Global utilities and leading power sector equipment manufacturers have jointly announced a roadmap to strengthen electricity grid supply chains as the rapid transition toward clean energy places unprecedented pressure on transmission infrastructure worldwide.

The announcement was made during London Climate Action Week, where governments, utilities and industry leaders highlighted the urgent need to accelerate electrification while ensuring that global manufacturing capacity can support the expansion of power grids.

The initiative, led by the Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA), commits members to harmonising fragmented equipment standards, improving long-term demand visibility for manufacturers and expanding coordinated procurement efforts to address growing supply chain bottlenecks.

According to UNEZA, member utilities representing some of the world’s largest electricity providers are expected to require nearly 90,000 kilometres of transmission cable by 2030—enough to wrap around the Earth more than twice—as well as more than 270 high-voltage transformers, significantly exceeding current global manufacturing capacity. Transformer delivery lead times currently extend beyond three years in many markets.

The alliance noted that accelerating electrification and the shift toward clean power are driving record levels of investment in transmission infrastructure, creating mounting pressure on manufacturers and raw material suppliers. Addressing these constraints has become a strategic priority for UNEZA, which is co-led by UK utility SSE and Abu Dhabi-based TAQA in partnership with the Global Clean Power Alliance (GCPA).

Operating under the guidance of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, UNEZA aims to strengthen collaboration between governments, utilities and equipment manufacturers to accelerate the deployment of resilient electricity infrastructure.

UK Climate Minister Katie White said closer collaboration between governments and industry would help overcome infrastructure bottlenecks and deliver the grid expansion needed to meet rising global electricity demand.

IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera said that while renewable energy deployment has reached scale, the next challenge lies in ensuring electricity grids and supply chains can expand quickly enough to deliver reliable clean power. He also reiterated IRENA’s call for achieving a 35% global electrification target by 2035, stressing that resilient supply chains will be essential to supporting energy security and system reliability.

Khalifa Al Mheiri, Chief Strategy & Investment Officer at TAQA Transmission, said the pace of the energy transition depends not only on infrastructure investment but also on strengthening global manufacturing networks. He noted that UNEZA’s initiatives to harmonise technical standards and explore pooled procurement models would provide greater certainty for suppliers while enabling utilities to deliver projects more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Similarly, Glenn Barber, Director of Corporate Affairs at SSE, emphasised that long-term demand visibility is critical for encouraging manufacturers to invest in additional production capacity and technological innovation. He added that electrification targets can only be achieved if electricity grids expand rapidly enough to support growing demand.

The roadmap was unveiled following a high-level roundtable jointly hosted by UNEZA and the Global Clean Power Alliance, with support from IRENA and the COP31 Climate High-Level Champion.

During COP30, UNEZA members increased their collective annual investment target for renewable energy, electricity grids and energy storage from USD 117 billion to USD 148 billion. Total clean energy investments by alliance members between COP28 and 2030 are projected to exceed USD 1 trillion, with a substantial portion allocated to modernising transmission infrastructure.

Based on planned investments, UNEZA estimates that member utilities will require approximately 79,000 kilometres of overhead transmission lines, 9,400 kilometres of underground and subsea cables, 273 high-voltage transformers, 12,000 medium- and low-voltage transformers, and 77 substations over the coming years.

To strengthen supply chain resilience, UNEZA also launched a dedicated Delivery Mechanism focused on supply chains and pooled procurement. Under the initiative, member utilities committed to three key actions: providing annual demand forecasts to improve manufacturing investment certainty, advancing harmonised equipment standards to simplify procurement and improve interoperability, and scaling coordinated procurement alongside innovation to reduce supply chain risks and accelerate grid deployment.

UNEZA stated that these measures are intended to encourage greater manufacturing investment, lower procurement risks and speed up the delivery of critical electricity infrastructure needed to support the global energy transition.

Since its launch during the COP28 UAE Presidency, UNEZA has expanded to 85 member organisations and continues to focus on addressing shared industry challenges, including supply chain resilience, capital mobilisation and policy barriers. The alliance said it will continue refining its supply chain roadmap in collaboration with utilities, manufacturers, governments and international organisations ahead of COP31, supporting global efforts to strengthen energy security and accelerate clean energy deployment.

Related