If we look to the future, we can predict a 70/30 mix between fossil fuel and renewable energy generation by 2030. This will be driven not just by more centralized renewable energy production, but also by more local green power being generated in homes and businesses. Both utility providers and end users will also become more intricately linked. In the current model, everything is produced centrally and pushed out to end users. By 2030, we’ll start to see ‘prosumers’ producing and selling energy back into the grid.

Fast-forward to 2050, and a 20/80 split between fossil fuels and renewables is possible. According to Aurora Energy Research, by this point major European countries can already have reduced emissions from cars by as much as 90%. Some industries, like long-haul aviation, will still be struggling to switch their power consumption away from oil, but we’ll be well on our way to a low-carbon future. We’ll also have a much more sophisticated and digitized energy grid, which can support extremely distributed renewable generation and a bidirectional electricity flow.

When we think about sector coupling and the power grid of 2050, one thing is clear: the future electricity system will be much more complex to control, balance, and optimize than we have today. Renewable generation at scale is always going to be intermittent—high at some points of the year and low at others. So, the energy system needs to be flexible, robust, and efficient to meet this power challenge. The goal is to integrate renewables so as to make power both more reliable and affordable.

Two recent studies by Bloomberg New Energy Finance on Flexibility Solutions for High-Renewable Energy Systems have found that, without new sources of clean flexibility, tomorrow’s power systems could be both oversized and wasteful. Looking specifically at the UK, the studies forecast that energy could be 13% more expensive by 2040 and with 36% higher emissions if we fail to adapt.

To avoid this, we don’t just need to conquer technical and adoption challenges, as with electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage, we also need to fundamentally adjust how the market operates. While essential reform to grid regulation has started to progress across Europe, we have far to go if we are to replicate best practices and further encourage innovation in this power revolution.

But this is a challenge we must meet. According to the latest Bloomberg New Energy Finance report on Sector Coupling in Europe, sector coupling has the potential to cut more than 70% of carbon emissions from transport, buildings, and industry by 2050 compared to 1990s levels. As such, it’s an opportunity we can’t afford to ignore.