The energy landscape is evolving quickly. Capital investment, artificial intelligence, and cleaner technologies are reshaping the sector, creating a transition that is neither sudden nor speculative, but steady, deliberate, and increasingly undeniable.

Executive Summary 

Once gradual and simmering, the energy transition is now accelerating like a freight train. AI is moving from experimental projects to business-critical tools, renewables are scaling with consistency, and investments in decarbonisation projects are flowing at record levels. 

Grids are getting smarter and have become a national priority. Storage is now commercially viable.  Hydrogen remains challenging. 

Six trends stand out. Firms that win are those that align with these forces, embed them into their operations, and turn momentum into measurable advantage. 

1. Intelligence at the Core of Energy 

Energy has always been physical: steel in the ground, pipes carrying pressure and flow, copper stretched across continents. Today, it is physical plus digital. The AI in energy market was valued at $11.3 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $54.8 billion by 2030, growing at roughly 30% CAGR. This growth is not hype; it’s a sign of integration. Algorithms are moving beyond trials into daily operations. 

Digital twins, often called the energy sector’s equivalent of the GPS, are delivering measurable benefits. In one refinery pilot co-led by Siemens, a climate-intelligence twin reduced emissions by 40,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually while saving $1.8 million. Add modern time-series forecasting methods, where models like LSTMs deliver high-accuracy demand predictions, and you create a cycle of efficiency: better forecasts --> fewer curtailments --> more consistent energy production. 

Key stat to remember: AI in energy headed to $54.8B by 2030

2. Sunshine at Scale

Scale changes perception. In 2024, the world added 585 GW of renewable capacity, a record 15% year-on-year increase. Solar accounted for 77% of that growth. This is no longer about whether renewables can compete. It’s about how quickly they can expand. It’s about where adoption happens next. 

Intermittency, once the sector’s central obstacle, is becoming less daunting. Virtual power plants, aggregating tens of thousands of smaller assets to operate like one large plant, are now demonstrating how renewables can reliably support grid demand. As large corporates sign long-term renewable power deals, they force competitors and supply chains to ask themselves, “What’s our plan? How do we adopt?” 

Key stat to remember: 585 GW of renewable capacity added in 2024; 77% of it solar

3. The Grid Gets Smarter 

The grid is evolving beyond wires and substations. It is becoming an intelligent, adaptive system. A smart grid uses digital sensors, automation, and real-time controls to balance supply and demand, detect faults, and integrate renewable energy more effectively. In 2024, global investment in electricity networks reached $390 billion, with the smart-grid market set for continued double-digit growth. 

Major economies are placing this at the heart of their energy strategies. China and the EU committed $442 billion and $633 billion respectively to grid modernisation, while the US launched a $10.5 billion Grid Resilience Program. By year’s end, 1.06 billion smart meters were installed worldwide, giving the system not just reach, but responsiveness. 
 
With automation and edge controls layered on top, grids are beginning to do more than deliver energy. They can now negotiate it, balancing supply and demand dynamically. As consumers see the tangible benefits of participation, behaviour shifts. And as behaviour shifts, system-wide transformation accelerates. 

Key stat to remember: $400B grid investment in 2024; 1.06B smart meters deployed 

4. Storage Technology Achieves Commercial Breakthrough 

For years, storage was the technology that never quite arrived. Now it is definitively here. Global battery additions reached 42 GW in 2023, a 130% increase, driven by costs that have fallen nearly 90% since 2010. Long-duration technologies are crossing into commercial territory, while vehicle-to-grid applications are emerging as viable markets. 

Storage succeeds because it provides certainty. It turns a system defined by variability into one that can be actively managed. If AI is the brain and the grid is the nervous system, storage is the muscle that enables movement. It arbitrages prices, smooths ramping, and ensures solar energy generated at midday is still available when demand peaks in the evening.  

Key stat to remember: Battery costs down ~90% since 2010; 42 GW added in 2023 

5. Decarbonisation Gets Pragmatic  

Industrial decarbonisation is no longer just a strategy in reports. Global carbon capture and storage (CCS) capability now stands at roughly 50 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, with new projects in power, cement, and direct air capture underway globally. The signal is clear: if peers can deploy CCS, others are compelled to follow. 

Momentum is also visible in commitments from energy majors, utilities, and industrial companies who see CCS not as optional, but as part of the competitive baseline. Infrastructure for transport and storage of CO₂ is beginning to scale, creating the backbone of a system where heavy emitters can realistically decarbonise. 

Key stat to remember: CCS capacity at ~50 Mt/yr 

6. Hydrogen Remains Challenging 

Hydrogen presents a more complex picture. While global demand reached 97 Mt in 2023, low-emissions hydrogen production remains below 1 Mt annually. Costs for renewable hydrogen have risen since 2022, putting further pressure on adoption. 

The opportunity remains significant, particularly in heavy industry. But unlocking it will require cheaper clean power and significant infrastructure investment. 

Still, momentum is building. BP is developing the UK’s largest hydrogen project, and TotalEnergies has secured supply agreements for 70,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen. The sector is advancing, but at a slower and more uneven pace compared to other decarbonisation levers. 

Key stat to remember: Global hydrogen demand 97 Mt in 2023

The energy transition isn’t a single technology; it’s a stack of reinforcing behaviours: money is moving, machines are learning, and the market is modernising

The Big Picture 

The energy transition is not defined by one breakthrough but by many reinforcing shifts happening together. Investment is flowing. 2024 alone amounted to $2.6T. Digital systems are being embedded. Infrastructure is modernising. 

The companies that succeed will be those that align their operations with these underlying currents rather than waiting for a single tipping point. The opportunity is significant. The cost of hesitation will be greater.