Energy Transition Research: Renewables, Grids, Storage, Hydrogen & Clean Power

The energy transition has entered a more difficult-and commercially more interesting-phase.

Solar panels can already be deployed at enormous scale. Wind power is mature. Battery costs have fallen sharply. Electric vehicles are mainstream products in many markets. Yet building a lower-carbon energy system now depends on problems that are harder than proving whether an individual technology works.

Can a renewable project secure a grid connection?

Can electricity networks carry new generation to where demand is growing?

Can storage provide enough flexibility when solar and wind output changes?

Can hydrogen producers find buyers willing to sign long-term contracts?

Can carbon capture projects coordinate capture plants, pipelines and storage sites?

Can nuclear projects control construction cost and schedule?

Can countries build clean-energy supply chains without making electricity materially more expensive?

These questions define the next phase of the global energy transition.

DataM Intelligence's Energy Transition research follows the market at this point of friction-where technology, infrastructure, energy security, economics, and investment decisions meet.

The Energy Transition Is Getting Bigger-and Less Simple

DataM Intelligence estimates the global Energy Transition Market at USD 2.36 trillion in 2026, with the market projected to reach USD 7.20 trillion by 2035, representing a CAGR of 13.59%. Asia-Pacific currently represents the largest market, while North America is identified as the fastest-growing region.

But there is no single “energy transition market” moving at one speed.

Some technologies are already winning projects largely because their economics work.

Others are commercially viable but cannot connect to infrastructure quickly enough.

Still others remain dependent on policy support, guaranteed demand or new business models.

Understanding those differences is more useful than simply counting how much capital is labelled “clean energy.”

Three Curves Now Determine the Pace of the Transition

The next decade will increasingly be shaped by three very different curves: the cost curve, the connection curve and the contract curve.

Each tells a different story about where opportunity-and risk-is moving.

The Cost Curve: Solar, Wind and Batteries Have Changed the Economics

Renewable power has moved well beyond being an experimental alternative to conventional generation.

IRENA's July 2026 analysis found that more than 90% of utility-scale renewable projects commissioned in 2025 produced electricity below the cost of the cheapest new fossil-fuel plant available in their respective markets. Solar PV costs averaged around USD 44/MWh in 2025, broadly unchanged from 2024 after years of substantial cost declines.

That changes the investment argument.

In many markets, the case for renewable power no longer begins with whether customers are willing to pay a significant “green premium.” Instead, developers increasingly compete around land, permitting, financing costs, transmission access, curtailment risk and the ability to deliver electricity when customers need it.

DataM Intelligence values the global Renewable Energy Market at USD 1.51 trillion in 2025 and projects it to reach USD 3.38 trillion by 2035.

The transition is therefore entering an era in which renewable generation itself may be relatively straightforward compared with integrating it into the wider power system.

The Connection Curve: The Grid Has Become the Bottleneck

A solar farm that cannot connect is not an energy asset.

Neither is a battery waiting years for interconnection approval or a new factory that cannot secure sufficient power.

This is why electricity networks have moved from the background of the energy transition to the foreground.

The IEA estimates that more than 2,500 GW of renewable generation, storage and large-load projects are currently sitting in grid queues around the world. It also estimates that annual grid investment needs to rise by roughly 50% from today's level of around USD 400 billion by 2030.

There is an important timing mismatch.

The IEA notes that major grid infrastructure can require five to fifteen years to plan, permit and construct. Solar and wind projects may take one to five years, new data centers one to three years, and EV charging infrastructure one to two.

That mismatch creates one of the largest commercial opportunities in the transition.

Transmission equipment, transformers, cables, HVDC systems, grid-enhancing technologies, substations, digital grid software, power-flow control, reconductoring and distributed flexibility all become more valuable when the constraint is no longer generating electricity but moving it.

The next energy-transition winner may therefore be a company that helps a renewable project connect faster rather than one that generates another percentage point of solar-module efficiency.

Storage Is Becoming Part of the Electricity System, Not an Add-On

For years, storage was discussed as something renewables would eventually need.

That future has arrived.

The IEA reports that battery storage was the fastest-growing power technology in 2025, with 108 GW of new capacity deployed globally-about 40% more than in 2024. Installed battery-storage capacity is now roughly eleven times its 2021 level.

Around 80% of the new capacity added during 2025 was utility-scale.

The chemistry mix is also changing. LFP batteries represented around 90% of global deployments in 2025, reflecting their cost, safety and cycling advantages for stationary applications.

The strategic question for storage is consequently becoming more nuanced than “Will batteries grow?”

They clearly are growing.

The questions now concern duration, revenue stacking, degradation, cycling strategy, grid services and the point at which alternative storage technologies become competitive.

Two Hours Is Not the Whole Storage Market

Many utility-scale battery projects remain concentrated around roughly two hours of discharge, but the IEA notes that projects of four hours and above are becoming more common as solar penetration rises.

This opens another part of the market.

Pumped hydro, flow batteries, sodium-based systems, iron-air batteries, compressed-air storage, thermal storage and hybrid systems compete for applications where the economics of short-duration lithium-ion batteries become less attractive.

DataM Intelligence's Pumped Hydro Storage, Battery Energy Storage Systems, Grid-Scale Battery, Renewable Energy Storage and Hybrid Energy Storage research should therefore sit together on this cluster rather than being distributed as unrelated report cards.

The useful investment question is not which storage technology is universally “best.”

It is which storage duration solves the actual system problem at the lowest lifecycle cost.

Firm Clean Power Is Back in the Conversation

One of the more important changes in the energy-transition debate is the renewed focus on electricity that can be available when required.

As variable solar and wind generation grow, power systems need combinations of storage, demand flexibility, transmission and dispatchable generation.

Nuclear energy has therefore regained strategic relevance in several markets.

The IEA reports that nuclear generation reached a record in 2025. Around 78 GW of nuclear capacity is currently under construction in 15 countries, one of the highest construction pipelines seen in three decades.

Nuclear and renewables together are expected to provide approximately half of global electricity generation by 2030.

Small Modular Reactors Are Trying to Change Nuclear's Commercial Model

Traditional nuclear projects offer large volumes of firm low-carbon power but carry substantial capital, schedule and construction risk.

Small modular reactors are attempting to alter that equation through smaller unit sizes, modular manufacturing and more flexible deployment.

DataM Intelligence estimates the global Small Modular Reactor Market at USD 6.98 billion in 2026 and USD 14.46 billion by 2035. Potential applications extend beyond conventional utility power into industrial heat, desalination, hydrogen production and dedicated electricity for high-demand facilities.

SMRs are therefore strategically relevant to the Energy Transition cluster even though commercial deployment remains at an earlier stage than solar, wind or lithium-ion storage.

Their investment thesis is different.

Investors need to assess licensing, first-of-a-kind cost, fuel availability, supply chains, modular manufacturing and whether repeat deployments can eventually produce the cost reductions promised by standardization.

That is a much more useful discussion than simply categorizing nuclear as either “renewable” or “non-renewable.”

Hydrogen Has Reached Its Reality-Check Phase

Few transition technologies attracted as much enthusiasm in the early 2020s as clean hydrogen.

The opportunity remains large, but 2026 has brought a more disciplined view of where hydrogen is likely to work first.

Global low-emissions hydrogen production grew by around 20% in 2025 to almost 1 million tonnes, and the IEA expects another record year in 2026. Yet low-emissions hydrogen is only expected to exceed 1% of global hydrogen production for the first time this year.

More revealing is what has happened to the project pipeline.

The IEA's 2026 review places announced low-emissions hydrogen production for 2030 at roughly 27 million tonnes, but projects that are committed or considered to have strong potential to operate by 2030 amount to only just above 6 million tonnes.

The difference is not primarily an electrolyser problem.

It is an offtake problem.

The Hydrogen Market Needs Buyers More Than Announcements

Hydrogen projects are capital intensive. Developers need confidence that someone will purchase the output at a price capable of supporting the investment.

Only around 20% of newly signed hydrogen offtake volumes in 2025 were supported by firm contractual commitments, according to the IEA.

That puts existing industrial hydrogen users near the front of the market.

Refineries, ammonia producers and chemical facilities already consume hydrogen. Replacing part of today's fossil-based supply with lower-emissions hydrogen can therefore be commercially more straightforward than creating an entirely new end-use market.

Steel, marine fuels and synthetic aviation fuels may create further opportunities, but the economics depend heavily on carbon policy, fuel mandates, financing and the cost of renewable electricity.

DataM already owns strong research in this area through Green Hydrogen, Green Hydrogen Electrolyzers, Hydrogen Energy Storage, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Green Hydrogen Pipelines and Green Hydrogen Testing.

The cluster should present these reports as one evolving hydrogen economy-not six disconnected markets.

Carbon Capture Is Becoming an Infrastructure Business

Carbon capture has a fundamentally different commercial problem from solar or batteries.

A solar project produces electricity that has a ready market.

Carbon capture produces a stream of CO₂ that, in many cases, has limited intrinsic commercial value.

That means project economics often depend on carbon prices, tax incentives, regulation or contractual payments for emissions management.

Despite that challenge, momentum is increasing.

The IEA reports that more than 30 CCUS projects reached final investment decisions during the two years preceding its 2026 financing review, while investment exceeded USD 5 billion in 2025-more than fifteen times the level in 2020.

Projects currently under construction could nearly double operational capture capacity by 2030.

CO₂ Networks Could Matter as Much as Capture Equipment

The next stage of CCUS increasingly resembles infrastructure development.

A cement plant or refinery may capture carbon, but the CO₂ still needs to be compressed, transported and permanently stored.

That creates connected markets around pipelines, shipping, hubs, injection wells, monitoring and geological storage.

The IEA notes that CCUS projects face cross-chain risk because capture facilities, transport systems and storage sites must often be developed together.

For DataM, this is an opportunity to expand the Energy Transition cluster beyond broad “carbon management.”

The existing Carbon Capture and Storage, Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage, Carbon Capture Technology and Direct Air Capture reports should become a visible Carbon Management pathway.

The Transition Is Becoming a Manufacturing and Trade Story

A country can install clean technologies without manufacturing them.

That distinction has become increasingly important.

Energy-transition policy now intersects with tariffs, industrial subsidies, local-content requirements, critical minerals and national efforts to build domestic manufacturing capacity.

The IEA's Energy Technology Perspectives 2026 places unusually strong emphasis on manufacturing, trade and clean-technology supply-chain vulnerability. It notes that solar PV, wind, batteries, electric vehicles, electrolysers and heat pumps are all affected by geographically concentrated production networks.

The IEA also concludes that, based on currently committed manufacturing and mining projects, there is unlikely to be a major diversification of global clean-technology supply chains before 2030.

That creates a tension at the center of energy policy.

Governments want cheap clean technology, but many also want domestic clean technology.

Those objectives do not always produce the same answer.

Critical Minerals Move Upstream Risk Into Energy Strategy

Batteries need lithium, graphite and other minerals.

Wind turbines and electric motors can depend on rare-earth magnets.

Transmission expansion requires enormous amounts of copper and aluminium.

Nuclear expansion requires secure uranium and enrichment capacity.

The energy transition therefore shifts parts of energy security upstream-from fuel supply toward materials and manufacturing.

This means market intelligence needs to connect technology deployment with:

mining capacity, refining concentration, material pricing, trade restrictions, recycling and strategic stockpiles.

The transition cannot be understood solely by looking at installed megawatts.

AI Is Becoming the Control Layer of a More Complex Energy System

The addition of variable renewable generation, distributed batteries, EV chargers, flexible loads and microgrids creates a more complicated operating environment.

Artificial intelligence can support forecasting, demand prediction, renewable-output modelling, maintenance, trading and grid optimization.

DataM's current cluster includes AI in Renewable Energy, but the opportunity is broader than renewables alone.

DataM also has dedicated Artificial Intelligence in Energy Market research covering load forecasting, optimization and transmission and distribution applications.

That report should become part of the Energy Transition cluster.

AI should not be positioned as another energy source.

It is better understood as a coordination technology-one that can help increasingly complex energy systems use existing assets more efficiently.

Distributed Energy Is Creating an Alternative to “Build Everything Bigger”

Not every transition investment needs to be a gigawatt-scale generation project.

Solar rooftops, behind-the-meter batteries, microgrids, distributed generation and energy-management systems can place generation and flexibility closer to the point of consumption.

DataM Intelligence values the Solar PV Distributed Energy Generation Market at USD 538.2 billion in 2025 and projects it to reach approximately USD 1 trillion by 2035.

The commercial appeal varies by market.

Distributed systems can reduce exposure to grid outages, provide greater energy autonomy, help manage electricity tariffs and defer some network investment.

For businesses facing long connection queues, onsite generation and storage can also become a practical response to the inability to obtain additional grid capacity quickly.

Energy-as-a-Service Changes Who Pays for the Transition

A separate business-model shift is occurring alongside the technology transition.

Companies may want lower energy costs, better resilience or lower emissions without owning every asset themselves.

Energy-as-a-Service models allow providers to combine equipment, financing, maintenance, optimization and energy supply under contractual structures.

DataM Intelligence estimates the Energy-as-a-Service Market at USD 92.27 billion in 2026 and projects it to reach USD 223.45 billion by 2035.

This matters because the transition will not scale through technology sales alone.

Financing structures and business models determine which customers can actually adopt the technology.

The Energy Transition Is Not One-Way Replacement

A credible Energy Transition page should acknowledge an uncomfortable reality: the global energy system is expanding while it is changing.

Electricity demand is rising.

The IEA forecasts global electricity consumption to grow by an average 3.6% annually between 2026 and 2030, supported by industry, EVs, air conditioning and data centers.

Low-emissions generation is expanding quickly, but existing fossil infrastructure does not disappear immediately.

Across 2026–2030, the IEA expects renewables, natural gas and nuclear together to meet all incremental global electricity demand in aggregate, while coal generation declines only modestly.

That means the transition is better understood as a reconstruction of the energy mix than as a simple overnight substitution.

The pace will differ dramatically by sector and geography.

Solar power can expand rapidly.

Transmission takes longer.

Heavy industry moves according to asset replacement cycles.

Hydrogen needs new contracts.

CCUS needs shared infrastructure.

Nuclear projects can span more than a decade.

Those different clocks are precisely why companies need market-specific intelligence rather than a single generic net-zero forecast.

Start With the Decision, Not the Technology

The report library on this page should be rebuilt around the question a buyer is trying to answer.

“Where Is New Clean Power Being Built?”

Lead with Energy Transition Market, Renewable Energy Market, Solar Energy Market, Wind Turbine Market, Small Hydropower Market, Geothermal Power Market, and Waves & Tidal Energy Market.

Solar and wind should appear as flagship subjects. At present, the cluster has a broad Renewable Energy report but does not give these major technologies their own prominent pathways.

“How Will the Grid Absorb It?”

Lead with Smart Grid Market, Battery Energy Storage Systems, Grid-Scale Battery, Renewable Energy Storage, Pumped Hydro Storage, Hybrid Energy Storage, Microgrid and Microgrid Controller.

This is arguably the strongest 2026 investment theme because grid congestion is now delaying generation, storage and large-load projects worldwide.

“Where Does Firm Low-Carbon Power Fit?”

Lead with Small Modular Reactor Market, relevant nuclear-fuel research and Geothermal Power Market.

Nuclear should no longer be absent from the Energy Transition collection. The current global construction pipeline and renewed interest in SMRs make that omission increasingly difficult to justify.

“Can Hydrogen Become Bankable?”

Bring Green Hydrogen Market, Green Hydrogen Electrolyzer, Hydrogen Electrolyzer, Green Hydrogen Pipeline, Hydrogen Energy Storage and Green Hydrogen Testing into one pathway.

Use this section to distinguish announced capacity from projects with financing, committed offtake, and realistic commercial timelines.

“How Will Hard-to-Abate Emissions Be Managed?”

Create a dedicated pathway for Carbon Capture and Storage, CCUS, Carbon Capture Technology, Direct Air Capture, Decarbonization and relevant sustainable-fuel research.

SAF deserves representation here because aviation is one of the sectors where direct electrification is particularly difficult. DataM's Sustainable Aviation Fuel Market research projects strong expansion through 2035.

“How Is Energy Becoming More Distributed?”

Bring together Distributed Power Generation, Solar PV Distributed Energy Generation, Residential Energy Storage, Microgrids, Building Energy Management Systems and Energy-as-a-Service.

This creates a commercially coherent pathway around customers taking greater control over generation, flexibility and energy cost.

What Should Move Out of This Cluster?

The current page includes several reports that belong more naturally in Electrification.

Electric Vehicle Fluids, Electric Vehicle Connectors, EV Testing & Certification, EV Thermal Management Systems and Polymers in Electric Vehicles are legitimate research markets, but they are too granular for the parent Energy Transition cluster.

Keeping them here creates overlap with DataM's Electrification hub and dilutes the Energy Transition page's authority around power-system transformation.

They should remain accessible through contextual links, but their primary cluster home should be Electrification.

Similarly, Building Energy Management Systems can stay here as part of demand flexibility, but it should not appear before more fundamental transition subjects such as solar, wind, BESS, smart grids, nuclear or CCUS.

The top of the report catalogue should immediately communicate energy-system transformation, not EV component specialization.

A Better Way to Read the Energy Transition in 2026

The most useful indicators are changing.

Installed renewable capacity still matters, but it no longer tells the whole story.

Companies evaluating the transition should increasingly track grid queues, curtailment, storage duration, transmission investment, clean-power costs, project FIDs, signed offtake contracts, nuclear construction starts, electrolyser utilization, CO₂ storage capacity, manufacturing concentration and critical-mineral exposure.

These indicators answer a more important question:

Is the transition moving from announcement to infrastructure?

That distinction separates markets where growth is already visible in physical assets from markets where expectations still substantially exceed committed investment.

Energy Transition FAQs

What is the energy transition?

The energy transition is the long-term change in how energy is produced, transported and consumed. The current transition involves greater use of renewable and low-emissions electricity, energy storage, electrification, energy efficiency, hydrogen, carbon management and modernized power networks.

What is driving the energy transition in 2026?

The transition is increasingly driven by a combination of economics, electricity-demand growth, energy security, industrial competitiveness, climate policy and technological change. The IEA's 2026 technology outlook explicitly highlights energy security, affordability and competitiveness alongside environmental goals.

What is the difference between energy transition and electrification?

Electrification is one pathway within the energy transition. It involves replacing direct fossil-fuel use with electricity-for example, electric vehicles and heat pumps. Energy transition is broader and also includes renewable generation, storage, grids, hydrogen, nuclear energy, low-carbon fuels, efficiency, and carbon management.

What is the difference between energy transition and decarbonization?

Energy transition describes structural changes in energy supply and use. Decarbonization specifically focuses on reducing carbon emissions. A company may decarbonize through electrification, renewable electricity, efficiency, fuel switching, carbon capture or other pathways.

Why are electricity grids so important to the energy transition?

New generation and demand must connect to electricity networks. More than 2,500 GW of renewable, storage and large-load projects are currently waiting in grid queues worldwide, making interconnection and grid expansion a major constraint on deployment.

Is battery storage now a mainstream energy-transition technology?

Yes. The IEA reports that battery storage was the fastest-growing power technology in 2025, when 108 GW of new capacity was installed globally.

Is nuclear energy part of the energy transition?

Nuclear energy is a low-emissions source of electricity and is increasingly included in energy-transition strategies focused on reliable clean power. Around 78 GW of nuclear capacity was under construction globally in 2025, according to the IEA.

Why are SMRs receiving attention?

Small modular reactors aim to reduce some of the scale, financing and construction challenges associated with conventional nuclear plants through smaller and more standardized reactor designs. Potential applications include grid power, industrial energy, desalination and hydrogen production.

Is green hydrogen growing as quickly as expected?

Low-emissions hydrogen is growing, but commercialization has been slower than the volume of project announcements suggested. The IEA's 2026 review found a large gap between the announced 2030 production pipeline and projects with committed investment or strong prospects of completion.

What is the role of CCUS in the energy transition?

Carbon capture, utilization and storage can reduce emissions from industrial and energy facilities where emissions are difficult to eliminate directly. The market increasingly involves shared CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure in addition to capture equipment.

Are renewables still getting cheaper?

Cost declines are no longer equally steep across every technology, but renewables remain highly competitive. IRENA reported that more than 90% of utility-scale renewable projects commissioned in 2025 generated electricity below the cost of the cheapest new fossil-fuel alternative in their markets.

What should investors monitor in the energy transition?

Beyond capacity additions, useful indicators include grid-connection queues, storage deployment, power prices, project FIDs, signed offtake agreements, transmission investment, technology manufacturing capacity, critical-material supply and the cost of financing new infrastructure.