Europe’s electricity grid is lagging behind the pace of renewable energy growth, jeopardising efforts to cut fossil fuel reliance.
That’s the latest from a report by Beyond Fossil Fuels, E3G, Ember and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
The report finds outdated planning and weak governance among grid operators are blocking the build-out of critical infrastructure needed to connect renewables.
Despite the EU’s roadmap to phase out Russian fossil fuels, the analysis shows grid operators across 28 countries are using outdated scenarios based on obsolete government targets and market assumptions.
This mismatch is acting as a “systemic handbrake” on Europe’s energy transition.
Waiting list
Grid capacity bottlenecks have left 1,700 GW of renewable energy projects stuck in connection queues across 16 countries—three times what’s needed to hit 2030 EU energy targets.
In 2024 alone, €7.2 billion worth of clean power was wasted across seven countries due to grid constraints, with costs passed on to consumers.
The report also highlights a governance gap.
Only five of 34 transmission system operators (TSOs) are planning for a fully decarbonised grid by 2035 and just five regulators have legal duties tied to climate neutrality.
Eleven TSOs make no reference to climate goals at all.
Juliet Phillips of Beyond Fossil Fuels said: “Europe needs a great grid build-out to scale up homegrown renewables, drive economic growth and break free from risky fossil fuel markets. Governments urgently need to dislodge these fatbergs from the planning system so that grid operators can get renewable projects hooked up.”
Vilislava Ivanova, research manager at E3G, added: “Europe’s electricity grid is not modernising fast enough and that must change. 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.”
The report praises the UK’s new National Energy System Operator (NESO), a public planning body independent from National Grid, as an example of best practice.
It calls on governments to strengthen oversight, update planning rules and empower regulators and operators with clear climate mandates to ensure grids become enablers, not barriers, of a decarbonised future.
