Hitachi CEO calls for stronger grid connection amid growing power demand

Hitachi Energy CEO Andreas Schierenbeck emphasised strong grid connection amid growing electricity demand.

"...the electricity demand is increasing tremendously, but the demand can be fulfilled if we have the need to have a strong grid for that," he said in a session at the Bloomberg New Economy 2026 event on Wednesday.

There are 500 GW of generation projects waiting for grid access, he said, emphasising the importance of grid access, as without a grid connection it is difficult for power projects, including non-fossil fuel sources, to begin supplying electricity.


Kirsty Gogan, co-founder and co-CEO of Terra Praxis, Managing Partner, LucidCatalyst, highlighted that energy consumption in India is over 2 kilowatt-hours (KWh) per capita compared to 20 KWh per capita on average in the OECD.

"So, if we wanted everybody in India to achieve sort of OECD average access to modern energy services, we would need to increase the energy supply in India by eight times," she said.