International Clean Energy Day is another reminder to reflect on the connection between climate and energy. We often assume that energy systems affect the climate but increasingly, it’s the other way around.

We're used to thinking of energy as a powerful, resilient sector, insulated from the forces of nature. But in reality, it is becoming increasingly vulnerable. Strong winds, hurricanes, freezing temperatures, heatwaves, heavy rain, and droughts can damage power plants, down transmission lines, disable substations and hydropower plants.

Imagine your home losing heating in the middle of winter. Or summer heatwaves overloading the grid, cutting off electricity to homes, hospitals, and schools. These scenarios are no longer hypothetical; they're becoming a reality, causing outages and billions in economic losses around the world.

Let’s look at examples from other countries:

• In Texas, USA, extreme cold in 2021 paralyzed the power system. The equipment froze, leaving four million households without electricity.

• In France and Germany, rivers overheated during summer heatwaves, disrupting cooling systems for nuclear and thermal power plants. Energy output dropped by 30 percent, driving up production costs.

• In China's Hainan province, intense rainfall flooded substations, halting metro services and factory operations.

• In the Alps and Himalayas, glacial melt is already affecting hydropower operations. Initially, excess water can threaten infrastructure, but later, declining water levels cause energy shortages.

This is a serious challenge for the future, and losses are expected to grow without adaptation. The good news? By preparing through adaptation, we can limit outages, reduce economic losses, and safeguard our communities and infrastructure against climate impacts.

According to the OECD report Infrastructure for a Climate-Resilient Future, well-targeted and timely investments can help protect lives and livelihoods, improve service reliability, reduce maintenance costs, extend asset lifespans, and generate co-benefits. Every dollar invested in climate-resilient infrastructure yields about four dollars of benefits.

In Kazakhstan, hundreds of thousands of kilometers of power lines stretch across steppes, mountains, and flood-prone areas. According to UNDP assessments, the country is already experiencing more frequent heatwaves and deep freezes, heavier rainfall, more floods, higher winds, altered river flows, and glacial melt.

Economic modeling conducted by UNDP in Kazakhstan as part of the National Adaptation Plan process shows that climate-related losses could reach nearly 400 billion tenge by 2050, and up to 66.9 trillion tenge by 2100. These figures leave no doubt: energy is a critical pillar of climate adaptation. 

UNDP experts analyzed the impact of climate change on energy infrastructure, especially power transmission lines, and concluded that adaptation can make a real difference. Measures such as upgrading power lines with weather-resistant materials, laying underground or insulated cables in vulnerable areas, developing smart grids and weather monitoring systems, and protecting substations from floods and overheating all bring measurable economic benefits. With investments of 2.9 trillion tenge by 2100, Kazakhstan could avoid 2.1 trillion tenge in losses from outages and disruptions.

Even if the savings don’t fully cover the costs, the strategic value of these investments is enormous: they increase energy reliability, reduce the frequency of breakdowns, and prevent cascading losses across industry, transport, and public services.

Adapting transmission lines is not just an expense, it’s a long-term investment in the country’s energy and economic security. And it requires action across the entire sector.

Priority adaptation measures for Kazakhstan include:

• Upgrading transmission lines using climate-resilient materials;

• Laying underground or insulated cables in high-risk zones;

• Expanding smart grids and early warning systems for extreme weather;

• Protecting substations from flooding and overheating;

• Diversifying energy sources and scaling up renewable generation.

Clean energy is not only about reducing emissions it’s also about withstanding climate risks. On International Clean Energy Day, it’s worth remembering: resilience means protecting people, ensuring their safety and comfort, and securing the future of our country.