Circularity and Supply Chains

about the topic

Disrupted supply chains and limited resources are one of the main bottlenecks of the timely infrastructure implementation aligned with decarbonisation goals.

More actors are becoming aware of this challenge, especially since global demand for critical raw materials increases. In this context, competition over strategic resources poses a challenge to European competitiveness, strategic autonomy, and industry development.

However, to establish resilient supply chains, a better understanding of the readiness and criticalities of European supply chains is needed. This includes ensuring materials and resources are delivered, as well as component manufacturing and assembly capacities are secured for the substantial infrastructure expansion. At the same time, minimising environmental and social impacts should be a crucial goal in this process.

Grids are a pivotal component of the infrastructure that must be deployed, but have not been sufficiently included in forecasting and planning analyses. Therefore, there is no agreement between different actors on how much will be needed to cover the demand for the electricity grid development required for achieving climate neutrality. 

Considering this knowledge gap, RGI works to identify grid-specific challenges related to supply chain constraints, while sharing circular approaches to increase resilience, reduce dependencies and provide security.

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