Pattabi, Jens, welcome. Jens, to you first.
Talk me through, if you would, ENOWA's climate goals.
Ultimately, we are going to build a system, 100%
renewable-based from scratch, and going to be net zero by
2030. That is at the core of what we do in ENOWA.
Where are you on that process?
That's great.
We've started a lot with, let's say, conceptual and design work
as you would expect.
But we are now firmly in the build, from a grid perspective,
from a renewable energy perspective, but also making
sure that we can serve customers from the beginning of the next
year.
Pattabi, broadening this out globally, is 100% renewable
energy within our grasp?
I think Georgie, that's about 10 to 15 years away.
This is a good model that people can learn from.
The first 30 to 50% is relatively straightforward.
The next 30% gets a little harder.
The last 20% is where the biggest challenges are.
The main challenge there is price volatility, affordability,
and then having it available 100% of the time, reliably.
So those are the three challenges that still need to be
solved.
Jens,
what do you foresee is the biggest challenge that you will
face in getting to 100% renewable?
What are some of the big challenges you've already faced?
Well, I would say it's finding the blend, in NEOM, between
thinking big and actually achieving something in the here
and now.
While we have a clear strategy to hit our 2030 targets, it's
also about making sure that we keep the lights on in the here
and now and serve our first customers and first project
across the region.
Finding the right balance for that is probably quite tricky.
On a more personal level, I would say, on reflection, if you
think and come to NEOM by saying, 'I just bring in my
experience, and that's going to be good enough', that's probably
not going to work, because a number of us have made their
experiences in legacy systems, which is not what will help you
to be able to safely create a 100% renewable system from
scratch.
Unlearning has been a material challenge for all of us in this.
Pattabi, I was going to ask you what advice would you have for
leaders on their journey. Unlearning what you've learned,
coming in with a fresh mindset, what else is in there?
Addressing the three things I mentioned on the affordability
side: technology costs coming down, whether it's hydrogen,
carbon capture, etcetera, to try to address that last 20%; market
design, to make sure that the volatility is not as high as it
will be if there's not enough availability; and then making
sure that the reliability is there.
So those three pieces, entirely possible to do, and this is what
we are working on with clients like ENOWA, but also more
broadly.
Pattabi, Jens, thank you so much.
Thank you very much.