Utilities Announce Joint Intent To Invest More Than US$116bn Annually In Grids And Renewables

Partners within the Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) launched at COP28, under the guidance of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the UN Climate Change High-level Champions, are stepping up efforts to accelerate the electrification agenda and power system transformation as the world moves towards the midway point in a crucial decade of decarbonization.

The 39 partners of UNEZA, including 32 of the largest utilities and energy companies in the world serving more than 327 million customers globally and with ambitions to scale renewables portfolios by 2.6 times by 2030, will step up efforts to expand and modernize grid infrastructure. 48% per cent of the total investment planned and committed in the coming years targets transmission and distribution infrastructure.

The announcement was made during New York Climate Week at a high-level roundtable in partnership with the World Trade Organization. It forms part of ongoing efforts by the Alliance and its members to signal increased demand for the equipment and materials that are essential to an expanding a cleaner power system, ultimately helping to underpin investments by supply chain companies in the additional manufacturing capacity that will be needed. Alongside investment commitments, UNEZA members published a high-level statement with recommendations to policymakers designed to alleviate supply chain constraints.

The high-level statement includes calls from industry for policymakers to harmonise standards of equipment across regions and jurisdictions creating a bigger market for common goods, promote free flow of supplies, establish forward-looking, integrated and long-term system planning including multi-project approvals and permitting, promote policy and regulatory business model innovation and maintain a healthy skills supply chain.

In April at the 14th IRENA Assembly, UNEZA members adopted the UNEZA Roadmap to 2030, which targets a total increase of renewable energy capacity within their portfolios. The target is 849GW by 2030, an increase of 2.6 times relative to 2023. The joint renewables ambition was announced alongside a grid infrastructure action plan that will see utilities work to address the barriers to scaling investment in grids – including supply chain constraints.

According to IRENA (2024), annual investment in renewable capacity must more than double grid investment between now and 2030, reaching USD 1550 billion per year – compared to the USD 720 billion needed annually for grid infrastructure. This increase is vital to achieve the ambitious target of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, marking a crucial step toward a sustainable, net-zero future.