The CEO of Hitachi Energy explains on the Big Question why Europe, and the rest of the world, needs to urgently invest in power grids.
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00:00We have in Europe more than 500 gigawatts of renewable resources which are ready to connect
00:04but cannot be connected because the grid is not there.
00:07Regulations were built to save taxpayers money, not to over invest.
00:11So it's shuttling paper which is time consuming, it's expensive.
00:15This is not fit for the purpose anymore.
00:23Take one.
00:25Hitachi.
00:26Hello, I'm Angela Barnes.
00:27Welcome to The Big Question.
00:30Well, this is the show on Euronews where we speak to some of the most
00:35influential leaders in business.
00:37And today, I'm joined by Andreas Scheirenbeck, CEO of Hitachi Energy.
00:43Andreas, thank you very much for joining us on the program.
00:46It's a pleasure to have you with us.
00:48Now, there's been a lot going on Donald Trump and his executive orders
00:53and he talked about energy.
00:55And you have been very vocal about the need for urgent investment in power grids.
01:00Let's start with that.
01:02Because Andreas, can you just explain to us how critical the situation is in Europe
01:08and what are the immediate consequences if action isn't taken now?
01:12It's a very good question.
01:14It's not only the situation in Europe, it's the same situation in North America
01:18and all over the world.
01:19We suddenly find ourselves in a situation where we need much more electrical energy
01:24than we thought.
01:25I think the increase is estimated to be three to four times higher than the primary energy.
01:30And some people call it even the age of electricity coming up.
01:34And we have to fulfill the needs.
01:36And since we get into a situation a little bit unprepared,
01:39now we're struggling to fulfill the needs.
01:42So we need to add more generation assets.
01:43We need to add more grid.
01:45We have to produce the products.
01:47And there's a gap.
01:48Well, with that gap, given the first year-long breach of the 1.5 degree Celsius target
01:55and current infrastructure challenges,
01:58do you believe it's still possible to meet the Paris Accord goals by 2030
02:02without drastic changes?
02:04And of course, Donald Trump's pulling the US out of the Paris Accord.
02:07So what do you think?
02:08Is it still possible to meet that goal?
02:10I think it's still possible.
02:11I was in a podium discussion with a scientist and she explained,
02:14look, we have to meet that target over a longer period of time.
02:17Missing it once is not good, but it's not the end of the world.
02:21So we still have to continue with our efforts.
02:24And yes, from that point of view, I think we're a little bit responsible for that.
02:28We haven't expanded the grid as necessary.
02:30We have in Europe more than 500 gigawatts of renewable resources,
02:33which are ready to connect but cannot be connected because the grid is not there.
02:38So we're in a kind of race.
02:47You've compared the shift as well previously, Andreas,
02:49I've seen from the energy super cycle to the era of electricity,
02:53to the rise of the Internet in the 1990s.
02:55Can you just elaborate on this parallel?
02:58And what opportunities and risks do you see for businesses
03:02and governments in this transformation?
03:04I think the big opportunity is that now we understand that we have not only add renewables,
03:10we have to build the foundations, the grid as well.
03:12Otherwise, the whole thing is pointless.
03:15But we have to change and very often adapt is that we have to become faster.
03:19You know, the energy business was in the last 15-20 years a kind of boring game,
03:24you know, slow development.
03:26There was time for decisions.
03:28Actually, regulations were built to save taxpayers money, not to overinvest.
03:32And now we have to change it.
03:34We have to work together in collaboration, regulators, industry, customers, everybody
03:40to take decisions faster, because the cost of not doing anything
03:44or not being fast enough is, from my point of view, higher than the cost of investing now.
03:49So would you say, just touching there again on regulation,
03:52is that one of the biggest obstacles to moving things forward with,
03:56for example, the daunting task in expanding grid capacity?
03:59It's definitely one of these things, you know,
04:02grid expansion projects take normally seven to eight years,
04:05and only two to three years are really construction.
04:08Five to six years is permitting.
04:10So it's shuttling paper, which is time consuming.
04:14It's expensive.
04:15And it's definitely not what it should be.
04:18We can do that faster.
04:19It was right in a time where we were probably in a different world.
04:23But now I think we should sit together and say,
04:24look, let's adapt that together to become faster and therefore cheaper.
04:29And that permitting problem, is that unique to Europe?
04:31How long does it take, for example, for permits in the US?
04:34How does it compare?
04:35Is it?
04:36You know, I think it's a global problem.
04:38Of course, it's a local problem, because regulators are local institutions.
04:42But they always were set up in the same set of environment.
04:46Prevent taxpayers' money to be overspent, keep it in check.
04:50But the situation has changed, you know.
04:53The planning horizon for grid expansion was 10 years,
04:56and the grid project takes eight years.
04:58You can imagine what happens if you suddenly have just more demand.
05:01This is not fit for the purpose anymore.
05:06And let's talk about what Hitachi Energy is doing to drive the energy transition
05:16through technological innovation.
05:18What role do you see your company playing in overcoming gridlocks
05:22and renewable integration challenges?
05:25I think, as Hitachi, we play multiple roles.
05:28First of all, we are investing to expanding our production capacity.
05:31We're developing new technology to connecting grids and connecting renewables
05:36in a bigger scale and reducing losses there.
05:39But as well, it's our task to talk to the stakeholders, to regulators,
05:43to our customers, to foster this collaboration,
05:45to say, look, we want to achieve your one thing, so let's do it together.
05:49And you've called for unprecedented collaboration between governments,
05:53businesses, and innovators to do this together.
05:56Can you share an example of a successful partnership or project
05:59that could serve as a blueprint for scaling grid infrastructure?
06:03You know, it's difficult to point out one example.
06:05I think we are working together on that.
06:07Just to give you one example from my past, probably where this can work.
06:11In my past, I was running a big utility in Germany,
06:14and they developed an LNG harbour.
06:16And I was told just the 40 kilometres high-pressure gas pipeline
06:19would take five to seven years to build and get permissions.
06:23Then the situation changed, as we all know.
06:26The same pipeline was built in nine months.
06:28So you see the potential, what we have, if we're doing the right things.
06:32And if the necessary investments, Andreas, in grids and renewables are delayed,
06:37what would the world look like in 2030?
06:42Big question.
06:43Good, big question.
06:43Narrow that down.
06:44I have no idea.
06:45I think we are able to mitigate all these things over time.
06:49We will adapt, we will find solutions.
06:51Now, we have to look at the in-store base as well,
06:53because what we have in-store, we can use better with IT.
06:56We can use our assets longer if we're doing predictive maintenance
07:00with combining IT and OT, what we are doing as Hitachi, quite successful.
07:05So I'm not saying delay the investments,
07:08but I'm not a pessimist that we're not solving the problems of the future.
07:13Brilliant.
07:13Andreas, thank you so much for speaking to us on The Big Question on Euronews.
07:16Thank you for having me.
07:18Well, thank you very much for joining us on this episode of The Big Question.
07:21Don't forget, you can catch more of our shows on our Euronews YouTube channel
07:25and also on the Euronews.com website.
07:28Just head over to Business.
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