Around $5 trillion a year in investment is needed to deliver the "35 by 35" target of raising electricity's share in global final energy consumption to 35% by 2035, according to the head of strategic infrastructure at the International Renewable Energy Agency's (IRENA) Innovation and Technology Centre.
Speaking to Anadolu on the sidelines of COP31 in Antalya, Simon Benmarraze said the initiative requires coordinated action across the energy sector, with power grids and renewable energy capacity playing a central role.
According to IRENA's World Energy Transitions Outlook, annual investment in electricity transmission and distribution must rise from about $500 billion in 2025 to around $1 trillion a year through 2035, Benmarraze said.
Annual spending needs to reach $1.52 trillion for power generation, $1.28 trillion for grids and flexibility, and $2.26 trillion for electrifying end-use sectors between 2026 and 2035. Meeting the target also requires renewable capacity to reach 18.4 terawatts by 2035, up from 5.14 terawatts at the end of 2025, he added.
Beyond the financial requirements, Benmarraze stressed that achieving the 2035 target also depends on turning international climate commitments into concrete action.
Successive climate conferences had helped build the foundations for the current push to accelerate the energy transition, according to Benmarraze.
He said COP28 focused on tripling renewable energy capacity and improving energy efficiency, COP29 on energy storage and power grids, and COP30 on transitioning away from fossil fuels.
At COP31, the priority should be implementation across all sectors, Benmarraze said.
Achieving these goals will require a significant expansion of both renewable energy generation and the infrastructure needed to deliver electricity, he said.
- Türkiye advances offshore wind ambitions
Commenting on Türkiye's energy transition, Benmarraze said the country's 5 gigawatt offshore wind target for 2035, and the launch of its first offshore wind tender under the Renewable Energy Resource Zone (YEKA) scheme, could support its decarbonization efforts.
"Türkiye has set the target and opened the first tender. That is how an ambition becomes a pipeline," he said.
Benmarraze also pointed to Türkiye's announcements on technology and industrial development, saying they showed that the country was positioning itself for the "age of electricity."
He praised the preparations for COP31 and cooperation between Türkiye and Australia, adding that joint efforts would continue beyond the Antalya summit and carry on until the next climate conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in November 2027.
By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu and Gokce Topbas
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
