The €65 Trillion Question
Anders Lindberg, President of Energy and Executive VP at Wärtsilä, joins Michael Liebreich on Cleaning Up
Can you run a grid entirely on renewables?
"Yes," says Anders Lindberg, President of Energy and Executive VP at Wärtsilä, on this week's episode of Cleaning Up.
It could just cost €65 trillion extra by 2050.
Anders' team at Wärtsilä has recently published its Crossroads to Net Zero report, which argues that keeping a little bit of flexible generation on the grid will save huge amounts of money as the world strives for net-zero, while also speeding up the transition to renewables.
The argument centres on what to do with the last few percent of power supply, and what forms of generation need to be built to ensure consistent electricity supply and prevent black outs.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a gas engine manufacturer, Wärtsilä's report makes the case that gas should provide the last few percentage points of electricity generation. Michael Liebreich puts that claim to the test.
Discover more:
Wärtsilä's Crossroads to Net Zero report: https://www.wartsila.com/energy/towards-100-renewable-energy/choosing-the-optimal-pathway-for-energy-transition
Can Germany’s Gas Giant Go Green? Ep206: Michael Lewis
Q&A: What we do – and do not – know about the blackout in Spain and Portugal — https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-what-we-do-and-do-not-know-about-the-blackout-in-spain-and-portugal/
ENTSO-E expert panel initiates the investigation into the causes of Iberian blackout: https://www.entsoe.eu/news/2025/05/09/entso-e-expert-panel-initiates-the-investigation-into-the-causes-of-iberian-blackout
Watch the full episode on YouTube now, or find it on your favourite podcast platform.
I missed the question how to profitably run these "peaker" power plants. When no longer running for 5-8000h/a, how can they become commercially viable?
Otherwise this was brilliant stuff. Finally someone who comes up with a resilient system architecture.