Perspectives for energy strategy from a Brazilian island

I’m spending this month working remotely from Brazil — one of the perks our London office offers as part of an opportunity to incorporate immersive travel and deeper cultural experience into our everyday lives and work. 

Recently during one of my weekend trips, I found myself on the small island of Ilha Grande where the power suddenly went out. It wasn’t a flicker or a momentary dip. The entire island was completely without power. But, within minutes, little pockets of the island, from restaurants to personal homes, switched to solar-backed power. Essential systems continued running. Life adjusted rather than stopped.

It struck me that sustainability often feels theoretical in large cities, like London, where stable infrastructure is a constant. But in places where grid reliability is less certain, renewable energy isn’t just about ideological sustainability targets set at COP30. Rather, it’s about is fundamental, practical continuity.

The emerging market advantage

In parts of Brazil and other emerging markets, decentralised solar and battery systems are growing quickly because they solve the very real and immediate problem of reliability. When energy security is variable, local generation becomes practical, not ideological. 

But this isn’t just an emerging-market story anymore - it’s a global shift in how energy is being valued and financed, which is shaping how solar and distributed energy systems are being adopted globally.

Solar has become one of the fastest-growing areas of energy investment worldwide. In recent years, global investment into solar generation has outpaced every other power source, including fossil fuels. What’s notable is not just the scale, but the shape of that investment. Alongside large utility-scale projects, there has been a sharp rise in distributed systems like rooftop solar, onsite generation, and solar-plus-storage across commercial buildings, logistics sites, campuses, and communities.

This pattern reflects a broader trend: energy strategy is becoming more decentralised, more digital, and more risk-aware.

The new investment logic

Investors and operators are recognising that centralised grids, while efficient, represent single points of failure. Extreme weather events, cyber exposure, and peak demand spikes are all increasing pressure on grid infrastructure. As electrification accelerates across our world, load profiles are becoming both heavier and less predictable.

Distributed energy resources help absorb that volatility. Onsite solar paired with batteries can shave peak demand, provide backup capacity, and stabilise operating costs. Microgrids and hybrid systems are moving from niche applications to mainstream planning conversations, particularly for critical facilities and high-energy users.

What this means for the UK

In the UK, by contrast, the grid is historically stable. Nonetheless, our own accelerated developments are putting our systems under increasing pressure. How many times has someone joked about the water demand required to service your latest question to ChatGPT? Think about that on a much larger scale: electrification of transport, heating transitions, data demand, and climate-driven weather extremes are all adding load and volatility. 

The conversation is shifting from whether we should we invest in renewables to how we build resilience into energy systems, whilst also generating attractive financial returns.

Why the shift matters for sustainability strategy and investment 

Five years ago, onsite renewables were often positioned primarily as carbon reduction projects - important, but optional or reputational. Today, they are more often evaluated alongside risk, continuity, and cost control. Energy price shocks over the past few years reinforced how exposed operations can be to external volatility. Predictable, self-generated power is increasingly attractive not just for emissions reporting, but for financial planning.

As a result, sustainability, facilities, finance, and risk teams are collaborating more closely on energy decisions. Capital allocation discussions now more frequently include onsite generation and storage; distributed energy systems; solar paired with batteries; microgrid capability; and energy resilience planning for offices and operations.

What’s changed is the rationale. What was once framed primarily as emissions reduction is now also about operational risk management and business continuity.

There’s also a perception shift underway. Solar used to be seen (especially in cloudy, developed-grid countries like the UK) as a ‘symbolic’ or ‘supplementary’ technology. Now it’s increasingly treated as core infrastructure. Costs have fallen dramatically over the past decade, deployment timelines are relatively fast, and systems are modular and scalable. This combination makes solar one of the most flexible tools in the transition toolkit - useful at both national and building level.

The lesson from a small island power cut is surprisingly relevant to large organisations: sustainability investments that double as resilience investments. They reduce carbon exposure and infrastructure vulnerability at the same time. As companies think about long-term value creation, energy strategy is moving from a cost line to a stability lever. Meanwhile, energy resilience is becoming a mainstream core strategy. While it is fundamentally tested at the edges of the grid, its value is increasingly recognised - and crucially, financed - at the centre.