Advancing sustainable energy solutions

Cutting back greenhouse gas emissions while meeting the energy needs of a growing population remains one of the biggest challenges of our times. In recent years, there have been signs that the transition towards a low-carbon future is gathering pace.

2017 was no exception: the year saw a record number of renewable energy installations, falling costs of renewable energy sources and, in more instances, a successful de-coupling of economic growth and emissions. But as sustainable energy projects continue to broaden in scale and complexity, so do their attendant risks.

Innovative risk transfer solutions help attract investment in the sector by reducing risk to investors. Building on our long-standing commitment to sustainability, we have intensified our renewable energy research and established key partnerships to help our clients – and indeed the wider global community – develop and secure the energy supplies of the future.

Our notable achievements in 2017:

  • We initiated a new phase in our successful partnership with the World Energy Council (www.worldenergy.org) and Marsh & McLennan Companies (www.mmc.com) on the topic of “financing resilient energy infrastructure”. Building on the three reports published in 2016, we started to develop a series of real-life case studies shedding light on the risks faced by the energy industry from extreme weather and cyber threats;
  • Following completion of our new two-megawatt solar power plant at Swiss Re Americas’ headquarters in Armonk, New York, former US President Bill Clinton and Eric Smith, President and CEO of Swiss Re Americas, inaugurated the facility, one of the region’s largest, in a high-profile public ceremony addressing a range of stakeholders;
  • Under the title “The value of hedging: New approaches to managing wind energy resource risk”, we launched a seminal new study with partners from the European wind industry that looks into the potential impact on energy companies of hedging the cash flow volatility associated with wind production.