2 June 2020 - London, United Kingdom - webcast held
The UK National Committee Expert Workshop focused on 'Energy Investment and innovation - Strategic challenges for an industry in transition'
The outbreak of the coronavirus COVID-19 has quickly evolved into a global crisis, with tragic human loss and a profound impact on businesses around the world. The steep drop in energy demand and parallel oil price war have caused the oil price to sharply fall resulting in the energy industry announcing billions of dollars in capital and operational spending cuts.
- How will this fast-evolving situation impact the global energy sector and the pace of transition?
- What changes will we see in the economics of the oil & gas and power sectors?
- How will this affect companies’ strategies, long term investment and financing of all segments of the energy industry?
Regulatory signals and uncertainty over energy policies can be major barriers to investment, especially for large projects with long lead times that remain essential for the future development of key sectors and for ensuring security of energy supply. A critical strategic issue is how to bridge financing gaps post crisis. This will require taking a hard look at the risks facing investments across different sectors, countries and innovative technologies.
This timely webinar featured an overview from the IEA followed by a discussion between energy and finance experts on challenges and strategic investment solutions to facilitate the development of the future energy mix, addressing such issues as:
- How will the industry come out of this crisis?
- How can investment and financing strategies address and reduce the impact of the COVID-19 and climate change risk?
- Looking toward the future energy mix – which technologies are likely to win?
To see the full webcast of the event please visit https://www.wpcuk.org/past-events/expert-workshop-2020/agenda or your details to
Lessons learnt from creating a Virtual Workshop
Marta Kozlowska, Secretary of the UK National Committee, talked to the WPC about the successes and challenges of having to switch from a physical Expert Workshop to an online event due to Covid-19. She discusses what went well, the issues that arose from having to move everything online and offers advice to other Member Countries.
How did you go about switching from a physical event to a virtual one?
The decision was taken by the organising committee as soon as we learned that a physical event would not be possible. The Energy Institute, which hosted the webinar, was planning to hold its own webinars so there was readily available support provided to the UKNC Expert Workshop Committee. The programme was redesigned to make it much shorter and the advertised date was kept the same.
How was the Expert Workshop set up?
There was a 25 minute presentation followed by questions from the chair and the audience. A moderated panel discussion followed the Q and A session, which also included questions from the audience and audience polling.
How many people attended the event?
There were 533 registrations of which 213 logged in.
What worked well?
The feedback received from delegates indicates that the webinar was very well received.
On a scale from 1-10 (with 1 being the lowest score), we had the following results: (9-10) 37 people, (7-8) 45 people, (6) 4 people; there were no lower scores. 69 people found the webinar very helpful or extremely helpful and 14 people found it somewhat helpful, again, there were no lower scores. There were also several comments that the speakers were very good. Some helpful feedback was also provided, such as, allowing more time for questions from the audience.
Were there any logistical problems setting it up online?
Yes, the system chosen for delivery of the webinar wasn’t without challenges. For example, there were technical difficulties with eliminating noise when participants logged in or off. Some participants also commented on having trouble with accessing the polling system, however others appreciated it as it made the webinar more interactive. Some people also had problems logging in which might explain the difference between the number of registrations and log-ins.
What have you learnt from switching to an online event?
There is a lot of preparation and rehearsing that goes into staging an online event. I’d advise keeping the webinar fairly short.
What can others Member Countries learn/ take from the event that you put on?
Hopefully all of the above points will be of some help. There are a plethora of webinar platforms available and it’s important to choose one that has the right functionality for what the organisers look to deliver.