The world is making significant strides toward a clean energy future, but our electricity grids are stuck in the past. Unless we rapidly modernise grid infrastructure, the entire net zero vision is at risk.

Outdated, underfunded, and overstretched, electricity grids have become one of the biggest barriers to scaling renewable energy. Wind and solar projects are being delayed or cancelled due to grid bottlenecks while curtailment – the intentional reduction of renewable energy output – is expected to rise in areas where grid flexibility and storage capacity remain limited. Modern, resilient grids are essential for economic and social development, and for protecting communities from climate impacts like heatwaves, wildfires and floods. Despite growing investments, regional disparities and infrastructure gaps risk leaving some communities behind in the energy transition.

But solutions exist and philanthropy has an important role to play in modernising the grid infrastructure. Over 60 countries and 100 non-state actors have signed the Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge, committing to add or refurbish 25 million kilometres of grids by 2030. At ReNew2030, we believe that philanthropy is uniquely placed to accelerate grid modernisation. By unlocking investment, streamlining policies, and supporting regulatory reforms and local capacity building, we can help turn electricity grids into the backbone of the clean energy transition.
Through conversations with experts and partners in the sector, we identified key barriers to progress and explored how philanthropy can be a powerful catalyst for change.

Unlocking investment

Modernising the grid is one of the most critical – and complex – challenges in the transition to renewable energy. The need to expand and upgrade aging infrastructure while integrating variable renewable energy sources is well established. Yet the sheer scale of investment – estimated at USD 717 billion annually through 2030, combined with regulatory fragmentation, uncertain financial returns and market design barriers, continues to hold back private capital.

This investment gap is especially stark in the Global South, where the urgent need to expand and modernise transmission and distribution infrastructure poses a significant hurdle to achieving energy transition goals.

While advanced economies grapple with modernising their aging grid infrastructure, some developing economies are still laying the foundations for their power systems. This makes grid investment not only a matter of modernisation, but a cornerstone of development, resilience and energy equity.

To bridge this gap, philanthropic capital can play a catalytic role. By funding early-stage pilots, strengthening institutional and technical capacity, supporting research, and addressing market failures – particularly in regions facing persistent investment gaps, philanthropy can help de-risk innovation and attract commercial investment.

A powerful example is the Renewables Investment Platform For Limitless Energy (RIPLE), a $500 million initiative led by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority with strategic support from our partner, The African Climate Foundation. Designed as a systems-change effort, RIPLE is unlocking private capital to build a scalable, resilient renewable energy ecosystem in Nigeria. With 300 MW of renewable energy projects already in the pipeline, it demonstrates how public-private collaboration can drive large-scale transformation. RIPLE offers a replicable model for grid investment and clean energy deployment in emerging markets.

Equipping local actors with the skills and tools to design, manage, and maintain future-ready grids is essential. This includes workforce development and technical education, alongside support for the digital transformation of electricity systems — ensuring they are smart, adaptive, and capable of balancing supply and demand in real time.

The power of philanthropy

Philanthropy can play a transformative role in accelerating grid expansion and modernisation – bridging gaps often left by governments and private investors.

By catalysing progress, de-risking innovation, and strengthening institutional capacity, philanthropy can help deliver a just, inclusive and sustainable clean energy future.

Decades of success stories in Europe: energy communities as a working model to be deployed

Energy communities are citizen-powered renewable energy initiatives where locals collectively own and manage their own clean power projects – like neighbourhood solar panels or community wind turbines – allowing them to be both producers and consumers of their energy while building a more sustainable, democratic energy future.

Energy communities ensures people own and benefit from energy transition

The socio-economic benefits of energy communities are a prime focus – from lowering energy bills to fostering local development. By creating these benefits, energy communities turn their participants in allies of the energy transition as a whole, fostering wider public support for the energy transition. As energy communities are platforms for raising knowledge about renewable energy among participants, they also empower these individuals to become advocates for sustainable change.

The current Danish landscape offers a telling example – in this country, 52% of the existing wind capacity operates under some form of citizen ownership. This model has not only empowered individuals but has also significantly bolstered public support for renewable energy. When people participate in or own energy projects, they are more likely to appreciate the benefits and accept potential drawbacks. Ownership, in particular, further strengthens acceptance and enthusiasm.

To meet our climate goals and stay within planetary boundaries, the share of renewable energy in the global power mix will have to increase from 28% in 2020 to 68% by 2030. To deploy this massive increase in renewable energy production, we need to secure citizens’ buy-in and support behind the changes that will drive a clean, safe energy system. Community energy projects, for all the benefits they provide to participants, can play a key role in this system-change.

Investments in renewable capacity reached a record high of USD 570 billion in 2023. While this increase massively concerns China, EU, and the United States, Brazil and India accounted for just over 6% of investments, and in Africa, investments fell by 47% compared to 2022. This disparity highlights the need for an inclusive transition to net zero – one that ensures low- and middle-income countries aren’t left behind. These regions face a significant financing gap, with an estimated shortfall of $1.2 trillion annually required to meet their climate goals.

From our interviews with experts and partners working in policy research, investment deployment, and community engagement, three key blockers – and strategies to address them – have emerged across regions and areas of focus.

Creating regulatory and policy frameworks to attract additional funding

Redirecting fossil fuel investments is just the beginning. To close the $1.2 trillion financing gap for low- and middle-income countries, partners have highlighted the need to attract additional capital, both foreign and domestic.

A core blocker outlined by the experts we spoke to lies in the perceived risk embedded within any regulatory framework that is perceived by markets to be hindering rather than facilitating renewable projects development.
For campaigners and philanthropists, this challenge presents a significant opportunity. Adjustments in regulatory barriers – such as those related to planning or capital requirements – can have outsized impacts on attracting private sector investment.

For example, we’ve supported initiatives like Bangladesh’s Centre for Policy Dialogue, through our partner the Sunrise Project. They collaborate with academics, policymakers, and investors to identify and highlight the domestic investment blockers and operational bottlenecks that prevent large-scale overseas investment in renewable energy-led power generation. These blockers are brought to the attention of national officials and investors at the occasion of Energy Forums bringing all stakeholders together to promote the creation of a new framework that expedites renewable energy investment.

Similarly in Sri Lanka, our partner V20 is engaging strategically with Finance Ministries to develop investment plans to attract foreign investments into renewable energy projects. The Sri Lanka Offshore Wind Roadmap exemplifies what can be achieved with strong regional cooperation that promotes offshore wind development.

For the Hackatón X Nuestro Futuro over 40 young people from across the country gathered in Mexico City and teamed up in 8 groups to devise public policy proposals focusing on the energy transition to renewables in Mexico. Post-Hackatón activities are currently taking place to maintain the momentum with youths, including mentoring and training, the creation of sub-national youth groups, public advocacy, and communication campaigns in favour of renewable energies.

An impactful initiative supported by Iniciativa Climática de México. Philanthropies are backing youth mobilisation and we will continue to drive youth engagement to ensure they remain at the forefront of this crucial transition.