Our perspective on energy

News27 November 2016

After decades of experience, started by financing small projects, energy has become a significant part of our business, through the bank and through our investment funds. We’ve seen and completed more renewable energy projects than most other banks in the world and are proud of our perspective on energy .

Having developed the skills of catalysing the early renewable energy industry, we want to harness these competencies to help catalyse the next phase. This is a huge opportunity and we can only do this when all of us take our role to connect it all together.

Climate change and energy demands will remain key challenges for the next decades. Therefore we have to invest in an entirely new energy system. The technology is falling into place but it is now a matter of organizing the stakeholders’ responsibilities in order to connect it all together.

This isn’t just about connecting bits of infrastructure – we want to connect people as well. We want to ensure that the social dimensions of our energy system are fully integrated into this picture.

Our perspective on energy envisages an integrated sustainable picture:

Low-carbon emissions within the life-cycle of a project, including the fuels and materials used;
Resilient in terms of decentralised energy, flexible demand management and storage systems;
Socially embedded into our cities, businesses and communities including a diverse range of ownership models which encourage participation;
Balanced in terms of the mix of technologies that are used, but also in respect of the costs and benefits. For example more distributed local energy schemes which combine heat and power.