The era of flat electricity demand is over. Carbon-free energy is needed now more than ever.
According to a new report by the International Energy Agency, global electricity demand is growing at the fastest pace in years due to the growth of electrification, heating and cooling demand, industrial processes, and digital infrastructure like data centers. To make progress on climate change, that demand must be met with carbon-free clean energy.
Fortunately, the private sector is significantly accelerating clean energy deployment; in 2024, companies signed a record 62 gigawatts of new renewable energy power purchase agreements.
However, many of these same companies continue to rely on carbon-intensive electricity to power their operations. That’s why companies are increasingly focused on fully eliminating their electricity emissions and accelerating grid transformation by matching their electricity demand with new, local clean power supplied around the clock — otherwise known as 24/7 carbon-free energy, or CFE.
In a new article published in Joule, we describe how 24/7 CFE procurement not only enables clean load growth and can eliminate a company’s emissions, but also provides a powerful engine for new technologies that will benefit the whole of society. According to the IEA, almost half of needed emissions reductions by 2050 must come from technologies that are at the prototype or demonstration phase. Even a small number of corporate clean energy buyers targeting 24/7 CFE procurement can act as catalysts for innovation and accelerate the commercialization of those technologies.
This is because achieving 24/7 CFE is a non-trivial challenge. While wind, solar, and battery storage can take a company far, 24/7 CFE may require technologies that aren’t yet commercial, such as long-duration energy storage to bridge long gaps in wind generation, or novel dispatchable generators like advanced geothermal, advanced nuclear power, or gas with carbon capture.
Support from large clean energy buyers can push these technologies toward maturity. For instance, in support of its 24/7 carbon-free energy goal, Google signed the first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors, and partnered with Fervo Energy to develop an enhanced geothermal power project that is now operational in Nevada. Since that first pilot project, Fervo has achieved remarkable reductions in the time and cost of its drilling process. Now, Fervo is building a 400-megawatt next-generation geothermal project in Utah — the world’s largest — to bring dispatchable clean power to more customers.
The demand-pull for these technologies can help them traverse the “Valley of Death,” i.e. the typical funding gap they encounter when transitioning from early-stage development to widespread commercialization. The deployment of early projects triggers cost reductions along a technology’s “experience curve” as the technologies scale and manufacturing and/or deployment are repeated, making 24/7 CFE more accessible to a wider range of companies and organizations. Wider adoption leads to further innovation, cost reductions, and decarbonization.
We use a modeling case study to demonstrate how companies can kickstart learning and cost reductions in advanced technologies. If companies representing just 3% of German commercial and industrial electricity demand committed to 24/7 carbon-free energy, it would quadruple the expected deployment of long-duration iron-air batteries, leading to a 25% cost reduction by 2030. Corporate procurement could have similar impacts on other emerging technologies.
As these technologies mature and become more affordable, their adoption will spread beyond these voluntary corporate leaders, leading to broader system-wide decarbonization and a significant reduction in emissions across the entire economy. The virtuous circle of innovation sparked by private sector leadership can create a ripple effect that benefits the entire electricity system.
Fortunately, momentum is growing. For instance, the Climate Group’s 24/7 Carbon-free Coalition brings together a diverse set of companies committed to advancing 24/7 CFE procurement.
The pursuit by major corporations sends a powerful signal to policymakers, investors, and the public, demonstrating the viability and importance of a rapid shift to carbon-free electricity. In a world where government action can be uncertain, private sector leadership can accelerate progress — and ideally inspire others to follow suit.
Iegor Riepin is a research scientist specializing in energy economics and policy, currently working at the Energy Systems group at TU Berlin. Tom Brown is an energy system modeller and professor at TU Berlin. Jesse Jenkins is an assistant professor and macro-scale energy systems engineer at Princeton University, and also leads the university’s ZERO Lab. Devon Swezey is a senior manager on Google’s global energy and climate team. The opinions represented in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of Latitude Media or any of its staff.
