Britain and the European Union are at a critical crossroads in their race to transform the energy landscape, with new investments, shifting alliances, and ambitious pledges shaping the path toward a cleaner, more secure future. Recent moves by National Grid in the UK and sweeping policy changes across Europe underscore both the promise and the challenges of the global clean energy transition.
On August 2, 2025, National Grid unveiled its £8 billion (US$10 billion) New Electricity Transmission Partnership (ETP), a sweeping initiative aimed at accelerating the UK’s shift to clean electricity. According to BizClik Media, the ETP is designed to revitalize regional supply chains across England and Wales, focusing on building and upgrading about 130 substations. This effort is just one piece of a much broader plan: National Grid’s RIIO-T3 framework, which will see £35 billion (US$44.9 billion) invested between 2026 and 2031 to double the electricity transferred across the nation and dramatically increase customer connections.
The ETP stands out for its collaborative, long-term structure. By bringing together construction giants—like Balfour Beatty, Burns & McDonnell, Linxon, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, M Group Energy, Murphy, and Omexom/Taylor Woodrow—National Grid is giving these firms first refusal on substation projects in their territories, ensuring a steady pipeline of work. Tony Wilson, Managing Director at Balfour Beatty Power Transmission & Distribution, remarked, "We’re proud to be a regional delivery partner for National Grid’s Electricity Transmission Partnership and especially to be entrusted with the North East, an area where we have a strong presence and a long-standing commitment, having delivered major energy infrastructure projects across the region for decades. This appointment recognises our proven track record in delivering critical infrastructure and our ability to mobilise skilled teams and innovative solutions at scale. The new model is a bold and timely step that will strengthen National Grid’s supply chain and accelerate the UK’s journey to net zero."
But the ETP is about more than cables and transformers. National Grid’s approach is tightly linked to job creation, skills development, and local economic growth. By embedding workforce training and performance incentives into the program, the utility aims to ensure that the clean energy transition brings real, lasting benefits to the communities where infrastructure is built. Simon Smith, Managing Director of Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, highlighted this, saying, "This latest investment cycle from National Grid will not only be pivotal to the UK by further strengthening the energy network for current and future resilience, but it brings so much for local communities with diverse career opportunities and the utilisation of local supply chain."
National Grid isn’t stopping with the ETP. Additional efforts, such as the Great Grid Partnership (GGP) and a high voltage direct current (HVDC) supply chain framework, are in play to bolster grid resilience and technical capacity. These programs introduce advanced technologies to ensure the grid can handle the surge in demand expected as the UK electrifies everything from homes to transport. The government’s intent is clear: build a cleaner, more robust, and more equitable energy system. As Energy Minister Michael Shanks put it, "The clean energy transition is the economic opportunity of the 21st century, with the potential to revitalise our industrial heartlands with skilled jobs and economic growth. This £8 billion partnership from National Grid is proof of that – providing a boost for Britain’s supply chains, investing in the future of our highly-skilled workforce and helping to deliver clean, homegrown power that we control."
Across the Channel, the European Union is grappling with its own set of challenges as it races to replace Russian energy imports by 2027 and meet its net-zero goals by 2050. As reported by Oilprice.com, the EU’s energy transition is increasingly shaped by its trade relationships with the United States and China—two global powers with their own strategic interests. Under a new trade deal, the EU has committed to purchasing $750 billion of American energy over three years, starting in 2025. This is a dramatic increase from the $76 billion imported in 2024, and includes major purchases of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil, and nuclear fuels. The U.S. now supplies 55% of the EU’s LNG and 17% of its oil imports.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized the dual purpose of the deal: "Purchases of US energy products will diversify our sources of supply and contribute to Europe's energy security. We will replace Russian gas and oil with significant purchases of US LNG, oil and nuclear fuels." The Commission insists that this agreement does not undermine the EU’s decarbonization ambitions, and that the surge in LNG imports is compatible with long-term efforts to diversify and clean up the bloc’s energy system.
However, as the EU pivots away from Russia, it finds itself increasingly reliant on both American and Chinese suppliers. China’s dominance in solar power is especially stark: in 2023, 98% of the EU’s solar panel imports came from China, according to Eurostat. While cheap Chinese panels are helping the EU rapidly expand its renewable capacity, they have also driven many European manufacturers out of business. Moreover, China’s control over critical minerals and rare earth elements presents a serious risk for Europe’s automotive and renewable energy sectors. Stephane Sejourne, European Commissioner for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, has called for the creation of a strategic EU rare earths reserve to address this vulnerability.
Despite these ambitious investments and policy shifts, a sobering new report from climate think tank Ember, published on August 3, 2025, warns that the world is falling behind on its most important clean energy promise. At the United Nations COP28 summit in Dubai in 2023, countries pledged to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030. Ember’s analysis finds that, based on current national targets, the world will reach just 7.4 terawatts of renewable capacity by 2030—far short of the 11 terawatt goal. Only 22 countries have updated their targets since COP28, most of them within the EU. Major economies like the U.S., Canada, Russia, and Turkey have not announced new ambitions, and the U.S. is even rolling back clean energy programs under President Donald Trump.
Katye Altieri, global electricity analyst at Ember, observed, "There is a real disconnect between the sort of high level agreement to sign pledges at COP and then the reality of how electricity planning is done. National targets send policy signals to the market and I think countries have lost sight of that." The upcoming COP30 summit in Belem, Brazil, this November is expected to focus on how to close this gap—shifting from making promises to actually implementing them. The UN will soon release a synthesis of national climate plans, laying bare how far the world is from the critical 1.5°C warming limit.
There are, however, glimmers of hope. India’s 2030 target of 500 gigawatts of fossil fuel-free energy is in line with the tripling goal, and Saudi Arabia is also on track to meet its share. China and South Africa are expected to announce more ambitious targets later this year, which could help move the needle. But as Altieri points out, "It’s not about target setting for the sake of target setting. The economics are there for every country in the world." The real challenge now is translating lofty pledges into concrete action—building the grids, storage, and supply chains needed to support a world powered by clean energy.
As the UK, EU, and the rest of the world look ahead, the next few years will test whether bold investments and international cooperation can overcome the inertia of old systems. The stakes—climate stability, economic opportunity, and energy security—couldn’t be higher.
