MILAN, Italy, May 7. New and emerging technologies, driven by private sector innovation, are playing a transformative role in the future of energy generation, distribution, and storage, said Bhargav Dasgupta, ADB Vice-President for Market Solidarity, during the closing session of the 58th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Trend’s special correspondent reports from Milan.
Dasgupta noted that alongside the rapid development of renewables, digital technologies are becoming central to reshaping energy systems globally.
“We talked about digital transformation of energy systems. From smart grids to AI to demand management to cloud storage – and even the idea of distributed energy storage – there are a lot of technologies that are emerging which are very, very exciting,” he said.
He pointed to the high initial cost of some of these innovations, but stressed their potential for rapid cost reduction with scaling.
“Some of these technologies are new and initially expensive. But the beauty is, as we get more scale, the cost drops dramatically,” Dasgupta noted. “India may need some support at the start, but as we scale these up, they become commercially viable.”
According to Dasgupta, the private sector brings critical value to these transitions beyond financing.
“What the private sector brings in is not just capital, but innovation. And really three keys: expertise, efficiency, and execution,” he emphasized.
He added that ADB’s work on market development in these areas is showing strong momentum, and that further collaboration with the private sector will be crucial in accelerating progress.
“The work that we are doing collectively in terms of market development is extremely positive. And that’s something that we are very keen to see how we progress,” he said.