global super grid, through regional connections to micro grid solutions. The factors influencing the development of bigger or smaller grids and their repercussion for the deployment of renewable energy and the necessary actions that need to be taken for the different concepts to co-exist were discussed.

This session brought together the three Innovation Week themes from the preceding two days. Senior speakers provided their perspectives on key emerging innovations, the impacts they are making and what is needed to accelerate and broaden their uptake. Rapporteurs reported back on highlights and key insights from the discussions in the three events tracks of Digitalisation & Decentralisation, Electrification and Markets & Citizens.

This session aimed to assist attendees in understanding the challenges and opportunities of innovation in the power-system by hearing from senior representatives from governments and major companies, who are trialling and adopting innovative approaches. Speakers highlighted examples of innovative approaches and projects, challenges they have faced, insights gained, the future potential for innovation and the actions needed to accelerate their adoption.

In this roundtable discussion senior representatives from public, private and research sectors debated, from diverse perspectives, the role of innovation in transforming energy systems. The discussion was built on previous presentations and feedback from the previous two days of discussions. The roundtable participants, discussed how innovations in digitalisation, decentralisation and electrification are disrupting established models of power system operation, how energy system actors can adapt and how further innovation can be encouraged and its uptake accelerated and broadened.