BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 20. Some $644 billion is set to be invested in energy grids globally in 2024, Trend reports.
According to the research made by Rystad Energy, an independent energy research and business intelligence company from Norway, the progress, however, faces a potential hurdle in the form of outdated and insufficient power grids.
To effectively limit global warming to 1.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, Rystad Energy suggests a substantial $3.1 trillion investment in grid infrastructure is needed before 2030.
In this scenario, an extra 18 million kilometers of grid network would be required to keep up with the ongoing electrification in cities and counties, driven by the surge in new renewable energy capacity and the rapid adoption of electric vehicles.
This would bring the total length of power grids worldwide to 104 million kilometers by 2030, extending further to 140 million kilometers by 2050. At the same time, according to the research, this immediate expansion of 18 million kilometers would demand almost 30 million tonnes of copper, a commodity already facing shortages.
Thus, Rystad Energy anticipates that global grid investments will hit $374 billion this year, with China contributing approximately 30 percent to the overall total.
Meanwhile, the US Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) allocates $65 billion for upgrading and expanding the national power infrastructure, and in late November 2023, the European Commission launched an Action Plan for Grids, calling for $626 billion in investment between 2020 and 2030. Both the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are exploring ways to streamline financing to support these substantial grid investments. In the UK, National Grid has initiated an action plan to overhaul its network for the first time in decades, committing over $20.16 billion in upgrades between 2022 and 2026.
