'Grid, Grid, Grid': Renewables Chief Says Power Networks Are Energy Security's Most Urgent Fix

The head of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has a three-word message for governments dealing with the energy impact of the Middle East conflict.

Asked for his message to the world, Director-General Francesco La Camera said: 'Grid, grid, grid – interconnectivity, flexibility and balance. This is, I think, the most urgent thing to act on right now.'

His remarks, made during the UN General Assembly's High-Level Week, put power networks at the centre of the debate over energy security. They come as the conflict disrupts global energy markets and pushes fuel prices higher, with effects reaching worldwide.

Why Oil Reserves Alone No Longer Guarantee Security

La Camera traced the traditional idea of energy security back to the oil shocks of the 1970s. He said energy security had historically been associated with countries' reserves of oil and gas.

'Countries have realized that a centralized energy system based on fossil fuel doesn't provide energy security,' he said. He noted that fossil fuel supplies are concentrated and pass through a limited number of maritime chokepoints, allowing geopolitical shocks to reach markets quickly.

Renewables, he argued, work differently because energy can come from many sources and places and be owned by different actors. He said countries with larger shares of renewables had generally coped better with the current crisis, citing Spain as comparatively less affected and noting that close to half of Norway's road transport is now electric.

Demand Is Rising Faster Than Expected

La Camera said around 90 per cent of new power generation capacity added worldwide each year now comes from renewables. 'The direction of travel is no longer in question. The real question is the speed and scale,' he said.

He warned that electricity demand is growing faster than forecast while efficiency gains lag, potentially leaving the supply-demand gap by 2030 wider than previously projected. IRENA has set a target for electricity to account for 35 per cent of final energy consumption by 2035.

Infrastructure was the first of three priorities he outlined, with interconnected and flexible grids supported by artificial intelligence and digitalisation. The other two were a fairer legal and regulatory environment, given continued fossil-fuel subsidies, and workforce retraining.

For developing countries, he said high financing costs and limited grid infrastructure make the challenge harder. He urged multilateral financial institutions to make grid modernisation a clearer priority.

Renewable Projects Already Stuck in Grid Queues

His warning echoes findings from the International Energy Agency. In its 2023 report on electricity grids, the IEA found at least 3,000 gigawatts (GW) of renewable projects waiting in grid connection queues, including 1,500 GW at an advanced stage. The backlog was equivalent to five times the solar and wind capacity added worldwide in 2022.

The IEA also estimated that more than 80 million kilometres of grid would need to be added or refurbished by 2040, equivalent to the entire existing global network.

In its Grid Delay Case, the agency found that delayed grid development would increase reliance on gas, with global gas imports more than 80 billion cubic metres a year higher after 2030 than in a scenario aligned with national climate targets.

Great Britain provides an example of the problem. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) says its old connections queue had grown to more than 700 GW, four times what was needed by 2030, while shovel-ready projects had been waiting for up to 10 years, prompting reforms that Ofgem approved in April 2025.

La Camera's comments shift the focus from how much clean power is built to whether it can be connected and delivered. Countries that cannot connect new wind and solar quickly may remain more reliant on imported gas, leaving them exposed to the kind of fuel-price volatility being driven by the Middle East conflict.