Making the most of what we have
A faster, cheaper, and lower-risk climate progress
Optimize existing energy assets to accelerate emissions reductions and ease the strain on infrastructure, supply chains, and investment budgets. From retrofitting buildings to enhancing grids and repowering wind farms, modernizing what’s already built can deliver faster, cheaper, and lower-risk climate progress than many new projects. Yet, this powerful lever still receives less attention than it deserves.
Criticality of the topic
Decarbonization strategies often focus on new assets, but optimizing existing infrastructure is a faster, cheaper, and highly effective lever for emissions reduction. Upgrading grids, retrofitting buildings, and improving industrial efficiency can deliver immediate impact while easing pressure on supply chains and permitting systems. Digitalization, demand-side flexibility, and smarter asset management further enhance performance, reduce losses, and improve system resilience. In many cases, the climate and economic benefits of optimization rival or exceed those of new build, with lower risk and faster returns. A transition strategy that neglects existing assets risks missing near-term opportunities and overinvesting in unnecessary capacity.
Latest developments
Optimising existing infrastructure is gaining momentum across sectors. Grid-enhancing technologies, such as dynamic line rating, topology optimization, and storage integration, can increase grid utilization by up to 40%, offering faster, lower-cost alternatives to major reinforcements.
Efficiency-first policies are also advancing. The EU’s revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and national renovation strategies prioritize building upgrades over new construction. In industry, rising energy costs and tightening climate targets are accelerating retrofits, including process electrification, heat recovery, and boiler upgrades.
Digitalization is playing a growing role, with predictive maintenance, real-time monitoring, and AI-driven load management helping improve asset longevity and system reliability. Meanwhile, electricity market reforms are creating stronger incentives for optimization. Transmission system operators increasingly reward demand response, flexible generation, and BESS participation through capacity markets and grid services. These developments reflect a broader shift toward making better use of what already exists to meet climate and energy security goals.
Trends and outlook
As energy demand grows and infrastructure strains under pressure, optimizing existing assets will be critical for near-term emissions reductions and long-term system stability. Grid and building upgrades offer untapped potential, particularly where permitting delays hinder new project deployment. Governments and system operators are expected to prioritize unlocking latent capacity through digitalization, improved regulation, and targeted incentives.
Advances in data analytics, automation, and asset intelligence will further enable this shift. Making better use of existing assets can help meet climate goals more quickly while easing pressure on infrastructure and supply chains.Various optimization pathways show how today’s energy assets can be upgraded to support the transition while boosting system efficiency and flexibility. Waste heat recovery should be prioritised wherever practical, for example, by capturing excess heat from gas turbines, coal plants, or industrial facilities and using it for district heating or process needs. This not only raises overall energy efficiency but also cuts fuel demand, emissions, and system costs.A growing focus on making better use of existing assets highlights the need to achieve climate goals faster while reducing pressure on infrastructure and
supply chains.
Governments and other policymakers
Policymakers should embed the “efficiency first” principle into national energy strategies, ensuring that optimization options are fully assessed before approving new infrastructure. Deployment of grid-enhancing technologies and smart grid solutions should be accelerated through targeted funding, regulatory frameworks, and mandates for system operators. Robust performance standards for buildings, industrial processes, and grid components can raise baseline efficiency while driving innovation. To scale retrofits and digital upgrades, governments should offer tax incentives, carbon credit eligibility, and streamlined approval processes, ensuring that optimization becomes a mainstream pillar of decarbonization and energy system resilience.
Companies and industrial players
Companies should systematically audit existing assets to identify optimization opportunities, from control system upgrades to efficiency retrofits and repowering. Investing in digital tools, such as energy management systems, predictive analytics, and process automation, can significantly enhance asset performance and operational flexibility. In mature markets for onshore wind like France and Germany for instance, repowering is gaining momentum as a key strategy to meet government buildout targets, with repowered projects already accounting for one-third of new onshore wind capacity additions in 2024. Optimized assets can also generate new revenue streams through participation in flexibility and ancillary services markets. Where possible, firms should prioritize refurbishment and smart maintenance to extend asset lifetimes, reduce emissions, and avoid unnecessary capital expenditure. Making better use of existing infrastructure is often the fastest path to cost-effective decarbonization and improved business resilience.
Investors
Investors should allocate capital to retrofit and modernization projects that offer high emissions reductions and efficiency gains per euro invested. Repowering existing assets also presents significant upside potential, particularly where infrastructure is already in place. Portfolios with a strong focus on asset productivity and optimization strategies should be prioritized over those relying solely on new build exposure. Engaging with portfolio companies to disclose asset performance indicators and long-term modernization plans is essential for assessing transition readiness. Investors can also play a catalytic role by supporting infrastructure funds focused on grid, building, and industrial optimization technologies, ensuring that capital drives faster, smarter use of existing assets across the economy.
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