InternationalRenewableEnergyAgency

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE

CLIMATE-PROOFING

POWERINFRASTRUCTURE

?IRENA2025

Unlessotherwisestated,materialinthispublicationmaybefreelyused,shared,copied,reproduced,printedand/orstored,providedthatappropriateacknowledgementisgivenofIRENAasthesourceandcopyrightholder.Materialinthispublicationthatisattributedtothirdpartiesmaybesubjecttoseparatetermsofuseandrestrictions,andappropriatepermissionsfromthesethirdpartiesmayneedtobesecuredbeforeanyuseofsuchmaterial.

ISBN:978-92-9260-698-5

Citation:IRENA(2025),Enhancingresilience:Climate-proofingpowerinfrastructure,InternationalRenewableenergyAgency,AbuDhabi.

AboutIRENA

TheInternationalRenewableEnergyAgency(IRENA)isanintergovernmentalorganisationthatsupportscountriesintheirtransitiontoasustainableenergyfutureandservesastheprincipalplatformforinternationalco-operation,acentreofexcellence,andarepositoryofpolicy,technology,resource,andfinancialknowledgeonrenewableenergy.IRENApromotesthewidespreadadoptionandsustainableuseofallformsofrenewableenergy,includingbioenergy,geothermal,hydropower,ocean,solarandwindenergy,inthepursuitofsustainabledevelopment,energyaccess,energysecurityandlow-carboneconomicgrowthandprosperity.

Aboutthisdocument

ThereportwasauthoredbyInesJacob,GayathriNairandRebeccaBisangwa,undertheguidanceofSimonBenmarraze.

AdrianGonzalez,AichaBenYoussef,ArietaGonelevuRakai,FranciscoGafaro,JoséTorón,NadiaMohammed,PaulaNardone,SultanMollov(IRENA),EamonnLannoye(EPRI)andLucianoCaratori(UNClimateChampions)providedvaluablereviews.

TechnicalreviewwasprovidedbyPaulKomor.Editorialco-ordinationandproductionwasprovidedbyFrancisFieldwiththesupportofStephanieClarke.ThereportwaseditedbyJustinFrench-Brooks,withdesignbyPhoenixDesignAid.

Disclaimer

Thispublicationandthematerialhereinareprovided“asis”.AllreasonableprecautionshavebeentakenbyIRENAtoverifythereliabilityofthematerialinthispublication.However,neitherIRENAnoranyofitsofficials,agents,data,orotherthird-partycontentprovidersprovidesawarrantyofanykind,eitherexpressedorimplied,andtheyacceptnoresponsibilityorliabilityforanyconsequenceofuseofthepublicationormaterialherein.

TheinformationcontainedhereindoesnotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsofallMembersofIRENA.ThementionofspecificcompaniesorcertainprojectsorproductsdoesnotimplythattheyareendorsedorrecommendedbyIRENAinpreferencetoothersofasimilarnaturethatarenotmentioned.Thedesignationsofcountriesemployed,andthepresentationofmaterialhereindonotimplytheexpressionofanyopiniononthepartofIRENAconcerningthelegalstatusofanyregion,country,territory,city,orareaorofitsauthorities,orconcerningthedelimitationoffrontiersorboundaries.

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS 5

EXECUTIVESUMMARY 6

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:

10ACTIONSTOCLIMATE-PROOFPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE 9

INTRODUCTION:ACCELERATINGPOWERSYSTEMRESILIENCE 10

1.MAPPINGSYSTEMICRISK:THECASCADINGECONOMICIMPACTOF

POWERSYSTEMVULNERABILITY 12

1.1Weatherextremes:Thenewnormalforgrids 12

1.2Mappingvulnerabilities:Wherethegridbreaksdown 17

1.3Anticipatingthefuture:Climateandweatherdatamodellingforgridplanning 21

2.BUILDINGARESILIENTPOWERSYSTEM:PROACTIVESTRATEGIES 23

2.1Beyondrecovery:Theresilienceimperative 23

2.2Proactiveresilience:Theroleofpolicymaking 25

2.3Deployingaresilienceframework 26

3.

TECHNOLOGYATTHECORE:SOLUTIONSFORACHANGINGCLIMATE 31

3.1Distributedresourcesforlocalresilience 31

3.2Gridforminginverters:future-proofinggridswithhighrenewablepenetration 33

3.3Unlockinggridresiliencethroughthepowerofenergystorage 36

3.4Smartgrids,smarterdecisions:Anticipationandadaptation 40

4.RESILIENCEINACTION:LEARNINGFROMSUCCESS 42

4.1Weatheringthestorm:Acasestudyinresilience–Mozambique 42

4.2Scalingsuccess:Collaborationandknowledgesharing 44

4.3Riskmitigationforresilientpowerinfrastructure 45

4.4Enablingresilience:Innovativefinancingmodels 47

5.

CONCLUSION 52

REFERENCES 53

3

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

4

FIGURES

Figure1Globalreportednaturaldisastersbytype,1970–2024 14

Figure2Gridarchitectureandvulnerabilitiesassociatedwitheachcomponentofthe

gridvaluechain 17

Figure3Examplesofextremeevents,andrespectivenumberofcustomerswithoutpower

(millions) 20

Figure4Grid-followingvs.grid-forminginverters 34

Figure5HornsdalePowerReserve,SouthAustralia 35

Figure6ConceptualcomparisonofadistributionsystemwithandwithoutMESS 39

TABLES

Table1ClassificationofHILPextremeweathereventsandexamples 15

Table2Operationalmeasures 30

Table3Powersystemresilienceservicesprovidedbyenergystoragetechnologies 37

Table4Typesofresiliencefinance 48

BOXES

Box

1ThelinkbetweenNDCsandNAPs 13

Box

2ElNi?oSouthernOscillation 16

Box

3Qualityinfrastructureforrenewablesfacingextremeweather 19

Box

4Enhancingresilienceusingclimatedata:CasestudyfromCalifornia 22

Box

5Developingnationalresiliencestrategies–anexample 26

Box

6Developinganemergencymanagementplan 30

Box

7RooftopsolarPVgrowthinAustralia 32

Box

8Keytechnicalstandardsaddressingresilience 33

Box9

Smartgridfunctionalitiestoimproveresilience 40

Box

10Mozambique’spowersector:Buildingresilience 43

Box

11SmartGridInvestmentGrantProgram:Keyoutcomesandlessons 47

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

5

ABBREVIATIONS

AI

BESS

CAES

CBA

COP

DER

DOE

EBRD

ENSO

ESG

EU

EV

FRT

GW

HILF

HILP

HVDC

IEC

IEEE

IPCC

km

artificialintelligence

batteryenergystoragesystemcompressedairenergystoragecost-benefitanalysis

ConferenceoftheParties(UNFCCC)distributedenergyresources

DepartmentofEnergy

EuropeanBankforReconstructionandDevelopment

ElNi?oSouthernOscillation

environmental,socialandgovernanceEuropeanUnion

electricvehicle

faultride-throughgigawatt

high-impactlow-frequencyhigh-impactlow-probabilityhigh-voltagedirectcurrentInternationalElectrotechnicalCommission

InstituteofElectricalandElectronicsEngineers

IntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange

kilometre

LDC

LT-LEDS

MESS

MREP

MW

NAP

NDC

NREL

PG&E

PPP

PSH

PV

ROI

SAA

SEFA

SIDS

SST

TES

T&D

VRE

VSC

leastdevelopedcountry

long-termlowemissionsdevelopmentstrategy

mobileenergystoragesystemsMozambiqueRenewableEnergyProgramme

megawatt

nationaladaptationplan

nationallydeterminedcontributionNationalRenewableEnergy

Laboratory

PacificGasandElectricCompanypublic–privatepartnership

pumped-storagehydroelectricityphotovoltaic

returnoninvestment

Sharm-El-SheikhAdaptationAgendaSustainableEnergyAfricaFundforAfrica

smallislanddevelopingstatesseasurfacetemperatures

thermalenergystorage

transmissionanddistributionvariablerenewableenergyvoltagesourceconverter

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

6

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

THENEEDFORPOWERSYSTEMRESILIENCEAGAINSTEXTREMEWEATHEREVENTS

Recentyearshaveseenasurgeinthefrequencyandintensityofextremeweathereventsglobally,causingsignificantcasualties,displacementsandeconomiclosses.Globalexamplesvividlyillustratetheurgencyofbolsteringtheclimateresilienceofpowersystemsasameansofmitigatingthedisruptiveimpactsofextremeweathereventsoncriticalinfrastructure.Forexample,HurricaneHelene’sassaultontheUnitedStates,MexicoandCubainSeptember2024causedoverUSD55billionofdamage,withwidespreadpoweroutagesafectingover4.7millionpeople.Thefrequency,intensity,unpredictabilityanddurationofnaturaldisasters–duetoclimatechange–areprojectedtokeepincreasinginthefuture.

Climatedisastersorextremeweathereventsareconsideredhigh-impactlow-frequency(HILF)orhigh-impactlow-probability(HILP)events.AHILPeventcannoteasilybeanticipated;itoccursrandomlyandunexpectedly,andischaracterisedbyhavingimmediateandsignificantimpacts(EuropeanCommission,2022a).Extremeweathereventsposeamajorthreattoallsegmentsofthepowersystemandultimatelycancausepoweroutages,i.e.thelossofpowersupplytotheenduser.Theseeventsnotonlycausepoweroutagesandafectassets,butalsotriggerachainofconsequences,includinglostproductivityandsupplychaincollapse.Besidesextremeweatherevents,changesinclimatesuchasprolongedheatwaves,coldsnapsanddroughtsalsocauseharmtopowersystems.

Theescalatingimpactofclimatechangehasmadeadaptationapriorityinnationalclimateplans(suchasnationallydeterminedcontributions[NDCs]andlong-termlowemissionsdevelopmentstrategies[LT-LEDS]),particularlyforleastdevelopedcountries(LDCs)andsmallislanddevelopingstates(SIDS),whichfaceheightenedvulnerabilitytoextremeweatherevents,withfewerresourcestomaintainorincreasetheirresilience.However,climateresilienceisaglobalissue.Evenregionsthatarenotasadverselyafectedbyeventssuchashurricanesandstormsareoftenafectedbyclimatechangeefectssuchasperiodsofextremetemperatures.Additionally,vulnerabilitiestoextremeweathereventsandclimatechangeareheightenedbyageinginfrastructureworldwide.

?bpcreativedesign/Shutterstock.com

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

7

Theurgencyofaddressingthesignificantimpactsthatextremeweathereventsandachangingclimatehaveonpowersystemassetsisfurtherincreasedbytheanticipateddependenceonpowersystems:by2050electricityisexpectedtomakeupmorethan52%oftotalfinalenergyconsumption,comparedwith23%in2022,accordingtoIRENA’s1.5°CScenario(IRENA,2024).

ThecurrentroundofNDCupdates–NDC3.0–aswellasNDCimplementationplansandNationalAdaptationPlans(NAPs)presentopportunitiesforcountriestomakepowersystemresilienceagainstextremeweathereventsanimportantadaptationtopic,providingaclearmessagetopowersystemstakeholdersthatthisshouldbeapriority.Enhancingtheresilienceofpowersystemsisanurgentandcriticaltask.Thealternativecorrectiveapproach,or“fixitwhenitbreaks”,isnolongersufficientinthefaceofincreasingdisruptionsandtheirescalatingeconomicandsocialcosts.

BUILDINGARESILIENTPOWERSYSTEM

Resilienceagainstextremeclimateeventsfocusesontheabilityofelectricalgridsandrelatedinfrastructuretowithstand,adapttoandrecoverfromextremeevents.Thediferentdefinitionsofpowersystemresiliencehavemuchincommon:theyhighlighttheconceptofresilienceastheabilityofasystemtowithstand,adaptto,quicklyrecoverfrom,andlearnfromextremeevents,particularlyHILPevents,whilelimitingthedurationandseverityoftheimpactsonthesystem.

Strategic,proactiveandlong-termpowersectorplansareneededatanationalleveltoenableandprovidetherightregulatoryandpolicyenvironment,andavoidadhocandautonomousresiliencemeasuresatindividualassetorutilitylevel.Long-termplanning(generation,transmission,distribution)needstobereformedtoconsidertheimpactofachangingclimateandthegrowingprevalenceofextremeevents.

Novelregulatoryframeworkshavethepotentialtostimulatepromptinvestmentinresilienceandincentiviseutilitiestoadoptproactivemeasures.Aresilienceenhancementframeworkrepresentsacomprehensiveapproachtoimprovingresilienceatalllevels–supportingboththeplanningforresilienceanddevelopingstrategiestoenablemorerapidrecoveryafterdisruptiveevents.Agoodframeworkshouldprovideclearstepsforassessingrisk,analysingvulnerabilities,identifyinginfrastructurehardeningrequirementsandotherresiliencemeasures,andimprovinginformationsharingandcommunicationchannels.

Mappingvulnerabilitiesacrossthepowersystemiskeytoimplementingmeasurestoenhanceresilience.However,addressingvulnerabilitiesneedstobeprecededbyanexercisetoprioritisemeasuresbasedontheprojectedclimaterisksandthecascadingimpactsofpossibleassetfailure.Socio-economicbenefitsshouldalsobeconsideredindecisionmakingforpowersystemupgrades.

Resilienceenhancementmeasuresarediverseandincludetargetedinfrastructurebuild-upandoperationalmeasures.Utilitiesidentifysystemvulnerabilitiesandresiliencemeasuresbyweighingcostsandbenefits.Resiliencemetricshelpidentifythevalueofresiliencemeasures.Metricssuchaslossofloadexpectationorlossofservice,andeconomiclossestothecommunityandutilitycanbeweighedagainstthecostofresiliencemeasurestoidentifytherightmeasurestobeimplemented.

Distributedenergyresources(DERs)aredoublybeneficialastheynotonlyhelptoincreasetheshareofrenewablesinthesystem,butalsoprovideresilienceincaseofextremeweatherevents.Theycanalsoimprovegridreliabilityandreducetheriskofoutages.Gridforminginverter-basedresources,abletooperateinstandalonemode,shouldalsobetakenintoconsiderationtoincreaseresilienceandallowthecontinuationofserviceduringorafterextremeevents.ThecapabilityofDERsandgrid-forminginverter-basedresourcescanbeenhancedbytheinclusionofstoragesystems.Storage,inadditiontoimprovingoverallsystemresilience,

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

8

?photoschmidt/Shutterstock.com

helpsmitigatetheimpactsofextremeevents.Modularstorage,especiallybatteries,oferstheflexibilityofdeploymentatdiferentvoltagelevelsandlocations,andrestorationofcriticalsystemsaftermajoroutagesthroughblack-startcapabilities.

LeveragingtheadvancedcapabilitiesofsmartmeterstomanageDERsbringsmanyadvantages,suchasbeingabletoanticipatepowerdemand,supplyandgridconditions.Theuseofweatherdatacanalsoensuresubsequentactions,includingemergencyrestorationsystemreadinessandeforts,arepreparedinadvancetomitigatetheefectsoftheseevents.Smartmeters,inadditiontoaidingoptimalenergyutilisationandgridmanagement,canalsohelpdiagnosefaultsandaidtheutilityinrespondingquicklyorrestoringservice.

Theextremevulnerabilityofpowersystemstoclimaticeventshasencouragedseveralcountriestoadoptapathofevaluatingandenhancingresiliencethroughadiversesetofmeasures.Itisalsoessentialthatcountries’efortsaresharedgloballythroughknowledgesharingandpeer-to-peerlearningopportunities.Asresilienceenhancementcannotbesuccessfullyachievedinsilos,thereisaclearneedforefectivestakeholderengagementandcross-sectoralcollaborationtoresolvesectoralinterdependence.Establishingclearinstitutionalrolesandresponsibilitieswithinorganisationswillpromoteaccountabilityandfosteraproactiveapproachtoresilienceenhancement.Engagingconsumersisalsoakeyaspecthere,astheyneedtobeinvolvedfromtheverybeginning.Thisisespeciallythecaseforinstallingmicrogrids,whereitiscrucialforthemtounderstanditsbenefitsandhowtheycansupportthegrid.Skilldevelopmentisagainacrucialaspect,whereweneedtocreateaworkforcecapableofhandlingthetechnologicaladvancementsbeingimplementedandtherebysupportarapidrecovery.

Finally,theimplementationofresiliencemeasuresrequirestherightfinancialmechanismstosupportthem.Acomprehensiveriskassessmentfollowedbyasystemicanalysiscanprovidecrucialinformationontheimpactsofclimaticevents.Theseneedtobefollowedbyanalignedmarket,adaptivestandardsandproactiveinvestment.Thisreporthighlightsseveralexamplesofinnovativefinancingmechanismsforresiliencemeasures,suchasgrantsandconcessionalfinancing,market-basedriskmanagement,private–publicpartnerships,greenandresilience-themeddebtinstrumentsandcommunity-drivensolutions.

Thisreportdemonstratestheimpactsthatextremeeventscanhaveonpowersystemsandthevulnerabilitiesoftheirdiferentsegments.Itdiscussesproactivestrategiesandadiversesetofsolutionsthatcanenableresilienceenhancement,includingtechnology,policymakingandfinancialmechanisms,includingexamplesfromageographicallydiversesetofcountries.

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

9

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE

10ACTIONSTOCLIMATE-PROOF

POWERINFRASTRUCTURE

ACTION1IDENTIFYEXTREMEWEATHEREVENTSANDSYSTEMVULNERABILITIES

Conductdetailedassessmentswiththesupportofaccurateweatherandclimatemodellingtoidentifylikelihoodofextremeweathereventsandtounderstandhowtheseimpactgeneration,transmissionanddistributionassets.Mapthemostcriticalvulnerabilities.

ACTION2IDENTIFYRESILIENCE-ENHANCINGMEASURES

Prioritisemostcrucialvulnerabilitiesacrossthediferentpowersystemassetsandassesspossibleresilienceenhancementmeasuresthatwillmitigatethesecriticalvulnerabilities.

ACTION3PERFORMCOST-BENEFITANALYSIS

Conductacost-benefitanalysiscomparingthelong-termeconomicimpactofproactiveresilienceinvestments

versustheconsequencesofrepeatedweather-relatedoutagesandrepairs.Prioritiseresiliencemeasuresbasedoncostvs.benefit.

ACTION4ADOPTPOLICIESFORPROACTIVERESILIENCE

Developstrategicnationalplansandpoliciestargetingthepowersectorthatincentivisetheadoptionofproactiveresiliencemeasures,preventativeinvestmentsandtheintegrationofresilienceintopowersystemdesignand

operations.

ACTION5SECUREINVESTMENTFORRESILIENCE

Evaluatethereturnoninvestmentforresilienceupgrades.Quantifyhowtargetedspendingwillreducelossesovertime,aidingdecisionmakersinprioritisinginvestments.Exploreinnovativefundingmodels,highlightingreplicablesuccesseswithincomparableregions.

ACTION6HARDENINFRASTRUCTURE

Protectcriticalassetswithupgradestailoredtolocalclimatethreats(flooddefences,stormhardening,etc.).Selectedsolutionsmustmatchthespecificvulnerabilitiesidentified.

ACTION7FOSTERDISTRIBUTEDENERGYRESOURCES

Distributedenergy(solar,microgrids)lessensrelianceonthecentralisedgridandsafeguardscriticalservices.Deploydiverseenergystorageoptionsbasedonlocalneeds.Storageprovidesbackuppower,balancessupplyanddemand,andunlocksnewrevenuestreams.

ACTION8INTEGRATEGRID-FORMINGRENEWABLES

Integraterenewablesthatprovidegrid-formingcapabilityastheirshareofpowergenerationincreases.Thisenhancesreliabilityduringdisruptionandreducesdependenceonfossilfuelsupplychains.

ACTION9IMPLEMENTSMARTGRIDSOLUTIONS

Predictiveanalytics,forecastingandsmartmonitoringenableproactiveresponsestoweatherrisks.Thisminimisesoutagesandoptimisesexistinginfrastructure,avoidingcostlybuildouts.

ACTION10FACILITATEKNOWLEDGESHARING

●

Developregularcapacity-buildingtrainingforutilitystaf.Createopenplatformstoshareresiliencestrategies,

★★

casestudiesandpolicyframeworksandimprovecommunityengagementandcommunicationwithpowersystemstakeholders.EncourageR&Dbygovernment,privatesectorandacademicinstitutions.South-Southknowledgeexchangeaccelerateslearningandadaptationwithinsimilarcontexts.

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

10

INTRODUCTION:

ACCELERATINGPOWERSYSTEMRESILIENCE

Inrecentdecadestheefectsofclimatechangeonhumanityandtheearthhavebecomemorefrequentandsevere.UndertheParisAgreement,197countriescommittedtolimitingglobalwarmingtobelow2°Cabovepre-industriallevelsbysubmittingnationallydeterminedcontributions(NDCs)everyfiveyears.Thesedocumentsoutlinetargetsandmeasurestoreducegreenhousegasemissionsandstrengthenclimateadaptation.

Althoughmitigationhasdominatedclimatediscussions,theincreasingfrequencyandseverityofextremeweathereventsduetoclimatechangehasshiftedthefocustowardsadaptation.ThemostrecentConferencesoftheParties(COPs)provideevidenceofthis,whereclimate-relatedlossanddamageaswellasmobilisationofprivatefinanceforadaptationandresiliencewerethecentreofimportantdiscussions.Despitetheprogressthathasbeenmade,furtheractionisneededtosupportcountriesintheirfightagainsttheimpactsofclimateevents,especiallyforleastdevelopedcountries(LDCs)andsmallislanddevelopingstates(SIDS).Thesecountriesfaceheightenedvulnerabilitytoextremeweatherevents,withfewerresourcestomaintainorincreasetheirresiliencetosuchevents.ThecurrentroundofNDCupdates–NDC3.0–andupcomingNDCimplementationplansofercrucialopportunitiesforcountriestoprioritiseadaptationplanning.

Theurgencyofaddressingthesignificantimpactsthatextremeweathereventsandclimatechangehaveonpowersystemassets,oftenleadingtopoweroutages,isreinforcedbytheworld’spredictedrelianceonpowersystems.AccordingtoIRENA’s1.5°CScenario,by2050electricitywillaccountformorethan52%oftotalfinalenergyconsumption,whilein2022itssharewasonly23%(IRENA,2024).Thisiswhypowersystemsmustbeclimateresilient.Furthermore,withrenewableenergyhavingamoreprominentroleinthepowersector,thelistofpowersectorassetsissupplementedbystoragetechnologiesandotherenablersthatsupporttheincorporationofvariablerenewablegenerationunitssuchassolarPVandwind.Understandingtheroleofthesetechnologiesasenablersandenhancersofpowersystemresiliencebecomesveryimportantaswell.

Resilienceisabroadconceptthatcanbeappliedtothemostdiversefields.Althoughnounanimousdefinitionexists,itisusuallydescribedasagivensystem’slevelofcapabilitytorespondtodiferentstagesfollowingahazardousevent.Thepowersectorhaslongbeenincorporatingresilienceintoitssystems,includingboth

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

11

physicalandcyberresilience.However,thesepracticesmustextendtoclimateresilience.Althoughsomeregions,suchashurricane-proneareas,havealreadybeendealingwiththisissueforalongtime,climate-resilientpowersystemsmustbecomeaglobaltopic.

Thepurposeofthisbriefistohighlighttheimportanceofenhancingtheresilienceofpowersystemstoclimatechangeandprovideguidanceandrecommendationsforpolicymakerstodevelopframeworkswiththissameobjective.Thecontentsofthisbriefarebasedonthemostrecentliterature.

Thereportisorganisedasfollows:

?Chapter1addressestheincreasingthreatofextremeweathereventscausedbyclimatechangetopowersystemassetsandmapsvulnerabilitiesacrossthepowersystem.

?Chapter2presentsthedefinitionofresilienceandhighlightssolutionstoenhancepowersystemresiliencetoclimatechange.

?Chapter3describestechnologicalsolutionsandconsiderationsforenhancingtheclimateresilienceofpowersystems,includingrenewables,energystorageandsmartgrids.

?Chapter4focusesontheroleofcollaboration,riskmitigationandinnovativefinancingwhenbuildingclimate-resilientpowersystems.

?ungvar/Shutterstock.com

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

12

1.MAPPINGSYSTEMICRISK:

THECASCADINGECONOMICIMPACTOFPOWERSYSTEM

VULNERABILITY

1.1WEATHEREXTREMES:THENEWNORMALFORGRIDS

Recentyearshaveseenasurgeinthefrequencyandintensityofextremeweathereventsglobally,causingsignificantcasualties,displacementandeconomiclosses.Thenumberofextremeweatherevents1hasquadrupledovera50-yearperiod,betweentheperiods1970-1979and2000-2019.Additionally,economiclossesduetotheseeventsinthesameperiodhaveincreasedsevenfold(WMO,2021).In2024,thetenmostcostlyclimateeventsresultedinoverUSD228billioninlossesand2000fatalities(ChristianAid,2024).EUcountriesexperiencedEUR738billionineconomiclossesofassetsduetoclimate-relatedeventsfrom1980to2023,andmorethanEUR162billionbetween2021and2023(EuropeanEnvironmentAgency,2024).IntheSIDS,sealevelrise,hurricanesandotherextremeweathereventsaredrivingthedisplacementofpopulations,whilehightemperaturesandoceanacidificationthreatenmarineecosystemsthatarethecornerstonesoftheireconomies.

TheWorldEconomicForum’sGlobalRisksReport2024(WEF,2024)identifiesextremeweathereventsasthesecondmostsevereshort-termglobalrisk.Furthermore,thisriskwasrankedtopinlikelymostsevereimpactsinthenextdecade.

Globalexamplesvividlyillustratetheurgencyofbolsteringtheclimateresilienceofpowersystemsasameansofmitigatingthedisruptiveimpactsofextremeweathereventsoncriticalinfrastructure.Forinstance,HurricaneHelene’sassaultontheUnitedStates,MexicoandCubainSeptember2024causedoverUSD55billionofdamage,withwidespreadpoweroutagesafectingover4.7millionpeople(ChristianAid,2024).HurricaneMariain2017resultedinhugenegativeimpactsinDominica,withestimationsoflossanddamageatUSD380millionandUSD931million,respectively,whichcorrespondstomorethandoublethe2016GDPofthecountry(GovernmentoftheCommonwealthofDominica,2017).CycloneIdaiwreaked

1TheextremeweathereventsandrespectivenumbersmentionedhererefertotheMeteorological,ClimatologicalandHydrologicaldisaster

subgroupsasclassifiedbyEM-DAT(theinternationaldisasterdatabase),whichincludestorms,extremetemperatures,droughts,wildfires,floodsandlandslides.

ENHANCINGRESILIENCE:CLIMATE-PROOFINGPOWERINFRASTRUCTURE

13

havoconMozambiquein2019,leavingover1.8m