Electricity-related spending already makes up nearly 60% of all global energy investment. This is according to the IEA’s 2026 World Energy Investment report, released in Paris on 28 May. The report also states that investments in electricity supply and infrastructure are expected to reach USD 1.6 trillion in 2026 and rise to USD 2 trillion when spending on end-use electrification is included.

The figures indicate a trend that’s been further highlighted by the Middle East conflict. If it prompts a faster pace of electrification, the report explains, the conflict will bring the Age of Electricity “even more clearly into view.” The effects of current disruptions are felt most directly in the Middle East and in Asia, which had been the destination for 80-90% of energy exports from Gulf producers.

Globally, the conflict in the Middle East is reinforcing a shift towards security, trust, and diversity as key criteria alongside costs, prices, and environmental performance in decisions affecting energy projects and partners. This will have wide-ranging implications for the fuels and technologies that countries prioritise, where they get them from, and how they look to achieve other strategic energy objectives. Changing perceptions of risk and reliability are expected to spur renewed interest in a range of domestically available energy resources. For major importers of fuel, this creates upside for renewables, nuclear, and potentially also for coal. Renewable energy resources are widely distributed around the world, and preliminary signs indicate that deployment is picking up in some markets heavily affected by the energy crisis.

In terms of specific forecasts regarding global annual investment in fuel supply, the report states that despite the Middle East conflict, the IEA expects capital outlays on fuels to rise about 3% in 2026, driven mainly by investment in natural gas projects. Net refinery capacity is set to grow in 2026, reflecting a slowdown in closures. However, new refinery investment is expected to fall to decade-level lows.

This is in line with the finding that for the period 2016-2026, low-emissions technologies account for 75% or more of electricity generation investment in many emerging markets and developing economies.

Read more.