Building resilience demands strategic foresight and operational discipline – Kearney’s Imanol Abulu

He stressed that as companies expand renewable energy deployment, prioritising value creation over volume is essential for lasting success.

Asia’s power sector is being reshaped by decarbonisation, technological advances, and evolving market dynamics. To succeed, companies must scale renewable capacity whilst embedding value creation, digital innovation, and operational excellence to deliver affordable, secure, and sustainable energy.

Sharing expert perspectives is Imanol Arbulu, Partner in the Energy Practice at Kearney, specialising in operations and performance, sustainability, and transformation. He is recognised for his entrepreneurial approach to client engagements, focusing on long-term partnerships that drive resilience and strategic growth.

With a career firmly rooted in the energy sector, Arbulu began as a design engineer at Sener, where he played a key role in the Gemasolar Thermosolar Plant in Seville, the first utility-scale solar facility with molten salt heat storage technology, capable of providing continuous power to nearly 30,000 households since 2011.

As a judge at the Asian Power Awards 2025, Arbulu discussed the drivers of decarbonisation, technology, and energy security, and how companies can transform to remain competitive in Asia’s evolving power landscape.

What do you see as the most influential key drivers of the power industry in Asia today?

There are a few key drivers of the power industry in Asia today. First, decarbonisation mandates/targets and enabling policies such as third-party network access are setting the right framework to enable the growth of new business models in the industry. As a result, the power industry is now more competitive and efficient than ever.

Second, technology development and falling renewable costs are shifting the economics of power. Solar and wind now consistently deliver lower LCOE than conventional generation, and advances in storage and digital grids further strengthen their competitiveness. This dynamic is making renewables the clear choice for new capacity across Asia.

Finally, energy security and regional interconnection are emerging as critical drivers. Recent global volatility has underscored the need for diversified supply and resilient infrastructure, pushing countries to prioritise renewables and cross-border grid links. This approach balances sustainability with reliability, ensuring affordable and secure power for growing economies.

How should companies approach transformational change to remain competitive?

As companies accelerate their renewable energy deployment journeys, it is crucial that they prioritise value creation over volume alone. In our recent Kearney report, “From Potential to Performance: Value Creation in Renewables,” we emphasise that true transformation requires moving beyond ambition into disciplined execution. This means adopting an integrated approach that combines portfolio optimisation, operational excellence, and capital efficiency—delivering not just more projects, but stronger returns across the value chain. To remain competitive, companies must also invest in digital capabilities, lifecycle cost management, and scalable solutions that adapt to evolving market dynamics. Just as importantly, leadership and culture need to anchor change in accountability, agility, and incentives that reinforce performance. Finally, success depends on the ability to pilot, learn, and scale quickly—embedding new business models into core operations whilst carefully managing risk.

In what ways can growth programmes in the power sector be successful in the long term?

Sustained growth in the power sector requires a disciplined focus on four dimensions. First, companies must capture emerging opportunities in new sectors enabled by cutting-edge technologies and business models, serving the targeted needs of C&I customers such as data centres. Second, they should unlock portfolio-level synergies during capital deployment, ensuring that scale translates into real efficiency and resilience. Third, harnessing analytics and AI in operations is essential to optimise performance, reduce downtime, and maximise returns. Finally, once asset cashflows stabilise, companies should recycle capital into higher-return ventures, accelerating growth whilst maintaining financial discipline. As we saw in more mature markets, those players that combine ambition with these four levers will be best positioned to sustain long-term success.

How can Asian power companies build resilience in the face of market and environmental disruptions?

Building resilience in Asia’s power sector requires both strategic foresight and operational discipline. Companies must pursue diversification across markets and technologies to avoid overexposure to regulatory shifts in any single jurisdiction. Additionally, they should embed a value-first mindset from project conception, ensuring robust returns on invested capital and creating the economic margin needed to withstand unforeseen shocks. Finally, resilience depends on active engagement with market makers and regulatory bodies, not only to anticipate policy changes but also to shape outcomes by providing a clear industry perspective on their impact. Together, these measures enable power companies to navigate volatility whilst sustaining long-term growth and competitiveness.

Looking ahead, what innovations do you expect to have the greatest impact on Asia’s power industry in the coming years?

Looking ahead, I believe three developments will have the greatest impact on Asia’s power sector. First, improved network management technologies will be essential to keep transmission and distribution systems resilient as large volumes of renewables come online. Second, analytics and AI will optimise asset integrity and returns, enabling smarter operations and predictive maintenance across power portfolios. Finally, growth will be accelerated by rising demand from AI-driven data centres and the electrification of mobility through EVs, which will reshape load profiles and drive further investment in clean generation. Together, these trends will define the next chapter of the region’s power industry.

As a judge at the Asian Power Awards 2025, what key criteria will you use when evaluating the nominees' achievements in the sector?

For me, the most compelling achievements are those that not only deliver measurable impact today but also position companies to thrive in a rapidly evolving energy landscape. As a result, I will be looking for projects that clearly demonstrate value creation, innovation, and long-term resilience.