Leadership Panel:Unblocking Europe’s Grids: From Investment Gap to Connection Reality

Europe’s energy transition is accelerating across all sectors. Renewables, industry, transport electrification, the shift to electric heating, and the rapid rollout of energy storage are all driving unprecedented demand for timely and reliable grid access. Yet congestion, slow permitting, and long connection queues continue to hold back projects and delay Europe’s decarbonisation plans. 

The European Commission’s Grids Package, presented in December 2025, seeks to close this gap through proposed measures to accelerate grid expansion and modernisation, improve and streamline connection procedures, and provide Member States with clearer guidance and instruments to plan and prioritise infrastructure more effectively. As electrification and storage continue to scale, the need for components, system innovation, and smarter grid solutions is growing rapidly. 

CWIEME sits at the centre of this transformation, bringing together the technologies, suppliers, and innovators that will turn Europe’s grid investment ambitions into real‑world connection capacity. 

This session explores how policy, planning, and industrial capacity must align to unlock faster, more resilient, and future-ready electricity networks. 

• Bridging the gap between grid investment and connection reality across Europe 
• Strengthening coordination and cost-sharing for cross-border infrastructure 
• Accelerating permitting while maintaining public acceptance 
• Leveraging digitalisation, flexibility, and storage to maximise grid efficiency 
• What grid reform means for demand across transformers, components, and materials in the CWIEME supply chain