With the projected urbanization of Asia over the next three decades, the energy systems in these growing cities need to be transformed, in order to avoild locking the urban energy infrastructure into a carbon intensive scenario for many decades. Without changes to how urban environments provide services, energy use in these areas will experience massive growth, along with global emissions of greenhouse gases and local air pollution.

The share of renewable electricity in the power mix is growing, and much of this is decentralized, in contrast to existing centralized fossil generation capacity. It is inevitable that the structure of the power industry and the nature and role of power producers will fundamentally change, along with the growing penetration of disruptive technology.

In some cases, business model innovation can be the key to catalyzing the growth of new technologies in the marketplace, especially when competition is increasing. For instance, leasing schemes have enabled the explosive growth in the rooftop PV market.

With the increased cost-competitiveness of renewable energy and widespread recognition of its benefits, the economic case for renewable energy, especially electrical power generation is now firmly established. But successful scale-up depends on how governments use policy and regulatory frameworks to reduce financing costs, reset the rules in the marketplace, and encourage investment from the private sector.