Electrification and
clean technologies

Energy Efficiency

Investing in the Changing Energy Landscape

We live in a time of great change in the global energy landscape. Beyond growing power demand, there are also significant shifts in the global energy supply mix driven by technological advancements, geopolitics, and environmental realities. Adding further complexity is the increasing prioritisation of energy security and consumer affordability by governments. This has led to more fragmented investment trends across regions as countries follow diverse paths to secure energy supply.

GIC continues to find attractive investment opportunities in two structural long-term investment themes:

Continued shift towards electrification powered by emerging clean technologies to decarbonise the economy.

Rising adoption of energy efficiency solutions which provide both economic and environmental benefits.

At the same time, local market dynamics requires a more nuanced approach to invest in these themes. In this article, we discuss how we are adapting our investment strategies to today’s increasingly complex global energy landscape.

Electrification and clean technologies

The ongoing electrification of the economy is evident across multiple sectors today, including:

Transportation

Electric vehicles (EV)

Buildings

Electric heat pumps

While government support has been dialled back in some markets (particularly the US), this shift is increasingly being driven not by government subsidies and regulation, but by improving economics due to the rapidly declining cost of renewables. There is also rising electrification due to artificial intelligence. Hence, we expect global power demand growth to persist.

Figure 1. Global Electricity Demand Outlook

Latin America

Rest of World

Japan & S. Korea

US

Southeast Asia

India

Europe

Australia

China

Source: BNEF Global Final Electricity Consumption Outlook (2025)

Identifying Enablers of the Next Phase of Energy Transition

Electricity is a growing part of total final energy consumption in key markets. It is as high as 28% in China and over 20% in the US and Europe, while renewables are forecast to account for about 95% of new electricity demand over the next three years. In tandem with this rise in electricity demand and its share in total energy supply, the world needs to make significant investments in power generation, as well as in transmission and distribution assets. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported global energy investment of more than US$3 trillion in 2024, with US$2 trillion going to clean energy technologies and infrastructure.

Figure 2. Annual Investments in Clean Energy in Major Economies

Fossil Fuel

Power grids and storage

Energy efficient and end-use

Renewable Power

Nuclear and other clean power

Low-emission fuels

Source: IEA World Energy Investment (2024)

The rising share of renewables in the global energy mix has created the need for solutions to the intermittent and distributed nature of renewables. Aging grid infrastructure, particularly in the developed world, poses additional challenges not only in integrating renewables, but also in grid stability and climate resilience.

Figure 3. Renewables Penetration in Key Countries

United Kingdom

United States

China

India

Germany

France

Japan

Saudi Arabia

Source: Enerdata. World Energy & Climate Statistics (2024)

There is hence a pressing need for investments in power equipment supply chains and grid infrastructure. GIC is constructive on regulated electric networks and utilities, as continued investments in their asset base will mean additional earnings growth opportunities. We especially favour assets benefiting from stable and transparent jurisdictions, with regulatory frameworks that support high cashflow predictability by providing inflation and volume protection. We also see solutions such as dispatchable baseload generation and battery storage as integral to resolving grid congestion.

Beyond electrification, the transition to a net-zero economy will also require emerging technologies, such as green fuels and long duration energy storage, to decarbonise “hard-to-abate” sectors, such as industry and heavy transport. While these technologies have yet to reach maturity, GIC has backed companies with the right attributes to succeed, such as having a differentiated technological or cost advantage. For example, GIC has invested in green ammonia projects, which benefit from access to cheap renewable electricity inputs or insourced supply chains hence making them cost-competitive relative to peers.

Energy Efficiency

This shift from molecules to electrons, coupled with the ability to achieve more with fewer resources, also presents compelling investment opportunities in energy efficiency. Such investments can create significant value by improving the output of power generation or lowering electricity bills.

Grid infrastructure is an area where efficiency solutions are in demand. The capex-intensive nature of grid investments, as well as supply chain and labour constraints, offer an opportunity for innovative solutions to ease grid congestion and improve efficiency of energy delivery. Grid optimisation solutions are essential to improve grid stability and reduce energy losses. Electrical equipment companies that offer smart grid hardware and software to utility customers are one such example.

We have also invested in smart metering companies which enable energy monitoring, optimisation and reduction for both residential and commercial customers.

Another focus is on companies that provide energy efficiency solutions across end user markets. With the number of data centres growing rapidly, we have invested in companies that provide energy management and cooling solutions to data centres to lower both their power consumption and carbon footprint. We see the same opportunities to optimise energy usage in more traditional industries.

For example, in the construction sector, companies specialising in insulation help to reduce power needs for heating and cooling. In the manufacturing sector, we see value in industry leaders in steam and compression technologies offering products that reduce customers’ total lifetime energy needs.

Adapting Investment Strategies to Complex and Evolving Realities

Although these are durable trends, in the near term, we are observing profound shifts in the global environment, driven by events such as the energy crisis sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war and cost-of-living concerns following the post-COVID-19 inflationary environment. Different governments have responded differently as they prioritise energy affordability and domestic sources of energy. The increasingly fragmented investment trends across regions compels GIC to adopt a more nuanced approach to our investments within the context of each local energy landscape.

We expect natural gas to continue to be part of the energy mix over the medium term due to its low cost, ability to provide baseload power, and relatively lower carbon emissions compared to other fossil fuels. This is particularly true in the US, which has prioritised natural gas given its access to cheap and abundant domestic supplies.

In contrast, renewables development platforms remain well-positioned in regions such as Europe, China, and India, which have tied the development of renewable energy to energy security and lower long-term energy prices. We are focused on identifying best-in-class players with highly contracted business models and strong management teams with a proven track record of pipeline delivery.

The complex landscape also means that high-quality businesses with multiple pathways to win and strong pricing power are more valuable than ever. For example, leading power and electrical equipment companies that are agnostic to the energy supply mix in each market and benefit from increased power demand regardless of supply side dynamics, are well positioned. As evidence of their pricing power, some of these companies have also historically delivered resilient shareholder returns even amidst varying economic conditions and volatile cost environments.

The GIC Advantage

The long lifespan of energy investments means that structural themes in the energy market will play out over an extended period and require investors to look past the current market volatility.

GIC has the competitive edge to identify the long-term winners in the changing global energy landscape:

Long investment horizon

Our long investment horizon enables us to capitalise on long-term trends while filtering out short-term noise. To facilitate this focus, GIC has established organisational functions, such as our Sustainability Office, specialist teams in each asset department, and cross-asset working groups. These groups monitor key developments and draw insights from different perspectives. Such close collaboration allows us to position ourselves for long-term trends in electrification and energy transition.

Investment strategies across public and private markets

Our investment strategies across public and private markets allow us to offer our portfolio companies the most flexible and appropriate funding solutions. For example, electric utilities need significant investments in the coming decade. GIC is able to invest in different ways, including participating in the equity issuances of publicly listed utilities and/or injecting capital directly into private subsidiaries.

Extensive corporate relationships

Our extensive corporate relationships have allowed us to identify and align ourselves with strong management teams, who have a consistent, long-term view on navigating the future energy landscape and optimising shareholder value.

Global reach

Our global reach, with investment teams in 11 offices worldwide, allows us to remain close to local markets and identify country-specific energy priorities and trends in a timely manner.

  1. BloombergNEF New Energy Outlook (2025)

  2. IEA (2025), Electricity 2025