Diversifying the energy base while promoting the transition of the energy mix toward renewable sources is something of a paradox. Almost everyone agrees at a global level that it needs to happen. And almost no one is sure how best to achieve those goals at a local level.

At an international level, there’s the “free rider” problem, notes John DiMarco, managing director at infrastructure investor Igneo Infrastructure Partners. Economically, it may be cheaper for countries to emit carbon and benefit from reductions by other nations. “But there’s a massive effort to address that globally in an economically efficient and fair way,” he notes. Nearly every nation wants to reduce emissions.

At the local level, the geopolitics of energy supply was heavily disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and then drastically affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Supply-chain problems have been laid bare, encouraging countries to rejig operations to work with friendly nation