Hyperscaling Renewable Energy: Innovations in Market Design and Business Models
Background
With three-quarters of the world's population in fossil fuel-importing economies, clean generation, storage, and electrification have become credible pathways to energy security. Global RE capacity has more than doubled since 2021, and battery storage has grown nearly tenfold — yet developing economies (excluding China) have attracted only one-fifth of clean energy investment. The next decade will be defined by market-led innovation: competitive auctions, new financial products, distributed RE business models, and smart grids. India, the world's third-largest RE market, already offers compelling examples — from demand aggregation and DRE scale-up to deeper wholesale power markets. Globally, the UK's CfD scheme and Australia's home battery programme show how well-designed mechanisms can rapidly scale clean energy. Hyperscaling RE will require coordinated evolution across markets, grids, and financial flows — within and across countries.
Objective
This convening will bring together senior policymakers, multilateral institutions, investors, corporates, and civil society leaders to deliberate on new frontiers of RE growth, with three outcomes in mind:
Shared agenda on market innovation — Common understanding on market design and financial instruments needed to hyperscale RE, and the trade-offs involved.
Transferable DRE playbook — Lessons from India and other leading markets distilled into approaches adaptable for Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
Pathways for continued collaboration — Opportunities for follow-on research, peer exchange, and partnerships to carry ideas into implementation.
Key sessions will include:
Leaders’ Dialogue
Senior leaders will set the strategic direction on the role of market innovations and international collaboration to scale renewables. This will include a showcase of opportunities to invest in India’s fast-growing renewable energy market
Roundtable 1: Market innovations to accelerate renewable energy expansion Drawing on experience from India, Australia, Brazil, China, Indonesia, the UK, and the US, experts will deliberate on market instruments and business model innovations that can support RE scale-up while balancing flexibility, reliability, and investor confidence.
Roundtable 2: Unlocking decentralised renewable energy as the next frontier of the Global South energy transition Experts will explore how distributed RE experience — across policy design, financing, supply chains, and last-mile delivery — can inform investable, policy-ready frameworks for Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and ISA member countries.