
© IRENA 2025 Unless otherwise stated, material in this publication may be freely used, shared, copied, reproduced, printed and/orstored, provided that appropriate acknowledgement is given of IRENA as the source and copyright holder. Material in thispublication that is attributed to third parties may be subject to separate terms of use and restrictions, and appropriate ISBN: 978-92-9260-698-5 Citation: IRENA (2025),Enhancing resilience: Climate-proofing power infrastructure, International Renewable energyAgency, Abu Dhabi. About IRENA The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries intheir transition to a sustainable energy future and serves as the principal platform for international co-operation, acentre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource, and financial knowledge on renewable energy.IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, About this documentThe report was authored byInes Jacob,Gayathri NairandRebecca Bisangwa,under the guidance ofSimon Benmarraze. Adrian Gonzalez, Aicha Ben Youssef, Arieta Gonelevu Rakai, Francisco Gafaro, José Torón, Nadia Mohammed, PaulaNardone,Sultan Mollov(IRENA),Eamonn Lannoye(EPRI)and Luciano Caratori(UN Climate Champions)provided valuable reviews. Technical review was provided by Paul Komor. Editorial co-ordination and production was provided by Francis Field withthe support of Stephanie Clarke. The report was edited by Justin French-Brooks, with design by Phoenix Design Aid. Disclaimer This publication and the material herein are provided “as is”. All reasonable precautions have been taken by IRENA to verify thereliability of the material in this publication. However, neither IRENA nor any of its officials, agents, data, or other third-party contentproviders provides a warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, and they accept no responsibility or liability for any consequenceof use of the publication or material herein. The information contained herein does not necessarily represent the views of all Members of IRENA. The mention of specific companiesor certain projects or products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by IRENA in preference to others of a similarnature that are not mentioned. The designations of countries employed, and the presentation of material herein do not imply theexpression of any opinion on the part of IRENA concerning the legal status of any region, country, territory, city, or area or of its CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................................................... 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................ 6 ENHANCING RESILIENCE: 10 ACTIONS TO CLIMATE-PROOF POWER INFRASTRUCTURE.......... 9 INTRODUCTION: ACCELERATING POWER SYSTEM RESILIENCE..............................................10 1.MAPPING SYSTEMIC RISK: THE CASCADING ECONOMIC IMPACT OF 1.1Weather extremes: The new normal for grids......................................................................121.2Mapping vulnerabilities: Where the grid breaks down.......................................................17 2.BUILDING A RESILIENT POWER SYSTEM: PROACTIVE STRATEGIES......................................23 2.1Beyond recovery: The resilience imperative....................................................................... 232.2Proactive resilience: The role of policy making.................................................................. 25 3.TECHNOLOGY AT THE CORE: SOLUTIONS FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE............................31 3.1Distributed resources for local resilience.............................................................................313.2Grid forming inverters: future-proofing grids with high renewable penetration.............. 333.3Unlocking grid resilience through the power of energy storage....................................... 36 4.RESILIENCE IN ACTION: LEARNING FROM SUCCESS.........................................................42 4.1Weathering the storm: A case study in resilience – Mozambique.................................... 424.2Scaling success: Collaboration and knowledge sharing.................................................. 444.3Risk mitigation for resilient power infrastructure................................................................. 45 5.CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................52 REFERENCES......................................................................................................................... 53 FIGURES Figure 1Global reported natural disasters by type, 1970–2024................................................................... 14Figure 2Grid architecture and vulnerabilities associated with