Electrification: The Hard Part Isn’t Just the Cost of Equipment

The IEA’s Electrification report finds that electrification can strengthen energy security and improve efficiency, but the transition still hinges on upfront equipment costs, financing and power infrastructure. In a high-electrification scenario, electricity’s share of global final energy consumption could reach 35% by 2035; this is a scenario analysis, not a foregone outcome.

From transport and buildings to industrial heat, the case for electrification cannot rest on comparing the price of a kilowatt-hour with the price of fuel alone; equipment efficiency, upfront investment and financing conditions all have to be weighed as well.

For Taiwan, the questions worth asking are which industrial heat and transport needs are best suited to early electrification, and whether grid capacity, power supply costs and low-carbon electricity can keep pace. This is the reading angle we propose here, not a Taiwan-specific conclusion of the report.