The expansion across Europe of clean energy systems presents energy asset owners and stakeholders with growing climate-related risks, as renewable energy becomes the backbone of the region’s low-carbon economy.

By 2030, 83% of Europe’s clean energy generation, especially solar power, will be at high risk, according to a report published today by Zurich Insurance Group. Energy storage assets are even more exposed, with 92% facing high levels of climate risk. The report’s authors posit that, with energy generation capacity from renewable assets set to increase by almost two-thirds by 2030, there is also an opportunity to make the clean energy transition ‘resilient by design’.

Zurich’s Safeguarding our Energy Future: Protecting Europe’s Energy Infrastructure Against Climate Risk report analyses over 25,000 power generation sites across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Using Zurich Resilience Solutions’ geospatial modelling tool, Climate Spotlight, the study assessed how climate hazards could affect renewable energy production and storage up to 2030 and 2050.

Renewable energy assets, the insurer warns, face significantly greater physical climate risk than fossil fuel-based infrastructure. The report highlights that failing to adapt could jeopardise both the energy transition and energy security. To avoid this, Zurich calls for stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors.

Key recommendations include upgrading existing infrastructure to withstand extreme weather; incorporating climate stress tests in the planning of new projects; embedding resilience into energy infrastructure design; improving access to reliable climate risk data; and creating the right incentives and financial frameworks to support investment.

Sierra Signorelli, CEO Commercial Insurance at Zurich, said: “The energy transition is a critical imperative for business, the economy and society. While renewables are essential to this shift, our research shows Europe’s renewable infrastructure faces rising climate risks. By building resilience, we not only reduce those risks – we protect insurability and unlock continued investment in clean energy.”
 
To compile the data for the report, future climate hazards were projected using ZRS climate data and the IPCC scenario SSP2-4.5, which predicts a 2°C temperature rise by 2100. ZRS then assessed the impact of hazards on different assets to create a risk score, categorising assets into five risk levels. The likelihood of climate events at asset locations was determined using Zurich's data and potential financial impacts were calculated.

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