Developing transmission infrastructure is essential for energy security and reliable electricity delivery. The supply chain challenges facing the sector come as the world moves toward a new Age of Electricity, with global power consumption set to increase strongly in the years ahead. An IEA survey of industry leaders found that procurement now takes two to three years for cables and up to four years for large power transformers – twice as long as in 2021. Specialised components face even longer delays. 

The new report shows that manufacturers are responding with plans and investments to increase production capacity, but these expansions will take time to implement, and uncertainty remains regarding future demand levels and the availability of skilled workers. It notes that while global investment in power transmission grew by 10% in 2023 to reach $140 billion, this figure would need to exceed $200 billion annually by the mid-2030s to meet rising electricity demand. 

Read our news article and the full report for more details. You can also find more analysis in our special report, Electricity Grids and Secure Energy Transitions.

Dr Birol discussed preparations for the Summit – which will convene Ministers and CEOs from around the world to examine the geopolitical, technological and economic factors affecting national and international energy security – with UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband.  

He also met with Foreign Secretary David Lammy to discuss a range of international energy topics. On the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they spoke about the ongoing implications for energy security across Europe and the actions that the United Kingdom and other countries can take next.  

Find out more about the Summit here. 

In 2024, as global electric car sales rose by 25% to 17 million, annual battery demand surpassed the 1 terawatt-hour (TWh) mark – a historic milestone. At the same time, the average price of a battery pack for a battery electric car dropped below $100 per kilowatt-hour, commonly thought of as a key threshold for competing on cost with conventional models. Declines in costs of minerals that go into the production of batteries were an important driver, as were rapid advancements in the battery industry, including scaling up manufacturing capacity.  

These trends point to a battery industry entering a new phase of its development. While markets used to be regionalised and small, they are now global and very large, and a range of technological approaches is giving way to standardisation. Looking ahead, economies of scale, partnerships along the supply chain, manufacturing efficiency, and the capacity to bring innovations swiftly to market will be crucial to compete. This will likely result in greater consolidation across the sector, which is simultaneously being reshaped by government-driven efforts to geographically diversify battery supply chains. 

Learn more in our commentary. 

The report is the latest output from our Agency’s long-running and expanding workstream on critical minerals security. Last month, we released a commentary that explored the potential impacts of mineral supply disruptions based on “N-1” resilience analysis, a key tool for understanding potential vulnerabilities. It pointed to broad reliance on a small number of suppliers for minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite. This signals that markets could be affected by shocks and disruptions, even if they currently appear well-supplied – underscoring the need for stronger action on mineral security and diversification. 

In December 2024, we held a first-of-its-kind critical minerals security exercise, which focused on enhancing emergency preparedness, expediting diversification and accelerating the implementation of strategic policy measures to mitigate critical mineral supply risks. We have also been strengthening our market monitoring and outlook activities, covering the latest market developments and investment, technology and policy trends through our annual Global Critical Minerals Outlook report. The next edition is set to come out in May. 

Our Executive Director recently hosted Korea's Minister of Environment Kim Wan-sup at our headquarters in Paris. They discussed the links between energy policy, the environment and industrial competitiveness, as well as how the IEA and Korea can work together to support international cooperation on energy. 

The IEA-IEF-OPEC Symposium on Energy Outlooks recently took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 15th edition of the event – which was co-hosted by our Director of Energy Markets and Security Keisuke Sadamori, International Energy Forum Secretary General Jassim Alshirawi, and OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais – is a key element of the trilateral cooperation between our organisations on different aspects of the energy sector. 

Last week, we launched a new AI tool to accompany our recent Electricity 2025 report. The agent can answer questions about the report's findings using natural, conversational language. You can try it here. This follows the World Energy Outlook 2024 GPT agent we launched in December to help explore that report. These AI tools we are testing, which are part of wider efforts to make our data and statistics more freely available, have been launched as beta versions and will be improved over time. Since AI-generated content may contain errors or inaccuracies, those seeking detailed or official interpretations of data and analysis should refer to our full reports or contact us directly. 

We recently convened a special workshop focused on the status and prospects for fusion energy that took place alongside the official meeting of our Committee on Energy Research and Technology (CERT). With more than 30 participants attending in-person, and an additional 40 joining online, the workshop addressed priority actions for governments to accelerate research and development in fusion energy and to improve collaboration between public and private actors. Learn more in our news article. 

7-11 April: Energy Efficiency Policy Training Week in Paris