With climate change becoming an ever-increasing challenge, many eyes are on the energy infrastructure industry to help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Even though renewable energy provided over a quarter (26%) of the world's power in 2022, the majority of the world still runs on carbon-based fuels, and the growth of nuclear power production has remained largely stagnant for many years.
As electricity continues to get more expensive and technological advancements like AI transform the market, it's important to look at energy infrastructure trends to understand the future. To help dealmakers navigate this rapidly changing space, we've put together a list of the trends in the energy industry and uncovered the fastest-growing private energy infrastructure companies today. Let's dive in!
As with most industries, energy infrastructure is dominated by a few key market leaders. Giants such as Shell and Exxon Mobil brought in nearly $400 billion in revenue last year, with the next group of industry leaders reaching just over 60% of that. Of course, all the top energy infrastructure companies offer petroleum-based products, showcasing how far renewable energy companies still have to go.
As demand for electricity increases around the world, power production is also rising and is expected to reach 34 trillion kWh in just four years — a 27% jump from last year's recorded production. Considering production levels have remained fairly stagnant over the past five years, growing a meager 4.8% since 2018, it's clear that change is on the horizon. The only question is how much new energy infrastructure trends will affect the industry's trajectory.
In 2023, renewable energy contributed 10% of the global economy — to the tune of $320 billion. The entire market size is estimated to be just over $1.2 trillion and is expected to keep growing at a rather fast rate. Experts estimate the global renewable energy market's compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to be 17.2% over the next 6 years, with the US growing at a slightly slower rate of 15.7%.
With increasing pressure from scientists and governments alike and severe global weather events such as extreme storms and rampant wildfires, the need to reduce our use of fossil fuels is at an all-time high. As such, it’s no surprise to see the growth of clean energy emerge as one of the top energy industry trends.
Households, businesses, and especially industrial energy consumers are using more power than ever. Even as electricity prices increase, people are buying more electric cars, which is putting a strain on energy infrastructure as charging needs increase. Some power companies, such as Edison International, expect electricity demand to surge by 80% over the next 20 years.
Tapping into user-provided power and properly routing energy where it's most needed is a challenge that energy providers will have to solve. For example, the United Kingdom is currently considering making solar panels a requirement on all future homes in its Future Homes Standard legislation.
Another result of this challenge is a relatively new market known as energy-as-a-service (EaaS), which implements real-time energy monitoring and control to help enhance efficiency and build smart grids. While the global EaaS is currently fairly small at a market size of just $77 million in 2023, it is anticipated to grow at an 11.8% CAGR to $208 million by 2032, and is one of the energy infrastructure trends we expect to see more of in the coming years.
Technological advancements are affecting the energy infrastructure industry in many ways. First, how we produce energy has changed, including new innovations such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), which reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Second, these inventions have dramatically increased energy efficiency across multiple industries.
For example, insulation techniques in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings have dramatically evolved, from asbestos in the 1800s to fiberglass to spray foam insulation. Now, we're even creating alternative insulation sources that help make the entire process more environmentally friendly, such as wood waste.
There are also technological energy infrastructure trends that originate from outside the industry, such as AI. While this technology has the potential to drastically improve efficiency, it's important to understand the massive amount of computing power necessary to fuel the models behind it. If AI usage continues its current upward trajectory, energy requirements will grow along with it, further straining energy grids.
To find out which companies are harnessing these energy infrastructure trends to grow faster than their peers, we used Sourcescrub's deal sourcing platform to source the world's top 25 fastest-growing private energy infrastructure companies based on their recent 12-month growth rate. Here's what we learned after analyzing the list:
As with most of the fastest-growing private companies in our previous sector analyses, the majority of the energy infrastructure companies on our list are relatively small. Over three-quarters of the list have fewer than 50 employees, with the majority falling in the 11 - 50 employee range. Another 20% of the list has between 51 and 500 employees, with a single outlier touting between 5,001 and 10,000 employees on staff.
The fastest-growing energy infrastructure companies are all fairly young, with the oldest founded just 10 years ago in 2014. Over half of the companies overall (56%) were founded between 2010 and 2019, with the remaining companies (44%) between 2020 and 2023.
Perhaps this distribution is because relatively new technology is fueling these companies' growth, and older, legacy companies have yet to take advantage of these innovations.
The US and UK's commitment to improving energy infrastructure shows, as the company headquarters on our list are split evenly between the two countries at 48% each. A single Germany-based company also made the cut.
In a first for our Sector Investing Series, all 25 of the top companies fall within one estimated revenue category: $1 - 10 million. They are also surprisingly similar in terms of revenue generation: the minimum estimated revenue is just over $6 million, and the average is $7.1 million.
Aarvee’s High-Value Engineering (HVE) teams offer design, drafting, BIM, and modeling services for infrastructure projects worldwide. Acting as a reserve of skilled and experienced resources for companies that struggle to find the right personnel for their project needs, Aarvee provides tailored solutions that cater to its clients' changing requirements. Whether they need short-term support to augment their teams or want to expand their operations, Aarvee can help.
Arcanum Infrastructure develops, owns, and operates production and infrastructure assets and services to downstream and petrochemical customers. The company produces the world's highest purity butene-1 at its flagship facility in Baytown, Texas, an on-purpose ethylene-to-butene-1 processing facility. Meanwhile, its Logistics & Services segment provides operational services across both land and waterborne shipping services to supply strategic materials for its customers.
Energos Infrastructure Management
Energos Infrastructure Management, LLC operates as a maritime transportation company that serves communities by delivering energy and infrastructure they can’t access through traditional means. The company also supports governments and companies in navigating the shift from today’s energy sources to their future energy mix, especially where traditional energy infrastructure isn't available.
For over 20 years, Energy Supply ENGIE has been active in the UK energy market. A global energy player with UK investments in renewable energy and storage, the company supplies gas and electric energy to organizations of all sizes and is committed to providing a portfolio of flexible and responsive low-carbon assets, including energy storage, wind, and solar.
Grid United’s mission is to develop next-generation energy infrastructure to power humanity's future. The company believes the grid of the future should reliably deliver the energy people want, exactly when and where they need it. By developing utility-scale electric transmission projects that will provide long-term economic benefits to communities across the US, Grid United is working to make energy grids more efficient, resilient, and secure.
As energy systems become more complex and shift to distributed generation and more localized networks, the need for flexible and responsive solutions becomes paramount. ion Ventures specializes in utilizing appropriate technology and commercial expertise to identify and deliver solutions that meet these challenges.
Kenera is a business unit within the leading drilling, engineering, and technology company, KCA Deutag. It expands the group’s offering in hydrocarbon and energy transition markets and consolidates the skills, competencies, and experience of the existing KCA Deutag group with those of Bentec — its land rig and oilfield equipment manufacturer — and RDS — its UK-based engineering and design specialist. Kenera has three dedicated segments that cover innovative services, technology & engineering, and manufacturing.
Reventus Power, Ltd. is a renewable energy company that originates and invests in offshore wind projects' development and long-term management. It provides commercial and technical services to CPP Investments’ other portfolio companies as well as strategic advice and oversight to Maple Power, CPP Investments' joint venture with Enbridge, in offshore wind projects in Europe.
Sea of Gravity (SEA.O.G) is a full-service marine contractor and asset-based logistics provider for the renewable energy industry. It caters to both the offshore wind industry and onshore capital project logistics for EPC firms and heavy haulers to bring large-scale industrial projects to fruition. Based in Seattle, WA, and Houston, TX, its teams combine expert know-how and technology for the on- and offshore energy logistics markets.
SolUnesco, Inc., is an independent renewable energy developer whose primary focus is advancing utility-scale solar projects in the Mid-Atlantic. The company's focus is on land acquisition and project development, including site design and engineering, permitting and zoning, environmental studies, electric grid interconnection, power sales, and financing. It works with landowners, electric utilities, state and local officials, financing partners, and large energy customers.
As our energy infrastructure trends show, the industry is poised for a revolution. Traditional energy production is becoming more expensive, and fossil fuel reserves continue to dwindle. Innovative energy infrastructure companies will become more important to the global energy industry. Private equity firms, venture capitalists, investment banks, or corporate development teams looking to add a potential superstar to their portfolio should look no further.
With countless sources and millions of available data points, Sourcescrub can help you uncover more companies like the ones on our list. Our deal sourcing platform will help you source more opportunities and close more deals. Download the list of the top 25 fastest-growing private energy infrastructure companies here.
