Clean energy is growing exponentially globally, with 2024 marking yet another record in wind energy alone, accounting for 117 GW of new installations worldwide. Some countries, like Kenya, aim to achieve a 100% renewable energy grid by 2030, with wind power generation capacity at 2,036 MW by that year.
However, governments and industry stakeholders have recognized that, without significant upgrades and expansion, grids will remain the bottleneck preventing the large-scale integration of renewable energy. The International Energy Agency reports that at least 3TW of renewables projects are waiting in grid connection queues.
Strengthening grid infrastructure is essential to improving energy affordability, fostering cross-border electricity trade, and providing a stable power supply to industries and communities. Ngong Wind Farm, with an installed capacity of 25.5 MW, was the first wind farm to be connected to the national grid in East Africa.
What Should Be Done for Clean Energy
In the outcomes of COP29, the Grids and Storage Pledge played a pivotal role for grids in energy transmission by committing to add or refurbish 25 million kilometers of grids by 2030. However, to align with the net-zero emissions by 2050, the IEA shows that an additional 65 kilometers will be needed by 2040.
Grid Expansion and Modernization.
To enhance energy security and increase the economic viability of new renewable energy projects, accelerating grid expansion and modernization is key. This will also unlock the full potential of renewable energy, enabling greater flexibility, resilience, and efficiency in electricity systems.
Solutions such as Green Corridors and the development of Green Energy Zones can drive targeted infrastructure expansion, improve regional connectivity, and support decentralized renewable integration. Additionally, micro and mini grids play a key role in extending electricity access to complex geographies and underserved areas, ensuring that clean energy reaches where it is needed most.
Streamlining permitting and regulatory processes
COP29 emphasized the urgency of regulatory reforms to expedite approvals, ensuring that grid infrastructure projects can move forward at the pace needed to support the green energy transition.
Governments are implementing policies to promote renewable energy resources. In 2008, Kenya launched a Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff policy, which aimed at promoting all renewable energy resources.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council report, aligning regulatory frameworks with long-term renewable energy targets is crucial to bridging the gap between policy ambition and execution. Proactive policy changes that integrate anticipatory grid planning, enforce permitting deadlines, and encourage cross-sector collaboration will accelerate grid expansion.
Enhancing flexibility and the system balancing mechanism
Grid operators require a diverse set of tools to balance renewable generation effectively, and a more flexible power system is essential to accommodate the variability of renewable energy generation.
An analysis by Compass Lexecon concluded that fostering flexibility in Europe should rely on three key market design principles: addressing barriers to the participation of flexible resources in different markets, ensuring that market design reflects the full value of flexibility for the power system, and enabling efficient stacking of revenues across markets. Consequently, the electricity markets must evolve to provide stronger incentives for flexibility solutions.
Turning Pledges into Actions
Turning pledges into actions has long been the global community’s weakness in addressing the climate crisis, as evidenced by the $100 billion climate finance pledge made in 2009 during the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen.
While the Grids and Storage Pledge at COP29 was an important milestone, it is only the beginning. Implementation will determine whether these commitments translate into real-world impact. Scaling up investments, modernising regulatory frameworks and accelerating infrastructure deployment are essential to ensuring that grids can support the rapid growth of renewable energy.
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