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Bram Smeets

PartnerAmsterdam

Advises leaders in the private and public sectors as they navigate rapid shifts in the energy landscape, supporting efforts to establish a more sustainable energy future

Bram is a leader in McKinsey’s Sustainability Practice and our energy work, and brings deep expertise in the future of energy and in emerging strategies for establishing a more sustainable energy sector. He advises leaders in the private and public sectors as they navigate the rapid shifts in the energy landscape.

Bram’s clients include broad range of organizations, including investors, national governments, oil and gas companies, utilities, and innovative technology startups.

As the leader of a global group of experts focused on energy transition and decarbonization strategies, Bram is also an author of McKinsey's annual Global Energy Perspective report. He also publishes articles focused on the transition to a net-zero energy system and is a frequent speaker on the future of energy at industry gatherings and conferences.

Examples of his recent client work include the following:

  • leading the development of an energy-transition investment strategy for an international investment bank with a focus on the future of gas
  • leading an initiative to establish a growth strategy for an innovative blue hydrogen scale-up
  • directing an effort to define an energy-sector model and development strategy for a country in the Middle East
  • identifying green stimulus measures that national governments could adopt as part of pandemic-response plans
  • supporting an association of leading utilities exploring and preparing for electrification and decarbonization scenarios
  • helping a leading aluminum producer quantify the impact of carbon-pricing scenarios on cost curves and the profitability of new investments

Interested in broad impact, Bram has worked with the World Bank Group and the United Nations Development Program to define low-carbon growth strategies for emerging economies. Before joining McKinsey, he worked at Ecofys, now Guidehouse, an international energy and sustainability consultancy. Bram holds an advanced degree in energy economics.

Published Work

Toward net-zero emissions: Achieving Luxembourg’s sustainability ambitions,” McKinsey & Company, September 2023

Refurbishing Europe: Igniting opportunities in the built environment,” McKinsey & Company, February 2023

Charting the global energy landscape to 2050: Emissions,” McKinsey & Company, December 2022

The new imperative for green commodities,” McKinsey & Company, August 2022

Unlocking opportunities from industrial electrification,” McKinsey & Company, July 2022

Global Energy Perspective 2021,” McKinsey & Company, December 2020

Pathways to decarbonize the Czech Republic,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020

Climate math: What a 1.5-degree pathway would take,” McKinsey Quarterly, April 2020

The decoupling of GDP and energy growth: A CEO guide,” McKinsey Quarterly, April 2019

Five key questions clients ask about our energy demand outlook to 2050,” McKinsey & Company, May 2018

What if the latest wind and solar auction results were the new reality of electricity prices?,” McKinsey & Company, March 2018

Can carbon prices fire up gas demand in electricity generation?,” McKinsey & Company, January 2018

Past Experience

Guidehouse
Principal consultant

EDUCATION

Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management
PhD, economics

Maastricht University
MS, BS, econometrics and operations research