Reflections from: Leif Johan Sevland, President & CEO, ONS Foundation
Arendalsuka: Tax relief, battery factories, climate capital and everything in between was up for discussion when both high level politicians, industry leaders, NGOs and youth met at the political festival and meeting place Arendalsuka in Southern Norway. Meeting old and new players shaping the future of energy, gives us hope for the transition. But is it going fast enough?
These are some of our key take-aways from a week where the energy transition was on everybody’s lips:
- Energy, in all shapes and forms, is at the top of the Norwegian debate
- Traditional oil and gas companies have accelerated their transition
- Impatience from new energy players and the public
- Investors want a better understanding and knowledge of the technology development and the value chains
From Rystad Energy to Wood Mackenzie – the message is loud and clear; the green transition is underway and will happen very fast. While most traditional oil and gas players have sped up their low-carbon initiatives and increased their renewable portfolio, politicians, the public and many investors are pushing more speed. After all, the post-covid economic recovery is led by coal and somewhat oil, even though we see increasing revenues and turnover from new energy sources in companies such as Equinor, bp and Shell.
There is no doubt it’s accelerating, and some players are quicker than others. But how do we as the energy industry manage to attract a more diverse crowd of supporters, good ideas and not to mention, workforce? Taking an active part in new initiatives across the energy spectrum, batteries, hydrogen, wind, solar and so on, also means we need to expand our horizon every day.
With climate on top of the agenda, discussions and development in new technology attract a whole range of diverse and impatient people from all parts of society. Too impatient to follow old structures, they turn to new industries and new discussions. We need to join forces.
The energy transition is clearly here, and Arendalsuka is just one of the major examples of how diverse and interesting this playing field is. We will work to capture some of the essence from the discussions, and challenge both the old and new energy players when we meet at ONS 2022. Because if we want to find the best solutions we need to talk together, and we need to explore new perspectives, learn new things, trust, and challenge ourselves in where we go to find new business and new solutions.
We are up for the task and will make sure the global energy industry has the meeting place needed to bring this even further. See you at ONS 2022!