Surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence (AI), data centres and industrial electrification is colliding with geopolitical instability and infrastructure bottlenecks, placing fresh strain on global energy systems, according to the World Energy Council.
Its 2026 World Energy Trilemma report, Rebalancing World Energy: Trade-Offs and Transformations, said disruption to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz and rapidly rising digital infrastructure demand are forcing governments and industry to rethink how energy systems are built and managed.
The report said the challenge is shifting beyond simply adding new generation capacity towards integrating power supply with grids, storage, flexible demand, markets and institutions.
Based on discussions with more than 275 senior energy leaders across 65 countries, the council found that grids, storage and system integration are now among the most common constraints holding back energy transition efforts.
World Energy Council secretary general and Chief Executive Officer Dr Angela Wilkinson said the global energy system was being “rebalanced in real time”, with governments facing increasingly difficult trade-offs between security, affordability, sustainability and economic competitiveness.
The report identified five recurring tensions, including balancing future investment with current costs, redesigning markets while keeping existing systems running, and maintaining the pace of energy transitions while securing public support.
Regional pressures are also becoming more pronounced.
In Africa, around 600 million people remain without electricity access, highlighting persistent gaps in transmission, financing and delivery.
Saudi Arabia’s target of a 50% renewable power mix by 2030 is increasing the need to coordinate renewables, storage and flexible gas generation.
In China, nearly 50 ultra-high-voltage transmission projects providing more than 420 GW of cross-regional capacity illustrate the scale of infrastructure needed to connect renewable resources with major industrial and population centres.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s power system, which is around 90% renewable, is facing rising curtailment, underlining the growing importance of storage, market design and demand-side flexibility.
