Paris – September 07, 2026 -- Annual global investment in electricity grids must rise roughly 50%, from about USD 400 billion today to nearly USD 600 billion by 2030, according to International Energy Agency figures cited at the CIGRE 2026 Paris Session, which drew more than 15,000 experts from 100 countries and 330 exhibitors.
Grid investment must jump 50% as electrification accelerates
The IEA attributes the surge to transport, industry and building electrification, renewable-energy integration, and rising data-center power demand. Power systems are approaching operational limits as these forces converge, according to the IEA data presented at the session.
Permitting delays leave Europe and the US years behind China and India
Delivery speed is emerging as the sector's chief bottleneck. Extra-high-voltage transmission lines can be permitted and built in about 1.5 years in China and roughly three years in India, the IEA reports, compared with eight to ten years or more for comparable projects in Europe and the United States.
Workforce shortfall of 1.5 million threatens 2030 electrification targets
Roughly eight million people currently work in constructing, maintaining and operating power grids worldwide, but the IEA estimates the sector will need 1.5 million additional workers by 2030 amid competition for engineers, technicians and digital specialists. CIGRE said it is responding through its technical working groups and the CIGRE Fund for Innovation and Education, which finances research, scholarships and training programs globally.
CIGRE president calls for coordinated "One Grid" strategy across the value chain
CIGRE argued that meeting the 2030 targets requires transmission and distribution operators, utilities, manufacturers, technology providers, regulators and public authorities to plan and deliver infrastructure as a single integrated system rather than in silos. "No plan B, no planet B," said Konstantin O. Papailiou, President of CIGRE, urging collective action to build future power systems.
French Industry Minister tours exhibition marking CIGRE's 105th year
France's Minister of Industry, Mr. Martin, visited the CIGRE exhibition after an invitation to the FIERE industrial event, underscoring the need for cooperation to deliver the current electrification wave. The visit came as CIGRE marked more than a century of activity since its first conference, held in Paris in 1921.