'Electrifying everything' is key to Europe's future, says IEA chief
www.euronews.com
The International Energy Agency (IEA) chief told Euronews that safeguarding the continent's energy security and reaching climate goals will be dependent on electrifying "everything" — from energy infrastructure, to transport and buildings. #TheEuropeConversation

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7442665

“I will give one shocking number. Last year in Europe, we installed a record 80 gigawatts of renewable capacity. More than 400 gigawatts of renewable capacity were ready. But we couldn’t connect it to the grid. And it didn’t go to the households or the factories. This is completely crazy. Economically, it doesn’t make sense at all.”

Birol compared this push for green energy to developing the necessary infrastructure to build a fancy, efficient car, while forgetting to build roads.

Grid failures were also tied to the Iberian Peninsula blackout that left 60 million people without power in April 2025.

The ageing European grid was highlighted in a study by energy think tank Ember published this week, which found that the EU doesn’t have an issue generating green power — wind and solar generated more EU electricity than fossil fuels for the first time in 2025 — but that its “outdated” grid means it has a problem moving that power around.