Will we let grid be the undoing of Europe’s energy transition?

Europe has made remarkable strides in deploying renewable energy, but grid infrastructure remains the Achilles’ heel of the energy transition.

The impacts of underinvestment alongside regulatory hurdles are becoming increasingly evident in today’s volatile energy market. Grid congestion and curtailment are crippling the ability of clean energy projects to come online, leaving gigawatts of potential capacity stranded, and rendering new project financially unfeasible.

The reality is, no matter how much solar and wind capacity we install, the energy transition cannot succeed without a grid capable of handling it. Ensuring the grid is fit for purpose must be treated with the same urgency as renewable deployment itself. This means permitting reform, strategic site selection, investment in storage, and appropriately remunerating a flexible grid.

Without decisive action, the mismatch between renewable energy deployment and grid readiness will intensify, slowing progress and ultimately increasing consumer costs.

Integrating renewables without delay

Developers today are forced to navigate fragmented and inconsistent permitting processes.

Complex, multi-layered approvals process are slowing projects down, delaying the benefits of clean energy and deterring investment.

A streamlined, standardised approach across EU member states is essential and, to do this, adopting a “one-stop-shop” platform for permitting is the best vehicle to allow developers to navigate approvals across multiple jurisdictions seamlessly, accelerating deployment timelines.

Standardised documentation and approval criteria across EU member states can reduce complexity and inconsistencies. Instead of dealing with multiple agencies, fragmented regulations, and lengthy bureaucratic delays, developers could have a single entry-point to handle all necessary permits and approvals in a single, streamlined system.

Optimising location

Having a single entry-point would also help identify areas where renewable energy projects can be connected more efficiently to the grid.

Mapping optimal locations for renewable energy sources, including proximity to existing and planned substations, would drastically reduce the time and costs associated with grid connections while minimising the economic-and environmental impact of large-scale renewable installations.

This cannot be achieved without close coordination between transmission system operators (TSOs), central governments, and local authorities.

Stronger locational signals to generation and demand can also incentivise optimised location and operation of assets, help mitigate network constraints and drive optimised use of flexible assets and interconnectors.

Recent debates on how to achieve this show that several potential solutions exist. A combination of reformed network charging, enhanced balancing and flexibility markets, and stronger network signals — think of connection charges, queue management, heat maps — can send stronger investment and operational signals alike.

These tools incentivise developers to choose locations that align with grid needs, reducing network constraints and improving the utilisation of flexible assets and interconnectors.

By providing clear investment signals, we can better align generation with demand, ensuring that energy assets are both optimally located and operated, reducing the risk of overbuilding or underutilisation.

Grid flexibility the missing piece

Permitting and planning might seem like simple fixes, but Europe will still face a fundamental challenge: renewable energy generation does not always align with demand. Grid flexibility is the missing piece in the puzzle, and without it, we will continue to waste vast amounts of clean energy through curtailment.

Europe lags behind other regions in deploying battery storage, largely due to a lack of clear, long-term revenue structures that make these projects bankable. Instead of relying on outdated capacity-based models, Europe must adopt performance-based grid planning that rewards projects designed to enhance flexibility.

A standardised framework for both standalone and hybrid projects, which combine solar and wind with battery storage, must be introduced alongside fast-tracked permitting that maximises existing infrastructure. Meanwhile, the ability to revenue stack will give investors the long-term certainty they need to participate in developing storage solutions.

It’s not just up to policymakers. TSOs must accelerate the development of long-term flexible capacity products, creating a predictable balancing market for grid-stabilising assets, while local ancillary services, managed by Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), can play a crucial role in enhancing grid stability at the low-voltage level.

A call to action

Europe cannot afford to let its grid be the bottleneck that derails the clean energy transition. The solutions are clear: permitting reform, strategic site selection, investment in storage, and a flexible grid that can handle the volatility of renewables. What is missing is the political will to act with the urgency that the energy transition demands.

Either we build a grid fit for the future, or we remain constrained to the fossil fuel system it was designed for.