How is the European power sector coping with the challenges and opportunities related to climate change? The answers are revealed in DNV’s new pan-European survey.

Obviously, the global climate change will also have a major impact on the future business environment. The power industry is not only a significant emitter but also a key player in bringing clean and renewable energy to the world. Based on this reality, DNV is today releasing the results of its study of the European power sector’s future risks, which had a special focus on climate change.

“We wanted to explore how the European power sector views the new challenges and opportunities arising from climate change. Further, we aimed to rank the business risks to which the companies’ own operations might be exposed, both today and five years into the future,” says Elisabeth Tørstad, Director for Cleaner Energy at DNV.

The key findings The survey has particularly focused on the approach taken to climate change risk management and best practices, in addition to assessing the perceived operational risk exposure in own operations in Europe and developing markets, both today and five years into the future.

The findings in each focus area vary in several ways, but the main conclusions are as follows:

• The main opportunity for the power sector is the further expected increase in the demand for electricity.

• The main challenge for the power sector is the ability to meet this increased demand for electricity and at the same time reduce the overall CO2 emissions.

• The identified major perceived risk is political failure to effectively support the industry on critical contemporary issues, e.g. establishing the regulatory frameworks necessary to facilitate investments in renewables.

• The reputational risk from being seen as a contributor to climate change stands out as another main risk contributor.

Tags: DNV