Bottlenecks caused by Europe’s aging power grid put at risk more than 120 GW of projected renewables.
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Proposed clean energy projects used to power millions of households in 20 EU countries could be “derailed”, a new report by energy think tank Ember warns.
The survey found that one in two internet users has “sufficient network capacity” to connect future wind and solar projects to the grid – including rooftop solar panels.
Experts have described barriers to renewable energy flows as an “urgent issue” during the Iran conflict, which has seen oil and gas prices rise.
Elisabeth Cremona, energy analyst at Ember says: “As electricity costs continue to rise, European grids help in the race to install renewables to replace fossil fuels and protect households against price volatility.”
“Grid disruptions are no longer just a technical issue. They are a security risk.”
Which European countries will suffer the most?
The report found the strictest restrictions are found in Austria, Bulgaria, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia.
However, it is important to note that several large energy systems such as Germany and Italy do not publish grid energy data, which means that the issue may be greater than analysts fear.
Grid disruptions are affecting large-scale renewable projects and household infrastructure, the report warns. Across the 17 countries reporting their grid capacity, more than two-thirds of the new wind and solar capacity planned for 2030 is currently at risk.
The lack of network access could also delay 16GW of rooftop solar installations, affecting more than 1.5 million households across Europe.
For context, a power plant with a capacity of 1 GW can power about 876,000 households for one year, if it uses an average of 10,000 kWh of electricity per year.
The analysis also found that some European grids are well-positioned to accommodate new electricity demand from household electricity transfers.
Six of the eight reporting countries have enough grid power for about a third of households to connect a new heat pump. However, Poland and Spain would face major limitations, as the capacity of the new demand network is limited.
“After the 2022 energy crisis, rooftop solar investments increased as households sought protection from volatile energy prices,” says Cremona.
“As countries once again see the urgency of replacing imported fuels with domestic renewables, we cannot afford the grids to stand in our way.”
Why is the European network ‘not enough’?
European network investment has increased by almost 50 percent in the past five years to €70 billion per year. However, experts argue that this still falls short of what is needed to get rid of the problems.
A 2025 report from Aurora Energy Research found that the cost of congestion control in Europe is close to €9 billion in 2024, while 72THH of renewable energy is reduced due to problems. This is equivalent to Austria’s annual electricity consumption.
Europe’s grid was built around coal, and later gas – often powered from centralized plants. However, green energy such as wind and solar is often located in remote areas, which means that Europe now needs to find an efficient way to transport the electricity produced to homes and businesses.
Will lower energy prices help fix the grid?
It means that several European countries are producing more renewable energy than the grid can handle, meaning they often pay to shut down wind turbines (reduce) and revert to polluting fossil fuels.
The UK has unveiled an attempt to tackle this issue, by providing homes with discounted or free electricity on wind days, rather than shutting down the turbines.
This follows growing criticism that Britain spent a whopping 1.47 billion dollars (about 1.67 billion euros) last year turning off turbines and paying gas plants to turn them on.
Greg Jackson, CEO of energy firm Octopus Energy, argues that the trial should be permanent so that consumers have the confidence to invest in electricity.
“Continuous changes can mean you can buy an electric car, or a heat pump, or batteries to use electricity when they’re cheaper,” says Jackson. “All of these changes will require more success than we’ll see in any experiment.”
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