6 Takeaways from the OTM Conference 2024 – Key Insights and Trends

Align carbon reporting across all areas and markets to establish a floor for progress and clear accountability. At OTM 2024, leaders demonstrated how joined data streams from finance, procurement, and operations can ensure the entire program stays credible and auditable as you scale, ensuring legacy data remains usable.

From the floor to the stage, the discussions centered on ambitious targets supported by practical steps. Attendees highlighted that investing in unified dashboards across areas improves transparency and helps markets compare performance annually, enabling teams to keep going above compliance and drive measurable improvements.

Takeaway 1: Collaborative governance accelerates execution. Cross-functional teams that combined finance, operations, and sustainability reduced cycle times and improved data credibility. In practice, those who joined planning and reporting cycles across functions delivered monthly insights, effectively speeding decisions and maintaining momentum across the entire organization.

Takeaway 2: Data quality underpins credible carbon accounting. By standardizing definitions and consolidating data from legacy systems, teams increased reporting accuracy to the high-90s, enabling more consistent conversations with investors and regulators about scope and progress.

Takeaway 3: Digital tools are elevating monitoring and risk detection. AI-assisted anomaly detection, automated exception workflows, and collaborative dashboards helped teams spot gaps in near real time, reducing manual checks and enabling faster action across markets.

Takeaway 4: Preparedness for evolving requirements across regions. Companies mapped regulatory expectations to annual planning cycles, resulting in smoother annual updates and fewer last-minute changes, aligning with ambitious planning horizons towards net-zero milestones.

Takeaway 5: Stakeholder engagement strengthens trust and impact. By sharing a common reporting framework with customers and suppliers, firms built a more resilient supply chain and a credible legacy of responsible practices that endures beyond leadership transitions.

Takeaway 6: Markets reward transparent progress and scalable models. With cross-market pilots and standardized reporting, firms created repeatable programs that can be implemented annually in new regions, lifting entire portfolios and expanding opportunities beyond initial pilots.

OTM 2024 Takeaways: Actions for Energy Pathways USA

Begin with a 90-day sprint to map energy demand, supplier options, and emissions hotspots; assemble a cross-functional team; define a 3-year target: 25% reduction in CO2e per MWh and 15% energy-cost decrease. This helps energy-path optimization across sectors and sets clear milestones for operational teams.

Create a partner network that includes utilities, technology providers, and customers; align with investors by sharing a joint outcomes-focused plan; run two pilots to validate supply and demand-side actions; have clear governance and joint metrics to track progress.

Develop a remote data hub to monitor operations, security, and trading signals in real time; ensure data from 60% of critical assets streams within 6 months; automate alerts to reduce outage risk and improve operational efficiency.

Security and risk: implement zero-trust access, encryption, and quarterly audits; источник and institute benchmarking to set standards; use an institute guide to structure risk scoring; explore regulatory and market events that affect pricing and resilience.

Define actionable outcomes for customers and investors: lower energy spend, consistent supply, transparent sustainability reporting; tie KPIs to outcomes such as CO2e per MWh, uptime, and trading efficiency; the dashboard provided clear insights for decision-makers.

Events and dissemination: convene quarterly events for partners and customers to share learnings; use these events to align on supply strategies and trading opportunities; this strengthens the partner ecosystem.

Operations and path: explore multiple energy pathways, map supply chains, and quantify risk; plus set a number of hedges to start; ensures resilience and clearer financial visibility for stakeholders.

Identify high-potential storage-and-renewables projects for your portfolio

Target a two-track approach: near-term utility-scale storage tied to renewables, and long-duration storage readiness for green hydrogen projects. This mix delivers rapid value capture and a sustainable asset base across your entire portfolio. Build from a quick-win floor for capex and a yard of options for the next phase.

Apply a calculated framework to compare projects: cost per kWh, round-trip efficiency, IRR, and payback. For most near-term bets, target an IRR above 8-12% with a 5- to 7-year horizon. Align investments with your company risk appetite and low-carbon objectives.

Balance technology types: batteries for fast response, hydrogen for long-duration storage, and pumped hydro where geography permits. Prioritize sites that maximize usage of existing transmission, minimize land use, and reduce remote risk by clustering with renewables. Consider the entire value chain, from capital costs to operation and maintenance, to ensure sustainable outcomes.

Assess risks across the full scope: policy changes, supply-chain volatility, water and permitting constraints, and performance degradation. Create a single risk dashboard to monitor schedule, costs, and reliability. Establish standardized processes to ensure consistent due diligence across projects and keep management aligned for broad opportunities in scalable assets.

Adopt a staged investment plan: start with modular projects that scale in 12-18 months, then expand to larger facilities after you validate performance. Use remote-monitoring to track usage and efficiency; this enables knowledge transfer across the company and accelerates decision-making. Deploy a centralized systems platform to coordinate data across assets and drive disciplined investments.

Archetype	Use-case	Capex range	IRR	Timeline	Key risk
Utility-scale BESS	Peak shifting, frequency response	300-600 USD/kW	8-12%	6-18 months	Interconnection, supply chain
Hydrogen storage	Seasonal balance, load-following	1200-1800 USD/kW	6-10%	24-42 months	Electrolyzer efficiency, feedstock
Pumped hydro / CAES	Long-duration, regional resilience	1500-3500 USD/kW	9-14%	36-60 months	Site constraints

Track policy and market signals shaping project economics in 2024–2025

Implement an integrated dashboard that tracks policy signals and market indicators and run monthly sensitivity analyses to keep project economics aligned with 2024–2025 realities. The tool would translate policy updates, tariff announcements, and subsidy windows into updated cash-flow streams, enabling rapid decisions on material choices and project scope.

Policy signals in 2024–2025 are material drivers of cost and economy-wide access to finance. Implemented carbon pricing and economy-wide incentives shift margins for energy-intensive production, while trade rules and CBAM risk affect input costs. In major markets, carbon prices hovered around €70–90 per tonne in 2024, and a set of credits and subsidies for low-emission development appears to tighten entry for new projects. The role of policy signals is to steer investment toward resilient, lower-emission options.

Market signals show volatility in energy, metals, and transport costs, with price streams feeding project economics. Global steel production reached about 1.95 billion tonnes in 2023, with 2024 output up 2–3% as demand recovered. Challenges include supplier concentration and policy uncertainty, and disruptions in logistics and power could shave 5–15% off overall returns if not hedged. Finance providers now require stronger proof of resilience and longer-term off-take commitments, influencing project scale and timing. These dynamics shape the future of large-scale development.

Structure project economics around four core streams: operations, maintenance, policy incentives, and market hedges. Build a diversified supplier base to reduce material risk and lock in steel and cement with long-term agreements. Use ai-driven risk analytics to quantify scenarios, including fuel price shocks, policy shifts, and currency moves, without sacrificing quality. Ensure production quality and compliance by tying tech that monitors grade and yield to procurement and scheduling. This road to profitability requires a tight integration of policy streams and market signals.

Road map for 2025 emphasizes five actions. The number of actions is five. First, embed policy signals into NPV models; second, expand access to finance with green covenants; third, secure input supply through multiple streams; fourth, deploy ai-driven risk analytics to flag disruptions early; fifth, maintain quality through rigorous testing and traceability across development.

Structure financing for rapid deployment of clean energy assets

Adopt a blended-finance framework that pairs project finance with government guarantees and revenue-based insurance to cut upfront risk and accelerate deployment of clean energy assets within 24-36 months.

Define an integrated governance model led by a dedicated management team, with a single term-sheet that binds sponsors, lenders, and offtakers. Use a three-tranche capital stack and target a debt-to-equity ratio in the 70/30 range to lower the cost of capital and accelerate moving from pilot to economy-wide scale. This alignment keeps momentum through policy shifts and market cycles.

Map the road from pilots to scale by locking in a rolling-close mechanism, enabling these five projects to reach commercialization in parallel. Use standardized PPAs, performance milestones, and supply contracts so project teams can proceed closer in tandem. Move from standalone grants to a programmatic line that sustains momentum without waiting for a perfect policy window.

Consider on-premises storage and distributed generation to reduce transmission constraints and lower emission peaks. Favor modular asset designs with shared platforms to boosting purchasing power and shorten procurement cycles. An integrated fleet approach unlocks economies of scale across regions and improves reliability, boosting resilience across the grid.

Address tensions between policy signals, utility purchasing practices, and offtaker risk. Mitigate challenges with credit enhancements, currency hedging, and reserve facilities that protect cash flows during volatility. Structure contracts to clarify risk allocation and reduce disputes, keeping timelines intact even under stress.

Launch initiatives that scale financial support: climate funds, tax-equity vehicles, and pension or endowment programs that channel long-horizon capital. Apply a duke framework for lightweight due diligence that keeps pace with deal flow without sacrificing rigor. These initiatives should be portable across sectors and geographies, enabling your portfolio to attract a broader base of investors. Applying these practices across sectors accelerates scale.

Your company can use five metrics to track progress: deployment rate, cost of capital, non-recourse financing share, permitting speed, and emission reductions. Build transparent reporting that translates milestones into investor-ready numbers. For many projects, this reality-based approach increases confidence that the plan will deliver results.

Apply economy-wide financing levers–from sovereign guarantees to green bonds–to scale assets across the grid. Structure long-term PPAs and revenue-sharing models that support stable cash flows for 10- to 15-year horizons. With careful risk-sharing and clear milestones, the sector can invest a trillion dollars in clean energy while reducing emissions and strengthening grid resilience.

Apply digital tools in grid planning: AI, analytics, and digital twins

Launch an ai-driven grid planning pilot across two regions to validate gains in reliability and cost. Use a digital twin of the high-voltage network integrated with real-time telemetry, weather data, and equipment status to test scenarios, then measure outcomes with analytics-driven metrics.

This approach would accelerate ideas and build confidence for participants across markets, whether planners, field crews, or logistics teams, by providing a clear path to improvements that support net-zero ambitions and digital-first initiatives.

• Digital twin implementation: create a living model of critical corridors, equipped with data feeds from sensors, SCADA, and asset inventories.
• Analytics and AI: run ai-driven optimization to identify congestion relief, optimal dispatch, and maintenance windows that minimize outages and logistics costs.
• Metrics that matter: track reliability (SAIDI/SAIFI proxies), energy losses, cost per MWh, capital efficiency, and emissions intensity to show progress toward net-zero goals.
• Participants and governance: establish cross-functional teams including corporate strategy, operations, and customer representatives to review results monthly.
• Paths to scale: pilot results define a reproducible path to roll out digital tools across markets, equipment fleets, and partners.
• Data and security: set data governance, access controls, and privacy considerations to maintain confidence among customers and regulators.
• Social engagement: share findings with communities and customers to illustrate benefits and address concerns, boosting social license and acceptance.
• Means and funding: align with ambitious initiatives and innovation investments, ensuring the pilot demonstrates quick wins while laying groundwork for larger investments.

According to early implementations, ai-driven models that connect equipment status, logistics planning, and demand forecasts can cut planning cycles by 20–30% and improve decision quality by delivering near-term actions that reduce congestion and outages.

Build workforce strategies to close skills gaps in energy pathways USA

Launch a 12-week ai-driven skill mapping pilot across 5 major energy pathways to align core tasks with precise training blocks and micro-credentials, then scale based on measured outcomes. The pathways include generation, transmission, storage, renewables integration, and clean fuels, targeting a number of core competencies and 15–20 credential tracks workers can stack over time. This approach boosts confidence among employers and workers by making career moves more transparent and predictable, thats how we align workforce capability with market demand.

For quick wins, implement a two-tier delivery model: a training yard with 4 hands-on labs per pathway and flexible online modules. These cover areas such as grid operations, storage management, and asset maintenance. Each cohort receives 40 hours of practical training monthly, supported by AI analytics that flag gaps and adjust module usage. As capacity grows, increase cohorts from 200 to 1,000 annually and reduce time-to-competency by 30–40% in pilot sites.

Forge major partnerships with community colleges, unions, and utilities to create a number of credentials that lead to wage growth. Establish 3–5 apprenticeship tracks tied to clear progression, with employers funding at least 40% of training costs and public programs covering the remainder. Use a shared funding model and standardized assessments to minimize duplication and accelerate readiness. Industry leaders said they see this structure improving placement rates and speeding up entry to critical roles.

Governance and metrics: form a cross-sector steering group to track 6 KPIs: number of workers trained, cost per credential, time-to-competency, turnover rate after 12 months, wage uplift, and employer satisfaction. Deploy a central dashboard to show progress across 5 target states, enabling quick adjustments to curricula and funding in response to market signals. This ensures the plan remains sustainable and impactful for the sector’s legacy and future.