Grid constraints, limited energy storage and connection delays are emerging as major barriers to the global energy transition as surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence, data centers and industrial electrification puts additional pressure on power systems, the World Energy Council said Tuesday.
According to the council's report, Rebalancing World Energy: Trade-Offs and Transformations, power systems are facing growing pressure from rising demand while also dealing with infrastructure constraints and geopolitical disruptions.
Recent disruptions to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz have added another layer of uncertainty, as countries seek to balance energy security and affordability with longer-term decarbonization goals.
Based on discussions with more than 275 senior energy leaders from 65 countries, the report identified grids, energy storage and system integration among the most common barriers to further progress in the energy transition.
The challenge is no longer simply how quickly countries can build renewable or other new generation capacity. Increasingly, it is whether power systems can absorb that capacity and deliver electricity to where it is needed.
This is placing greater emphasis on transmission networks, energy storage, flexible demand and electricity markets as countries add increasing amounts of renewable power.
"World energy is being rebalanced in real time," World Energy Council Secretary General and CEO Angela Wilkinson said.
The report shows how the surge in electrification, geopolitical disruption and persistent development gaps are creating increasingly complex choices across grids, storage, markets and institutions, Wilkinson said.
"Integration and interoperability are now critical: connecting the parts of each system and enabling different systems and pathways to work together," she said.
- Regional challenges vary
The challenges vary widely across regions.
Around 600 million people in Africa still lack access to electricity, meaning that adding generation capacity alone will not close the gap without investment in transmission, financing and infrastructure needed to deliver electricity to consumers.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is targeting a 50% renewable share in its power mix by 2030, increasing the need to balance variable renewable generation with energy storage and flexible gas-fired generation.
China has nearly 50 ultra-high-voltage transmission projects delivering more than 420 GW of cross-regional capacity, according to the report. These projects help connect major generation resources with industrial and population centers.
Brazil illustrates another challenge. Its power system is around 90% renewable but is facing rising levels of renewable power curtailment, highlighting the need for better integration of generation, storage, electricity markets and demand-side flexibility.
The report's findings suggest that the next phase of the energy transition will require not only continued investment in new generation, but also faster development of the networks, storage capacity, markets and system-management capabilities needed to integrate that generation.
By Handan Kazanci
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
