Large-scale wind and solar projects are facing significant delays because the high-voltage power lines needed to carry electricity over long distances are already full. According to the authors of the newly released report, more than half of the European countries surveyed lack the transmission capacity to handle the amount of renewable energy planned for the end of the decade.
“The largest gap between planned renewable deployment and available grid capacity is at transmission level, with a total shortfall of 104 GW across ten out of the 17 reporting countries. As this is where large power plants are connected, this affects wind installations and big utility solar.”
In simple terms, while governments want to build massive wind farms and solar parks to move away from fossil fuels, the existing “superhighways” of the electrical system are overcrowded. Because these large-scale plants must connect to this main network to distribute their power, a lack of available space means many of these clean energy projects may never be built.
The report “Crossed wires: Grid capacity could block EU energy security” was published by the energy think tank Ember on 1 April 2026. It was prepared by a research team led by Senior Energy Analyst Elisabeth Cremona.
