How to square this circle; Governments want more data centers to gather information on citizens, verify ID, issue fines, benefits, tax codes, change behaviours and more. However, western govts also want to tax energy production and usage like it’s a bad thing. That makes power stations expensive to build and maintain, plus the end product is highly taxed, which stifles demand. Maybe the solution is a two-tier electricity price, one for industry and data centers and one for ordinary consumers?
Meanwhile here are some thoughts on the power sector from WTW;
The global power sector is becoming increasingly central to economic growth as artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and the electrification of transport, buildings and industry increase demand for stable, reliable and available power. At the same time, geopolitical and policy uncertainty, ageing assets, supply-chain bottlenecks and uneven grid infrastructure are shaping the direction and pace of change, according to the latest Power Market Review published today by Willis, a WTW business (NASDAQ: WTW).
The power insurance market remains highly competitive, as the wider insurance market experiences continued softening. Property capacity is abundant, rates continue to fall and insurers are actively seeking growth. Well-managed power companies with strong loss records, credible valuations and robust engineering information are using the soft market to rebalance their risk strategy, but catastrophe-exposed assets, vulnerable supply chains, emerging technologies and risks with weak maintenance or operational data will continue to attract closer underwriting scrutiny in the year ahead.
Although falling rates may create immediate savings, organisations should be exploring opportunities to leverage today’s market to strengthen resilience and prepare for a future change in the market cycle. Power companies can capitalise on current market conditions by reassessing their program structures and challenging existing pricing and design.
Key findings from the report include:
- Power investment is not moving in one direction. Technology companies, infrastructure investors and some private equity funds are all looking for ways to improve efficiency, reliability and the carbon profile of power systems. Investment activity is increasingly targeting technologies capable of delivering step-change improvements in power generation and system performance.
- Nuclear investment is accelerating, but financing remains constrained by concerns over delays, cost overruns and execution risk. The insurance market has an opportunity to help bridge this bankability gap through innovative risk transfer solutions, performance guarantees and portfolio-based approaches that give lenders greater confidence and unlock capital for project delivery.
- Capacity for coal is still available for well-managed risks, although insurer scrutiny is expected to intensify over time. The best insurance outcomes will depend on how clearly insurance buyers evidence risk quality, asset stewardship, transitional plans, maintenance regimes, business interruption exposures and portfolio-level resilience.
- For international liability, conditions continue to be increasingly favourable for buyers, due to increasing capacity, heightened competition and greater pricing flexibility. However, certain exposures remain subject to greater underwriting scrutiny such as wildfire and bushfire exposure, grid resilience, failure to supply and coal-related risks
- Demand for power continues to increase exponentially, pulling capital into the sector but it remains bound by macro M&A transaction trends. Private equity companies are facing constrained exits, longer holding periods and challenging fundraising conditions. Deal ambition remains, but the route to execution is becoming more selective, more strategic and more dependent on risk quality.
Rob Hale, global head of power and renewable energy, Willis Natural Resources, said: “Current market conditions offer more than the chance to reduce costs, they create an opportunity to challenge insurance program architecture and reinvest into resilience before conditions become more challenging. In an interconnected energy system, insurance is not simply a mechanism for transferring loss. Used strategically, it can support investment, protect capital, strengthen resilience and give power companies greater confidence to grow.
“The companies that benefit the most from this cycle will be those that use today’s conditions to build stronger, better-evidenced and more future-ready risk financing strategies. Innovation and collaboration across all stakeholders in the value chain, including risk intermediaries, will play an increasingly critical role in de-risking investors’ capital and unblocking continued growth.”
The complete report can be downloaded here.
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