Key Findings from the EAPI 2016 Architecture Report Series
- Analysis of this year’s top performers demonstrate that there are no clear-cut ‘winners’ or perfect energy architectures. The strong scores of the top performers reveal balance across the energy triangle, but room for improvement is still significant.
- High-performing countries are not confined to a single region. The EAPI points to the strengths of countries beyond the usual suspects, with for example Albania (17th) and Paraguay (21st) boasting fully decarbonised electricity generation.
- Low oil prices are forcing or accelerating subsidy reforms to restore fiscal balance in countries reliant on oil revenues.
- The world’s largest economies still struggle to achieve balanced high performance in their energy systems. With the exception of France (4th), none of the 12 largest countries by GDP made it into the top 10 performers.
- Expansion of primary energy sources is demonstrated by year-over-year improvements in EAPI scores for diversification of energy supplies in many countries. Denmark, for example, has improved supply diversity by 15%.
- The trend is driven in part by expansion of renewable energy sources. Globally, renewable electric power capacity has skyrocketed this past decade to account for approximately 6% of generation.
- Progress on distributed renewable energy is opening up new avenues for providing access to electricity for people so far deprived thereof.
- Big data can mitigate traditional risks by pinpointing areas of risk and vulnerability, and digital technologies are enabling the decentralization and management of energy architectures.
- The convergence of digital and physical infrastructures also creating new forms of insight and control that can enhance energy security.
- New capabilities are required to manage a more complex, interconnected energy system, requiring new investment in capabilities for risk protection.
- The emergence of giant economies in Asia, accounting for 35% of fuel trades in 2014, and unconventional oil production in North America, which has added over 8 million barrels per day to the market, have led to a re-balancing of supply, demand and power across the world.
- More actors are becoming relevant – non-state organizations, individual citizens, corporations and new coalitions – which could strengthen or threaten international security arrangements.
- Governments shall be receptive to new opportunities and risks to energy security resulting from developments in the energy sector.
- Companies play a critical role because investors, owners and operators of energy infrastructure will be essential to reaping the benefits of new technologies.
- New approaches to governance for physical and technological estates will be required, creating a need for increased collaboration between operators, policy makers and national and international entities