CCG and Partners help deliver Green Grids Pledge at COP29

One of our goals for COP29 in Azerbaijan was to generate action on Green Grids, as part of our role in the Secretariat for the Green Grids Initiative. Our Secretariat staff are based at Loughborough University. The launch event was very high profile and we were honoured to have UK Minister for Climate Change, HE Kerry McCarthy, as our guest.  

On 14 November CCG joined the Green Grids Initiative and the Global Renewables Alliance in partnership with DESNZ, Global Climate Fund, the World BankAsian Development BankAfrican Development Bank , and HSBC in a memorable event in the Blue Zone at COP29.

L-R Marcus Stewart (GGI), Gabriel Moberg (GGI) Rob Cooke (DESNZ), Mark Howells (CCG), UK Climate Minister Kerry McCarthy, Vivien Foster (CCG/Imperial)

This event was focused on exploring the integration of renewable energy into global power grids. It brought together key stakeholders—including policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, and innovators—to discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with transforming energy grids for a sustainable future. 

H.E. Kerry McCarthy – Labour MP for Bristol East, Minister for Climate Change of the United Kingdom, said that the UK has “shown we can decarbonise domestically, we want to partner with others to show we can do the same globally”. She continued: It’s a great pleasure to address you all in my capacity as Chair of the Green Grids Initiative. The global targets for grids and storage, that will be launched tomorrow, mark an important moment in the clean energy transition. It will signal for the first time that governments around the world are getting to grips with the challenge we face: a total transformation of the whole energy system.” She concluded by saying: “I am proud to support the work of the Green Grids Initiative….working with the new Secretariat partners, NESO, the Climate Compatible Growth programme, Global Renewables Alliance, and Lucetia Group.”

Information on the Green Grids Initiative project was also played on screens throughout COP in the UK pavilion.

Belgian Minister of Energy, Tinne Van der Straeten

Our other speakers included Elisa Facio, Minister of Energy of Uruguay, and H.E. Tinne Van der Straeten, Minister of Energy of Belgium, both of whom support the pledge, contributing to the global movement to accelerate deployment of grids and storage by 2030.

“Grids are more than just cables; they represent the competitiveness project of our era. They are also security projects and contribute to our overall welfare and to our common goal to ambitiously combat the climate crisis,” said H.E. Tinne Van der Straeten.

We were also joined by H.E. Orkhan Zeynalov, Deputy Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan who added: “COP29 calls on all of us to commit to these goals, strengthen our energy transition and climate action, and unite to build a sustainable future for our planet. Let us make COP29 a defining turning point and elevate our global climate and energy efforts to new heights.”

Marcus Stewart, Head of Secretariat at the Green Grids InitiativeCraig Dyke, Director of National Energy System Operator; and Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) also spoke.

The event was informed by the White Paper: “Which grids are green? Climate Finance Principles to Unlock Green Grids Financing” written by Lucia Fuselli, William Blyth, Randolph Brazier, Monica Gullberg, Marcus Stewart, and Vivien Foster. It is available here.

Hon Kerry McCarthy’s speech in full:

From Pledge to Progress: Accelerating Grid Finance for a Clean Energy Future – Green Grids Initiative

“Good evening and thank you for having me here on behalf of the UK Government. It’s a great pleasure to address you all in my capacity as Chair of the Green Grids Initiative. The global targets for grids and storage, that will be launched tomorrow, mark an important moment in the clean energy transition. It will signal for the first time that governments around the world are getting to grips with the challenge we face. A total transformation of the whole energy system.

We are under no illusions about the scale of this challenge. 25 million kilometres of grids will need to be added or upgraded across the world by 2030, increasing to almost 100 million kilometres by 2040. That is enough cable to circle the circumferences of the earth, two and a half thousand times. Key to this will be the mass mobilisation of finance.

By 2030, global investment in grids will ned to double to 700 billion US dollars per year. These global targets can sound daunting. But they are critical in helping us create long-term energy decarbonisation plans. Setting these targets for 2030 is ambitious.  But necessary.  And it can be done. We asked our independent energy system operator, NESO, to give us an honest account of how we could get to clean power by 2030, as part of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. NESO’s report shows us in the clearest possible terms the route to achieving clean power by 2030, as well as the reasons underpinning it. Setting how we can create an energy system with cheaper, cleaner, more secure electricity, laying the foundations for our energy independence. The UK Government will now review this advice and outline its approach to clean power by 2030 in our Action Plan, expected later this year.

The Government has already shown it can deliver at speed, with reforms to the connections process having freed-up 22GW of capacity so far. Our most recent auction under the Contracts for Difference scheme also delivered a record breaking 9.6GW of renewable energy projects, powering the equivalent of 11 million homes. That is why, when we say the UK is leading from the front on climate matters once again, we mean it.

I am proud to support the work of the Green Grids Initiative….working with the new Secretariat partners, NESO, the Climate Compatible Growth programme, Global Renewables Alliance, and Lucetia Group. It’s great encouraging to see so many organisations here today supporting the Pledge. Because it is only through all these new connections, here, today, that collectively we will make it happen. The GGI’s ‘Climate Finance Principles for Green Grids’ provides an example of how these efforts can begin to make a difference and will be an area that we look to champion as we collectively tackle the overall financing challenge. Thank you for your continued work.”