The shift to renewable energy is well and truly underway around the world. Steady improvements in efficiency – using less energy – will offset the amount of generation that needs to be built, but not by much. Governments have set targets to achieve net-zero emissions a decade or two in the future, which is their way of drawing a line in the sand.

But what will it take to pull it off?

“If you look at how infrastructure gets built around the world, typically you don’t try to build everything at the same time,” Partners in Performance head of Europe Guy Turner tells EcoGeneration.

If everything looks as though it’s going to happen around the same time, the cost of materials and labour will increase dramatically and force plans to be revised. When supply won’t flex to meet demand, that’s when the market works out for itself when things will be built.