Tom Raftery

2 weeks ago | energycentral.com | Tom Raftery

There’s ambition, and then there’s trying to decarbonise an entire national grid by 2030. The UK has opted for the latter. But while the headlines might focus on offshore wind targets and solar megaprojects, the real story lies in what happens behind the scenes: grid architecture, infrastructure lag, market mechanisms, and the political plumbing that determines whether wires get laid, permits get signed, and electrons flow cleanly.

1 month ago | energycentral.com | Tom Raftery

The energy revolution is well underway, and it’s no longer just about massive wind farms or sprawling solar fields. The real game-changer? Decentralisation. In this latest episode of the Climate Confident podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Doherty, CEO of Joulen, about how smart battery systems, AI, and distributed energy solutions are flipping the traditional power grid on its head. The bottom line? The future of energy isn’t just green; it’s democratic.

1 month ago | energycentral.com | Tom Raftery

Electricity has long been a one-way street—massive, centralised power plants pumping electrons down the wires, utilities acting as the gatekeepers, consumers passively receiving their bills at the end of the month. A rigid, predictable, industrial-age model. But here’s the thing: that model is unravelling. Fast. Cratering prices means that solar panels are now multiplying on rooftops. Batteries are sitting in garages, quietly stockpiling energy for later.

2 months ago | energycentral.com | Tom Raftery

Europe’s energy transition isn’t creeping forward—it’s sprinting, hurdling over old paradigms, vaulting past fossil fuel relics. Ember' recently released European Electricity Review 2025 lays it out in stark numbers: solar just leapfrogged coal. Gas? In a tailspin, shrinking for a fifth straight year. Renewables? Almost half of Europe’s electricity. A decade ago, that number seemed like a moonshot. Now? Baseline reality. This isn’t just about climate targets.

2 months ago | energycentral.com | Tom Raftery

Energy. The lifeblood of civilisation. The force that propels economies, lights up megacities, keeps your phone buzzing at 2 AM. And yet, the entire system—the backbone of modern life—is cracking, shifting, warping into something entirely new. Fossil fuels, the undisputed rulers of the past century, are on their way out. But are they leaving fast enough? That’s the billion, no, trillion-dollar question.