The world is entering a new age of electricity. The challenge is no longer to imagine the grid of the future, but to build it quickly, at scale and through coordinated action across the entire electricity value chain.

At the CIGRE 2026 Paris Session, more than 15,000 experts from 100 countries and 330 exhibitors came together to address the priorities shaping the future of power systems:

🔹 Accelerating grid investment to support electrification, renewable integration and growing data-centre demand

🔹 Coordinating transmission and distribution development through a “One Grid” approach

🔹 Scaling up industrial capacity, innovation and technology

🔹 Building the skills needed to deliver the energy transition

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that annual investment in electricity grids will need to rise from around USD 400 billion today to approximately USD 600 billion by 2030.

As CIGRE President Konstantin O. PAPAILIOU reminded us: “No plan B, no planet B.”

Ο Κώστας Παπαηλιού δανείστηκε ένα τμήμα του τίτλου του βιβλίου του Γιάννη Μανιάτη και του Μάκη Προβατά: “Επειδή δεν υπάρχει Planet B” και έκανε την παρουσίασή του στο Παρίσι στο Συνέδριο του CIGRE (Παγκόσμιος Οργανισμός