Energy security in renewable energy systems – pv International magazine

May 24, 2024 Patrick Jowett

New IRENE report proposes a multidimensional approach to energy security to adapt it to the transformation of the global energy system based on renewable energy sources.

“Geopolitics of energy transformation: energy security” The report advises policymakers not to shift their thinking from the fossil fuel era to a system based on renewable energy sources. He says this can lead to “significant oversights and ill-advised investments.”

“This is particularly important as governments make significant investments in the infrastructure of systems that are increasingly electrified, digital and decentralized,” says IRENA Director General Francesco La Camera. “The report puts the well-being of people and the planet at the center of the evolving energy security narrative. Ultimately, it recognizes that addressing energy security is as much a political as a technical endeavor.”

IRENA’s multidimensional approach to energy security covers technologies, value chains and societies. Explores demand response, resilience, ecosystems, and human security as preconditions for robust energy systems.

The agency predicts that in systems dominated by renewable energy sources, technology, not fuel, will play the dominant role. They say this is why the resilience of the supply chain needs to be improved.

“Technology supply chains will be exposed to disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty, and their vulnerability will be compounded by a complex web of interconnections,” the report says. “Given the need to decarbonize the global economy and the key role of energy for industrialization and development in the global South, resilience is an essential part of the energy security framework.”

Traditional threats to energy systems, such as physical attacks on infrastructure and disruptions caused by conflict or strategic manipulation, will remain key issues for energy security, but will be joined by the effects of climate change and extreme weather impacts, IRENA says. They must become an integral part of energy security considerations, including infrastructure, trade and demand response measures, the report explains, adding that cybersecurity will also become increasingly important in electrified and digital systems.

– said Yana Popkostova, one of the authors of the report magazine pw that decarbonization and digitization of the energy system will fundamentally change political alliances and dependency dynamics, favoring a radical reshaping of conventional energy geopolitics.

“The report highlights the key role of governments in proactively shaping national and regional energy systems to mitigate geopolitical disruptions and ensure energy security and equity on the path to net zero emissions,” she added.

IRENA says governments must carefully assess what constitutes strategic assets in the evolving energy system, address critical data gaps, increase transparency of existing and emerging trade routes, and establish a robust governance and security framework to detect and mitigate threats to energy systems in transition phase.