Limited Grid Capacity Blocks 1,700 GW of Renewables in EU, 2,600 GW in U.S.
A lack of transmission capacity has left 1,700 gigawatts of renewable energy projects waiting to be connected to the grid in Europe alone, depriving the continent of more than three times the new renewable capacity it would need to meet its 2030 energy and climate targets, concludes a report released last week.
The review of 32 transmission system operators (TSOs) across 28 countries warns that “old government targets and market assumptions… do not reflect the exponential growth in renewables on the ground and act as a systemic handbrake on building a flexible grid capable of absorbing increasingly high shares of renewables,” the four organizations behind the report—Beyond Fossil Fuels, the E3G and Ember consultancies, and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis—warn in a joint release.
Citing last month’s massive grid outage in Spain and Portugal as a “reminder of the critical importance of grid upgrades and governance,” the release says homegrown renewables and electrification will be essential to make good on the EU’s recent commitment to end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
The groups say the renewables projects caught in interconnection queues spanned 16 European countries, while seven countries had to curtail €7.2 billion worth of renewable electricity in 2024 and pass the cost on to consumers. Of the 32 TSOs covered by the study, only five were considering scenarios where renewables replace coal by 2035, while 11 made no reference to climate targets in their strategic plans.
“Europe’s electricity grid is not modernizing fast enough, and that must change,” said E3G research manager Vilislava Ivanova. “To unlock a resilient, fossil-free economy, governments must send clear political signals about the need to meet climate targets, ensuring grid operators plan with the ambition and foresight the transition demands.”
In the United States, the grid interconnection queue reached 2,600 GW in 2023, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reported last April.
Cover photo: Laurseum / Pixabay
