The energy sector in many countries globally is going through transformational change as the transition to a low carbon economy gains momentum – from the perspective of NAB’s London-based European Energy business, 2017 was clearly a year in which this transformation gathered pace and some of the emerging trends became clearer.

The energy system in Great Britain is a leading example of the trend towards decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitalisation. The effect of these trends is pronounced
in the Great Britain market due to there being a strong focus on decarbonisation and limited interconnection with other markets. In April this year the UK experienced its first day where electricity demand was satisfied without any coal fired power since the industrial revolution and then for the month of July just 2% of the UK’s electricity needs came from coal generation, the lowest level in 135 years and sharply down from over 50% as recently as 2012, whilst contribution from renewables hit c.30% in Q2 2017.

To read full report download European Energy Sector: Spearheading the transition (PDF, 118kb)

This article was first published in 2017 Year in review: Corporate Finance (PDF, 3MB)