The Global Energy Industry Is at an Inflection Point
Rising electricity demand, along with rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps, and digital infrastructure, is pushing providers to rethink how they deliver more reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable power. Frost & Sullivan’s recent Growth Webinar, Driving System Flexibility through Electrification, Renewables, and Storage, brought together industry leaders to explore how innovation, investment, and digitalization are shaping the next phase of the energy transition.
From grid-enhancing technologies and advanced inverters to virtual power plants and AI-driven automation, the discussion highlighted both opportunities and challenges in building a flexible, resilient energy system in a renewable-led future.
Unlock Exclusive Insights from Energy Experts
Watch the recorded webinar to explore transformative megatrends and strategies in the energy industry.
Meet the Panelists
The following growth experts shared their perspectives on how system flexibility, electrification, and emerging technologies are unlocking growth opportunities across the global energy ecosystem:
Speakers
- John Raspin – Growth Expert, Partner, and Practice Area Leader, Energy & Environment at Frost & Sullivan
- Jonathan Robinson – Growth Expert and Global Power & Energy Research Leader at Frost & Sullivan
- Lucrecia Gomez – Growth Expert and Research Director, Energy at Frost & Sullivan
- Challenges in Building Flexible Energy Systems
The webinar began by highlighting the growth barriers energy stakeholders must overcome to enable renewable-ready grids:
- Grid Congestion: Transmission expansion is slow, costly, and often faces public opposition, creating congestion risks that threaten seamless energy flow.
- Regulatory Gaps: Standards for EV integration, bidirectional charging, and virtual power plant (VPP) participation are unclear, slowing large-scale adoption.
- Technology Maturity: Ultra-long-duration storage and advanced grid automation are still in early stages, limiting immediate scalability.
- Economic Constraints: High upfront costs restrict deployment in emerging markets, even where renewable potential is strong.
- Consumer Engagement: Demand response programs face low incentives and complex participation models, reducing their effectiveness.
These forces are pushing energy providers to rethink strategies and invest in flexible energy systems.
Which growth strategies and partnerships will help your organization overcome these barriers?
- What’s Driving the Shift to Renewables
These numbers highlight the pace and scale of the renewable energy transformation:
- Future Power Mix: Renewables will supply more than half of global electricity by 2035, with Europe reaching 75–80%.
- Storage Investment: The battery energy storage vertical is projected to grow from $79 billion in 2025 to over $300 billion by 2035, with annual installations approaching 270 GW.
- Cost Decline: Battery cell prices are falling from $110/kWh in 2020 to $40/kWh by 2030, accelerating adoption across all segments.
- Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Growth: The VPP market is expected to reach $6 billion by 2030, unlocking new revenue streams.
Is your organization ready to turn these industry megatrends into tangible growth opportunities?
- Technologies Powering a Flexible Energy Future
These emerging technologies enable greater flexibility, reliability, and new business opportunities:
- Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Stabilizing grids, storing excess solar and wind, and creating new revenue streams through energy trading and VPP participation.
- Advanced Inverters: Transforming passive devices into intelligent grid-forming units for seamless renewable integration.
- Grid-enhancing Technologies (GETs): Boosting transmission capacity with dynamic line ratings and software-driven topology optimization.
- AI and Digital Twins: Predicting grid issues, simulating scenarios, and optimizing assets for proactive planning.
- VPPs: Aggregating distributed resources like solar, batteries, and EVs into dispatchable capacity for grid support.
- Vehicle-to-grid (V2G): Leveraging bidirectional EV charging to smooth peak demand and turning parked cars into flexible grid assets.
Which growth processes will help your organization take advantage of these technologies?
- Regional Megatrends in Energy Transition
As highlighted in the webinar, flexibility adoption is uneven across regions, shaped by policy frameworks, infrastructure readiness, and market maturity. Here’s how different regions are evolving:
- Europe: UK, Nordics, Belgium, and the Netherlands lead in flexibility solutions, while Germany, Italy, and Spain are catching up through storage and VPP adoption.
- United States of America: Deployments are accelerating ahead of expiring incentives, with investments shifting toward smarter grids and flexibility platforms.
- Latin America: Brazil, Chile, and Argentina are scaling renewables, but funding constraints and regulatory hurdles slow storage and grid modernization.
- Australia: High rooftop solar penetration is driving VPP adoption and decentralized flexibility models.
- India: Positioned for rapid growth, with smart metering and storage investments potentially moving India into the top five global storage markets by 2035.
Which regional strategy –policy incentives, storage investments, or VPP models—will define the next wave of flexibility?
- Growth Opportunities Shaping the Energy Ecosystem
The webinar spotlighted four areas where stakeholders can capture value:
- Vehicle-to-grid (V2G)
The next phase of EV adoption will extend beyond transportation, transforming vehicles into flexible grid assets and new profit centers. Energy companies are actively moving towards:
- Enabling bidirectional charging to support grid operations and balance demand
- Bundling vehicles, chargers, and energy plans into integrated offerings
- Creating new revenue streams through participation in flexible energy markets
- Ultra-long Duration Storage
As renewable generation scales, long-duration storage will become essential for seasonal balancing and deep grid resilience. This is driving stakeholders towards:
- Investing in emerging technologies and large-scale pilot projects
- Expanding funding and partnerships to accelerate commercialization
- Building capacity for high renewable penetration and reliable supply
- Grid-enhancing Technologies (GETs)
GETs will redefine how networks manage capacity without costly infrastructure expansion. Providers are focusing on:
- Deploying dynamic line ratings and power flow controls to increase throughput
- Reconfiguring grid topology through software for operational agility
- Reducing congestion and costs by maximizing existing assets
- AI-driven Grid Automation
The shift from reactive to predictive operations will transform grid management. As a result, utility providers are accelerating efforts to:
- Using digital twins and AI analytics for proactive maintenance and scenario planning
- Optimizing asset performance to lower lifecycle costs
- Enhancing reliability and decision-making through intelligent automation
Which of these opportunities will deliver the biggest impact for your organization?
Next Steps: Flexibility as a Growth Lever
The energy transition will distinguish organizations that view flexibility as a mere technical upgrade from those that position it as a core competitive advantage. For leadership teams, the challenge lies in balancing upfront investments with long-term value creation, especially when most flexibility initiatives deliver measurable impact within two to six years.
Click here to connect with Frost & Sullivan’s Energy experts for customized strategies and best practices in building flexible, future-ready energy systems.
Achieving greater flexibility within the energy system will require cooperation from all the key stakeholders to provide a clear policy framework and financial incentives for success.
– Jonathan Robinson, Growth Expert and Global Power & Energy Research Leader at Frost & Sullivan
