Trifecta chief slams Europe's lack of innovation and issues wake-up call

Lesley O’Connor disputes the term 'energy transition'. “This is not an energy transition, which suggests something moderate, phased or orderly. We are in the midst of a complete energy transformation,” said the self-proclaimed ‘data-driven climate optimist’ in Bilbao. “It is nothing short of the greatest industrial revolution of our time.”

Speaking on the opening day of Enlit Europe, O’Connor wagered that some of the audience would be feeling the pain of the complex current situation – which she described as “this messy middle: that is the transition phase”. 

She went on to discuss her own experiences within this rapidly changing landscape. “In recent years I’ve seen enormous value creation but also enormous value destruction,” commented the founder and executive chair of Ireland’s Trifecta Energy, an independent non-profit organisation.

O’Connor cited the examples of solar and battery power as “democratising forces” as she stated that “the electro-tech revolution is underway and unavoidable.” And she issued a clear warning that, in certain technical areas, this revolution is happening more rapidly – notably in those regions known as ‘the solar belt’, where she said solar efforts are leapfrogging the West. 

She explained: “This should be a major wake-up call for Europe, where we cannot count on cheap solar for six months of the year. We have enormous potential but we need to look at our grids, our electricity prices and our lack of innovation.”

She continued: “This why I founded Trifecta Energy, to advance a systems-based approach to energy across Europe. The energy trifecta – power that is clean, secure and affordable – is the triple objective we must strive for.” O’Connor’s organisation is setting out to achieve this via two initiatives: Trifecta Ireland at a national level, and the regional Supergrid Europe. “Together these initiatives will shape the policy, innovatory and behavioural shifts that we need,” she predicted.

The Irish energy expert bemoaned the fact that, in the EU, more than 1,700GW of clean energy projects are awaiting grid access. “Anticipatory grid investment to support the growth in energy production is critical, but where is it? Our energy prices are harming our competitiveness, yet we curtail billions of Euros of affordable clean power each year: what a waste. The price gap disincentivises electrification and we’re falling behind.”

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Discussing how to overcome such market failures, O’Connor observed: “We have been trying to ‘increment’ our way forward, but incrementalism was never the path to transformation.” So, what is the solution? “There is no one silver bullet,” she emphasised. 

However, she noted “a system approach would align every lever of change: policy, finance, technology and demand.” Providing an example of success here, O’Connor said: “The best case study we have today is China, which is taking the lead in electrification and will account for 60% of the world’s new renewable capacity by 2030.”

Her advice for Europe on how to emulate this success is simple: “We need outcomes-based policy to foster innovation, and the right incentives for electrification, for flexibility, for demand-side efficiency. We must be enabling sandboxes that will move us away from this continuous ‘death by pilot’.”

Ultimately, O’Connor called for a deeply interconnected system that works for the consumer rather than incumbents – and she concluded by emphasising that Europe does not have the luxury of time. “We need a grid fit for the purpose of decarbonisation. The supergrid is not a new idea but there is now real momentum behind it. The future is already here; it’s just unevenly distributed.”