The British company, whose businesses supply gas and electricity to millions of customers, said the deals would increase the proportion of its assets in electricity to 70% from 60%.

Based on assessments of energy venture capital deal flow, market analyses, and conversations with industry insiders, below are four indisputable utility sector trends -- regardless of whether the 2020 craziness repeats itself -- and the emerging, venture-backed technologies on the market to support the energy transition in 2021.

The modern grid, also known as the smart grid, is interconnected and automated, with many technologies involved, including artificial intelligence (AI), edge computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

There are several new undersea power cable interconnector projects about to become operational across Europe. These high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) projects will enable significant transfers of renewable energy.

Micro-grids find niches where existing service is poor, non-existent and/or expensive

The main question is how to design a better system of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Energy, with low carbon, without reducing the reliability and without imposing undue and unnecessary costs.

bp, Eni, Equinor, National Grid, Shell and Total form Northern Endurance Partnership to develop ‎offshore carbon dioxide infrastructure in the UK North Sea, with bp as operator

The energy market is rapidly changing. In the past several years, power grids have transformed from a few well-controlled generating units to multiple distributed energy resources connected to a vast system managed by increasingly digital solutions.

About 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to any form of electricity.

In 2017, Peru set a target of 100% rural electrification by 2021, requiring new transmission lines.