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Renewable Energy & New Downstream

We help clients navigate the global energy transition; plan and implement solar, wind, storage, biomass, geothermal, waste-to-energy, and hydropower systems; and optimize operations across the value chain.

As technology costs fall and environmental concerns grow, renewable-energy systems offer more and more opportunities for incumbents and new entrants alike. We work with organizations across the energy sector—utilities, developers, investors, tech companies, government bodies, and regulators—as they shape strategy, improve operations, and capture value.

We also support clients with specific challenges, ranging from capital productivity and investment to digital and analytics and from restructuring to energy policy and regulation. The deep expertise of our leadership team and practitioners is backed by an unparalleled global network of consultants and specialists with cutting-edge knowledge of industry, functional, and cross-sector topics.

Examples of our work

In the past 5 years we have supported clients with over 500 projects in renewables and new downstream, including the following:

Comprehensive Strategy for an Electric Utility

Helping a North American electric utility execute a comprehensive strategy update, grow its unregulated business, and assess the impact of distributed energy resources on businesses

Solar-Photovoltaic Development

Working with a North American hospitality company on a feasibility study and plan to develop a single solar-photovoltaic project to meet 15 percent of its total annual electricity needs

Competitive Advantage for an Offshore-wind Developer

Developing efficiency opportunities with a European offshore-wind developer and enabling 30 percent capex reduction and 10 percent timeline acceleration

Assessing Opportunities in Renewables

Assessing the opportunity for a developing country to grow its electricity supply with renewables rather than build-out of thermal generating assets, resulting in a total system cost reduction of 10 percent and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 40 percent

Featured capabilities

To provide a fact base to inform clients’ business decisions, we have developed a suite of proprietary tools and methods, including the following:

  • Offshore wind operations benchmarking. We have worked with a large portion of the major offshore operators to identify best-in-class operational practices and outcomes. We have developed a benchmark to enable data-driven diagnostics on offshore windpark performance. We help our clients to maximize park uptime and minimize operation and management costs.
  • Distributed Energy Resources (DER) valuation tool. Using our DER tool, we evaluate granular project economics for DER installations across technologies (storage, solar, energy efficiency, and demand response), geographies, and rate structures to identify the most attractive projects for a given customer or customer segment.
  • Electricity demand and supply forecasting tool, PowerIQ. Allows us to assess the impact of demand side macrotrends—such as, energy efficiency, electric vehicles, and distributed photovoltaics—on utility-level electric loads and analyze the resulting impact to wholesale markets and power-supply dynamics.

Related insights

Article

Decarbonizing US gas utilities: The potential role of a clean-fuels system in the energy transition

– US natural gas utilities and combined electric and gas utilities have an opportunity to convert their infrastructure into clean-fuels... networks—a move that could help enable a decarbonized energy system.
Report

Net-zero power: Long-duration energy storage for a renewable grid

– As the world transitions to decarbonized energy systems, emerging long-duration energy storage technologies will be critical for... supporting the widescale deployment of renewable energy sources.
Article

Net zero by 2035: A pathway to rapidly decarbonize the US power system

– Ten strategic moves can help the power sector play a pivotal role in reducing carbon emissions.
Article

The impact of electromobility on the German electric grid

– Estimates indicate that eight million electric vehicles could be on the roads in Germany by 2030. Investing in fast-charging stations... and managed charging will be key to upgrading infrastructure.
Article

Japan offshore wind: The ideal moment to build a vibrant industry

– As construction starts on Japan’s first large commercial offshore wind farm in the coastal waters of Akita, the country... is heralding a future of energy independence.
Article

A 2040 vision for the US power industry: Evaluating two decarbonization scenarios

– To get a sense of how far and how fast the United States is likely to reduce power-sector emissions, watch PJM, the country’s... largest system.
Interview - Voices on Infrastructure

Shifting the status quo in energy: An interview with Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich

– It’s more important than ever for leaders to overcome fears and embrace the new energy landscape. Empowering consumers to... make informed decisions can help.
Blog Post

How to bring solar power to the unelectrified world

– Solar home systems can help to bridge the electrification gap in developing countries—if certain conditions are met.
Article

The global relevance of New York State’s clean-power targets

– New York State has set ambitious decarbonization goals. What needs to happen to reach them?
Article

Merchant risk management: The new frontier in renewables

– If stakeholders move away from subsidizing the renewable-energy market, developers would be exposed to wholesale prices. Renewables... players thus need to position themselves strategically in their approach to long-term merchant risk.
Article

Less carbon means more flexibility: Recognizing the rise of new resources in the electricity mix

– Thousands of megawatts of renewable resources—chiefly wind and solar—are in the works. What types of grid services... can these provide as electricity markets and policies evolve?
Article

The potential impact of electric vehicles on global energy systems

– Electric vehicles are unlikely to create a power-demand crisis but could reshape the load curve. Here’s how to bend that... curve to your advantage.
Article

The new rules of competition in energy storage

– The costs of energy-storage systems are dropping too fast for inefficient players to hide. The winners in this market will be... those that aggressively pursue and achieve operational improvements.
Article

Bringing (solar) power to the people

– Solar home systems can help to bridge the electrification gap in developing countries—if certain conditions are met.
Article

What if the latest wind and solar auction results were the new reality of electricity prices?

Power auctions have accelerated the energy transition and the rise of renewables. With ever lower auction results being reported,... the question arises: what would the effect be on our power markets if the average cost trajectory followed the auction results? We used the Global Power Model to analyze the implication of such a scenario.
Article

Why the future of commercial battery storage is bright

– Many commercial and industrial users can already save money.
Article

Battery storage: The next disruptive technology in the power sector

– Low-cost storage could transform the power landscape. The implications are profound.

Connect with our Electric Power & Natural Gas Practice