Clean Energy Growth Confronts Infrastructure Lag

Clean Energy

Clean Energy Growth Confronts Infrastructure Lag: Grid Funding, Tariffs, and Supply-chain Strains Shape Q3 2025

Energy Considered’s network of 5,000 Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) recorded 1,049 mentions of renewables infrastructure permitting in Q3 2025, marking the highest visibility yet for this theme. It’s a telling sign that the world’s clean-energy ambitions are racing ahead of the wires meant to carry them. Compared with 2023, when conversations revolved around scaling renewables generation 2025’s debate is about the grid itself: how to fund it, modernize it, and make it resilient for a net-zero century.

As Dr. Maria Lenz (Chief Economist, GridEurope, Germany) put it, “The grid is now the rate limiter for the energy transition,” reflecting Europe’s pivot from policy optimism to infrastructure realism. Energy Considered’s analytics show mentions of “grid modernization” up 42% year-on-year, echoing The Times’ Emily Gosden, who noted that “National Grid’s battle for 50 million pylons” is becoming symbolic of the physical scale of the challenge. Across Asia, the bottlenecks are equally visible. India, for instance, has over 50 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity stranded due to delayed transmission corridors and transformer shortages, an imbalance that underscores the urgency for anticipatory grid investment. From India, Rajesh Nambiar (Director, CleanTech India, India) warns that “over 50 gigawatts of solar and wind remain stranded due to delayed transmission buildouts,” a figure unchanged from early 2024, despite record investment pledges.


Still, the narrative isn’t without momentum. “Capital isn’t the issue- coordination is,” says Samantha Torres (VP Infrastructure Finance, NorthGrid Capital, US), as the US moves toward anticipatory capex under FERC Order 1920. Future-facing voices, such as Lucas Pereira (Energy Transition Advisor, RenewBrasil, Brazil), argue that “without adaptive tariffs and blended finance, emerging markets will remain gridlocked, but we now have the tools to change that.” It’s a sentiment mirrored by Fortune’s Jordan Blum, who described a “$1 trillion supercycle” of battery investments ready to reinforce grid reliability for the AI-powered economy.

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Clean Energy Growth Confronts Infrastructure Lag: Grid Funding, Tariffs, and Supply-chain Strains Shape Q3 2025 - Quarter 3 2025

Case for tracking:

In Q3 2025, renewable energy growth ran into major infrastructure challenges. Solar and wind projects are being built faster than grids can handle them, slowing progress in several regions. In the U.S., new tariffs on solar imports and the cancellation of key transmission lines delayed projects, while states like New York pressed ahead with clean-energy plans and large battery sites. In Europe, high costs and local opposition made it harder to expand the grid, even as the U.K. upgraded its contract system and built new substations to connect remote wind and solar farms.

Companies are now investing heavily in grid backbones and substation upgrades to move renewable power where it’s needed. Supply-chain limits and slow permitting remain big hurdles for connecting clean energy to demand centres. Governments are under pressure to accelerate grid funding and simplify approvals to keep up with renewable targets. The key message this quarter: clean energy can’t grow without stronger grids, faster approvals, and investment in transmission and substation infrastructure.

Volume of Mentions from Energy Considered’s Key Opinion Leaders:

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  • Monthly and quarterly data identifying and tracking how energy industry leaders are engaging with critical topics.
  • In depth research explaining why energy industry leaders are engaging with these key issues and providing the context and framework for further exploration.
  • Quantitative primary research conducted with responses from energy industry leaders on our panel, providing unique answers to the issues affecting the global energy industry.
  • Power BI dashboards offering dynamic exploration of 5,000 energy key opinion leaders, social and digital narrative analysed against 14 strategic and tactical energy industry metrics.
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