As Director General Amin of the International  Renewable Energy Agency ( IRENA) noted, ongoing developments have set in motion a global energy transformation with significant implications on geopolitics. The enabling trends during the energy transformation are:

     -  dwindling costs of renewable energy technologies

     - climate change and the attendant problems caused by fossil fuels

     - strong support by several governments to increase  RE targets, strengthened by the business case of renewables

     - technological  innovations

     - the shift to RE by major international companies for their electricity requirements

     - public opinion  and support

As global demand for fossil fuels  declines, alliances built on fossil fuels are llkely to weaken. While alliances may be kept for various reasons, the energy pillar  becomes relatively less important. Countries are also beginning to rethink their energy  diplomacy. New alliances and energy initiatives are being developed by countries  such as Germany, UAE and India.Though still at an early stage of development, they are likely to gain geopolitical impact.

Renewables will also configure new geographies of connections and dependencies. We can expect a shift from global markets to regional markets. Countries that today import oil from the other side of the world may be expected to develop renewables at home and integrate their grids with those of neighboring countries.

Control over grid infrastructure will become vital for national security and for projecting global influence an⁰d power.  Grid infrastructures include physical assets including power lines and storage facilities as well as virtual interconnections as the sector continues to digitalize. A country's connectivity and networks may complement its land, sea and air power 

 Meanwhile, three primary aspects characterize the energy transition:  energy efficiency , accelerated growth  of renewables and electrification all the way to transportation and other aspects of life.

Against this developing scenario, we will  look at the major challenges and critical risks the sector faces during the transition and get an update of  how our own energy sector is shaping  as we carefully gradually shift to clean energy while strategically maintaining energy security.

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