ABSTRACT

In August 2016, the small but dynamic Latin American country of Chile held a huge power tender that would define the future direction of its energy. The tender, equivalent to around 1GW of power capacity, allowed all types of generator – fossil fuel or renewable, new projects or existing plants – to compete to supply 'firm' power for delivery in 2020-21. Environmentally destructive and controversial, the shale industry in the US has been able to bring vast amounts of untapped hydrocarbon resources on line. Technology advances and accumulated expertise in construction and deployment of wind and solar energy have come together in a way that has created a true tipping point in the energy industry, as renewables costs fall below those of the fossil-fuel family's cheapest option – coal. The effect is that renewables have become the ultimate disruptor in the energy industry, just the way the iPhone did with mobile telephony.