World Energy Council (WEC) has published the latest state-of-the-art chart on performance in providing a safe and affordable energy system, which also takes into account the principles of environmental sustainability (World Energy Trilemma Index 2018).

The World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma Index ranks countries’ energy performance on three dimensions: Energy Security, Energy Equity, and Environmental Sustainability, based on global and national data. The results show impacts of decisions and changes, suggesting where policy coherence and integrated policy innovation can help develop well calibrated energy systems in the context of the Grand Energy Transition. Robust energy systems are secure, equitable and environmentally sustainable, showing a carefully managed balance between the three dimensions. Maintaining this balance in the context of rapid transition to decentralised, decarbonised, and digital systems is challenging: there are risks of passive trade-offs between equally critical priorities. The 2018 Energy Trilemma Index Report shows that many countries are managing the balance successfully, with eight nations achieving a top AAA balance score.

The Energy Trilemma once more ranks Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden at the top, recognising the well-balanced energy systems in these countries. Denmark also achieves the highest score for Energy Security, followed by Slovenia and Canada, all demonstrating secure, diverse and resilient systems. The Energy Equity dimension ranking is topped by smaller countries, where connectivity is managed well, as well as countries where energy is affordable due to government policies: Qatar tops the list, followed by Luxemburg, Bahrain and the Netherlands. The Environmental Sustainability ranking identifies countries with low carbon and energy intensity, resulting in lower emissions: this highlights lower energy users per capita, including the Philippines, Costa Rica and Uruguay.

The Country ranking can be found here.

Source: WEC