The COP31 Presidency of Türkiye and Australia has proposed a ‘35 by 35’ goal: increasing electricity’s share of global final energy consumption from around 20% today to 35% by 2035. However, electrification risks outpacing the infrastructure needed to support it. As transport, manufacturing and other sectors move away from fossil fuels, electrical systems must be able to operate safely and reliably at greater scale. Here, Mike Torbitt, managing director of resistor manufacturer Cressall Resistors, examines the infrastructure challenges behind this ambition.
The scale of the challenge is already becoming clear. The International Energy Agency (IEA), in its Electricity 2026 report, forecasts that: “global electricity demand will grow by an average of 3.6% annually between 2026 and 2030.” This growth will be driven by industrial electrification, electric vehicles, air conditioning and data centres, including AI infrastructure, alongside the wider shift towards electricity as an energy source.
Meeting this demand will put pressure on existing infrastructure. Distribution networks, substations and industrial electrical systems may need upgrades to accommodate new loads, while operators must ensure that equipment can respond safely to changing operating conditions. Electrified factories, high-power EV charging hubs and modern data centres all place demands on electrical infrastructure, requiring sufficient capacity alongside appropriate protection and control systems. The IEA estimates that annual investment in electricity grids will need to rise by roughly 50% by 2030, from today’s USD 400 billion, to meet forecast demand.
The challenge also extends to how electrical systems respond to changing demand. As more industrial processes and transport applications rely on electricity, engineers must account for variations in load, the characteristics of connected equipment and the conditions under which systems start, stop or experience faults.
As more transport systems, industrial processes and essential services depend on electricity, the consequences of electrical failures become more significant. An uncontrolled earth fault can damage transformers, generators and cabling, put personnel at risk and cause unplanned outages, while switching operations can generate transient currents and voltage disturbances. Rapid changes in load also place demands on equipment and control systems.
These challenges make electrical protection an important part of infrastructure readiness. Expanding capacity is essential, but engineers must also ensure that electrical systems can manage faults and changing operating conditions without compromising safety or reliability.
Building reliability into the transition
Electrical protection must be considered from the design stage of electrification projects. Engineers need to account for routine operation alongside abnormal conditions, including faults, switching events and rapid changes in load.
Neutral earthing resistors (NERs) limit the current that flows during an earth fault in resistance-earthed systems to a safe, predetermined level, protecting transformers, generators and cabling while still allowing protection relays to detect and clear the fault. Pre-insertion resistors (PIRs) address a different challenge, helping limit inrush currents and switching transients when high-voltage equipment such as transformers, capacitor banks, cables or HVDC converter stations is energised. In rail traction, cranes, lifts and other industrial drives, dynamic braking resistors (DBRs) safely dissipate the energy regenerated during braking or deceleration as heat.
Each technology addresses a different aspect of electrical system behaviour, illustrating why protection and control must be tailored to the application. The requirements of a high-voltage switching installation differ from those of an industrial drive or a distribution network, so engineers need to consider how individual components will perform within the wider system. Although resistors may represent a relatively small part of an installation, their role in managing fault currents, switching transients or excess energy protects much larger infrastructure investments.
For manufacturers and infrastructure operators, suitable protection must form part of the original design. Equipment needs to be selected for the application’s operating conditions, integrated into the wider electrical system and thoroughly tested before entering service. Load banks support this by allowing engineers to test generators, UPS systems and other backup power at data centres, hospitals and industrial sites under realistic load during commissioning, so weaknesses are found before they cause downtime.
Beyond the target
The 35 by 35 ambition provides a useful measure of progress, but the number alone cannot show whether electrical infrastructure is ready to support greater demand. That depends on the planning, investment and engineering decisions behind each project.
Achieving this target will require investment in the systems that make electrification viable, from upgrading networks to ensuring electrical equipment can operate safely under changing conditions. Governments, operators and equipment manufacturers all have a role in making sure these requirements are addressed alongside the deployment of new technologies.
This is particularly important for industrial facilities, where unplanned downtime can interrupt production and create substantial operational costs. Addressing electrical protection during design and commissioning can help identify potential weaknesses before they affect an operating system. Retrofitting protection after a problem occurs is often more disruptive than incorporating the right measures from the outset.
The COP31 Presidency has emphasised the need to move from climate commitments towards implementation. For electrification, this means turning ambition into infrastructure that can meet rising demand while maintaining safety and reliability throughout its working life.
The 35 by 35 target sets an ambitious direction for the energy transition. Delivering it will depend on more than installing electrical technologies at scale. Electrical systems must also be designed to manage faults, changing loads and demanding operating conditions safely. Making electrical protection a fundamental part of electrification planning will help ensure that increased electricity use is matched by infrastructure capable of supporting it reliably.
To find out more about the role of resistors in electrical infrastructure, speak to Cressall’s experts.
