The vital role of renewable energy risk management
Richard Chattock, CEO at Insurtech Gateway
The world is racing to deploy renewable energy. We see headlines about China’s solar boom, renewable output overtaking coal for the first time, and costs tumbling year on year — but what you might not see are the insurers quietly trying to quantify brand-new risks, or the start-ups racing to build the models that make that possible.
An energy shift
The transition to clean energy is accelerating. Global renewable electricity generation is forecast to climb to over 17,000TWh by 2030 — an increase of almost 90% from 2023, and enough to meet the combined power demand of China and the United States. (IEA)
In the EU, regulation is driving a massive scale up of renewable energy production with a binding target for renewables to make up at least 42.5% of the energy mix by 2030. (European Central Bank) Europe currently sits at roughly 23–25% renewables in total energy use, so hitting 42.5% means almost doubling renewable output in just five years. It is a transformational market signal — one that gives long-term clarity for investment, development and, crucially, risk transfer.
What does this mean for insurance?
There will be a vast deployment of new assets, often in new geographies, using new technologies. Renewable platforms are proliferating, offshore wind is booming, and risk managers must ask: how do we insure this bold future?
There are three key reasons why the insurance landscape faces real strain in relation to renewables:
New assets in new regions = little claims history
When you’re underwriting a ground-mounted solar PV array in a remote latitude, or a floating offshore wind farm in deep sea, the claims data simply doesn’t exist. That lack of historical precedent doesn’t mean lack of risk — it means heightened uncertainty.
For regions with history, the assets are evolving
Take offshore wind in the UK, Netherlands or Germany. They’ve been operating for years, but turbines are bigger, deeper, further offshore and connected via subsea cables into complex grids. Older claims data doesn’t reflect modern technology. The vulnerability curves change; the service environment changes; the exposure changes.
Weather is getting more extreme and the record is shifting
More frequent and more intense weather events are materially changing tail-risk profiles. When past damage doesn’t equal future expectations, conventional models don’t suffice.
Insurers need new tools to manage the risks of the transition — and that’s where startups come in.
The start-up layer
This is precisely the zone where a nimble start-up can add enormous value. Established risk-modelling capabilities are vast and complex, designed for mainstream infrastructure (real estate, oil & gas, traditional wind). But when you’re dealing with niche exposures, evolving technology or first-of-a-kind layouts, you need speed, adaptability and specialist focus.
For instance, consider the work of Renew Risk: they provide catastrophe models and risk analytics specifically built for renewable-energy assets such as offshore wind, cables, substations, foundations and more. Many insurers remain cautious about renewable-energy infrastructure. With limited claims history, rapidly evolving technology and a level of technical complexity far beyond traditional property risks, accurately quantifying exposure is a challenge that few are equipped to tackle. It’s no surprise that demand for specialist, custom-built renewable energy specific catastrophe models is now rising sharply. This kind of specialist modelling sits at the heart of modern renewable energy risk management, enabling insurers to underwrite offshore wind farms, solar assets and other renewable energy sites with confidence.
Another example is NeuWave, which addresses the risks of offshore operations associated with renewable energy. NeuWave develops high-resolution wave and environmental analytics that enable offshore wind developers, operators, and insurers to better understand their exposure to ocean conditions. Offshore wind projects are highly sensitive to weather and sea state, but conventional datasets often lack the resolution needed for complex operational and risk decisions. By combining real-time observations, decades of historical data and advanced modelling, NeuWave converts offshore uncertainty into measurable insight. Improving confidence in forecasts, enabling better operational planning and loss prevention.
Start-ups like Renew Risk and NeuWave are the enablers of transformation: they create the tools, data, models and risk frameworks essential for underwriting new exposures confidently. They bridge the gap between energy innovation and insurance capability.
Learn more about Renew Risk’s products
The role of investment and ecosystems
Having been in the insurance and reinsurance world for three decades, I know that change happens through ecosystems — not solo heroes. That’s where we at Insurtech Gateway come in. We specialise in supporting early-stage insurtech founders reimagining how risk is measured, mitigated and managed.
Why this matters for renewables:
When investors get behind startups they can build the specialist models insurers do not have the bandwidth to create in-house — improving pricing, clarity and confidence.
When the ecosystem as a whole supports these startups, the insurance market becomes more ready to support the energy transition — unlocking capital, boosting capacity, and closing protection gaps.
Start-ups move faster. They iterate, specialise, and focus deeply on niche exposures — exactly what this sector demands.
Why I’m excited (and you should be too)
When I reflect on my time as an underwriter of many complex industrial risks and later as CEO of a Lloyd’s syndicate, what stands out is the growing level of uncertainty. Risk has always evolved, but now it’s accelerating. The world is building at scale — with new asset classes, new geographies, new technology, all in the environment of climate change. For insurance to keep up, innovation has to happen on both sides: energy and risk.
So, if you’re working on a SaaS platform that monitors turbine foundations for offshore wind farms, or developing a parametric cover for subsea cable failure tied into extreme-weather events, you’re building in one of the most important growth areas in our industry. If you’re a (re)insurer exploring how to deploy capacity into renewable-energy exposures, partnering with a start-up may be the fastest route to confidence.
The transition to renewables is not just about generating clean power — it’s about quantifying, transferring and managing the risks that go with it.
If you’re a founder or insurer building this bridge between energy and risk, let’s connect. The winds of change are blowing — and the insurance market needs to catch them.