The world is installing renewable energy at record speed, but its electricity networks and storage capacity are struggling to keep up.
In its new World Energy Transitions Outlook 2026, published on 13 October, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) explains that renewable electricity is expanding faster than the infrastructure and energy systems needed to use it effectively.
IRENA warns that adding wind turbines and solar panels will not be enough to replace fossil fuels. The next challenge is building a flexible, electrified energy system.
One in which electric vehicles could become part of the solution through managed charging, charging when renewables are abundant, and V2G rather than merely another source of demand.
Fundamental contradiction
The report identifies a fundamental contradiction: record volumes of renewable generation capacity are being added, but this does not automatically mean that fossil fuels are being displaced at the same speed.
In 2025, the world installed about 693 GW of renewable capacity, bringing the total to 5.2 TW. However, renewable capacity must increase from 5.2 TW to 38.2 TW, while electricity supplies more than half of final energy consumption by 2050.
The world is not transitioning fast enough
The world must stop measuring the success of the energy transition primarily by how many gigawatts of solar and wind capacity it installs. There should be a shift toward electrifying road transport, replacing gas heating with heat pumps, improving industrial efficiency, and keeping electricity supply and demand aligned.
The main problems are increasingly interconnected: aging and congested electricity networks, insufficient battery storage, inadequate system flexibility, rising electricity demand, and disappointing improvements in energy efficiency.
‘It matters for mobility’
An important distinction also exists between installing renewable electricity and eliminating fossil fuel consumption. A country can add enormous amounts of solar and wind power while still burning almost as much oil for transport or gas for heating.
IRENA’s central message is that the energy transition needs to replace fossil-fuel consumption, not merely supplement it with additional clean electricity. This matters for mobility because electric cars, vans, buses, and trucks are among the most practical ways to turn additional renewable electricity into reduced oil consumption.
Belgium
In Belgium, electric mobility could help solve the problem. Electrified transport is one practical route to replacing oil consumption with increasingly renewable electricity.
On October 8th, just five days before IRENA released its report, Belgian grid operator Elia Group published its first dedicated Flexibility Needs Assessment 2026. The study examines how Belgium can accommodate the increasing generation of renewable electricity while maintaining grid stability and avoiding unnecessary infrastructure costs.
In July, EV Belgium argued that electric cars should increasingly be considered mobile energy storage rather than simply additional electricity consumers. But could electric vehicles help solve the grid problem that threatens to slow their own adoption?
Other side of the story
The Dutch situation demonstrates the other side of the story. Electricity grid congestion is already hampering business connections, industrial electrification, and the expansion of charging infrastructure. Dutch grid operators acknowledge that, despite accelerating investments, network development is failing to keep pace with growing demand.
This clearly illustrates IRENA’s warning. Expanding renewable generation and selling more EVs are only part of the solution; the system also has to connect, transport, store, and intelligently distribute the resulting electricity.
In other words, EVs can contribute flexibility, but they cannot eliminate the need to reinforce electricity networks. The distinction between smart charging, which shifts demand, and bidirectional charging, which returns energy to the grid, should remain clear.
