The IEA has urged countries to invest more into modernizing and upgrading the electricity grid. In what it claims is a first report of its kind, the agency finds that the world must add or replace 80 million km of grids by 2040, equal to all grids globally today, to meet national climate targets and support energy security.

Demand for electricity is predicted to surge as many consumers switch to low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps and electric vehicles. Companies in heavily polluting industries, including steelmakers, are also looking to electrification to help them decarbonize.

The report identifies a large and growing queue of renewable projects waiting for the green light to be connected to the grid, pinpointing 1 500 gigawatts worth of these projects that are in advanced stages of development. This is five times the amount of solar PV and wind capacity that was added worldwide last year.

"The recent clean energy progress we have seen in many countries is unprecedented and cause for optimism, but it could be put in jeopardy if governments and businesses do not come together to ensure the world's electricity grids are ready for the new global energy economy that is rapidly emerging," said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. "This report shows what's at stake and needs to be done. We must invest in grids today or face gridlock tomorrow."

How the IEC can help

The IEC develops the IEC 61850 Standards which are widely identified as the core standards for the smart grid. They are a foundational series of publications which pave the way for the use of a variety of digital technologies relating to smart energy. They deal with issues such as the integration of renewable energies within the electrical network but also increased automatization and self-healing processes.

They are THE publications utilities employ when aiming to upgrade or modernize the electricity network.

IEC has also set up a systems committee, SyC Smart Energy, to provide systems-level standardization for smart energy and smart grids. The SyC helps identify all  the relevant standards and coordinates the work of the many technical committees involved in smart energy standardization.

The IEC has equally published a smart grid standardization roadmap which provides guidelines to select the most appropriate set of standards and specifications.

(Source: IEC)