Building resilient renewable energy supply chains for the energy transition

Posted: January 20, 2026

As the energy transition is underway, renewable energy supply chains are under growing pressure. By 2030, solar PV generation is expected to surpass the electricity currently produced by the entire U.S. power system. Renewables are projected to supply roughly half of global electricity—up from about 30% today.^[1]

Energy companies—eager to scale projects fast enough to meet climate and reliability goals—face material shortages, trade disruptions, unpredictable demand, and workforce gaps—often all at the same time.

The renewable energy supply chain challenges underscore the need for better data visibility, cross-functional coordination, and industrial intelligence.

What are the key challenges in the renewable energy supply chain?

The renewable energy supply chain includes all the materials, processes, technologies, and people required to create clean energy from raw material extraction to electricity generation and delivery. This spans critical minerals, specialized manufacturing, logistics, grid integration, digital systems, and workforce capabilities.

Critical minerals supply struggles to meet demand

Supply has not kept pace. Copper—essential for solar panels, wind turbines, and electric grids—is projected to face a supply shortfall of approximately 30% by 2035. Adding to this challenge, much of the world’s critical mineral processing is concentrated in a small number of countries. China alone processes more than 70% of the world’s top 20 minerals vital to the energy transition, and when supply is concentrated in one region, even routine disruptions can have outsized effects.

Tariffs and trade barriers affecting renewable materials and equipment

As McKinsey notes, changes in trade policy affecting solar panels, batteries, and other clean energy equipment, especially where sourcing is geographically concentrated, have introduced additional cost and uncertainty to renewable energy projects.^[3] As tariffs continue to shape global renewable energy supply chains, companies are evaluating sourcing, manufacturing locations, and long-term investment strategies.

Limited visibility across the renewables supply chain

Limited visibility across the renewable energy supply chain makes it difficult for organizations to see where materials, equipment, and capacity are at any given moment—from critical minerals and component manufacturing to logistics, construction, and operations.^[4] Data is often fragmented across suppliers, contractors, and internal systems, leading to delays, cost overruns, and reactive decision-making when disruptions occur.

Workforce shortages and skills gaps

People are a fundamental part of the renewable energy supply chain. Engineers, operators, technicians, and maintenance teams are required to design, build, and run renewable energy assets. However, the sector is facing a growing shortage of skilled workers as experienced professionals retire and the energy transition ramps up. McKinsey estimates that global installed solar and wind capacity will quadruple between 2021 and 2030, creating demand that may be difficult to meet with the existing workforce.^[5] Without new approaches to recruitment, training, and knowledge transfer, workforce constraints could become a limiting factor in renewable energy growth.

How can digital tools reduce supply chain risk?

Technology that can minimize risk:

• Machine learning, analytics, and AI to balance supply and demand, optimize dispatch of distributed energy resources, and support workforce development
• IoT-enabled monitoring to track equipment health and operational status in real time
• Advanced process simulation to model energy systems, optimize plant design, and test feasibility before construction
• Visual dashboards that allow teams to share trusted data across engineering, operations, and supply chain functions
• Strong data management and governance to keep information accurate, secure, and accessible across the enterprise

Together, these tools help transform fragmented supply chains into integrated, adaptive systems.

Real-world examples of supply chain optimization

Energy management platforms for real-time monitoring, forecasting, and automated dispatch

Brazil’s National Electric System Operator (ONS) supplies electricity nationwide, with renewable sources accounting for 92% of its energy load across hydro, thermal, wind, and solar generation. To replace an inefficient, manual coordination process, ONS integrated AVEVA™ PI System™ with an energy management platform to enable real-time monitoring, forecasting, and automated dispatch decisions. As a result, ONS improved operational communication efficiency by 98%, saved 211 GWh of renewable energy, and avoided $11.4 million in losses in 2024.

Other utilities and energy producers around the world are using similar real-time energy monitoring, forecasting, and dispatch to more efficiently get renewable energy where it needs to go. California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO), for example, manages the extremely complex Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM), which coordinates 22 diverse balancing authorities across 11 states. CAISO uses AVEVA PI System and dynamic AVEVA™ PI Vision™ displays with automatic updates to balance the grid. CAISO shares these displays both internally with its more than 400 internal company users, and externally with other organizations. This kind of shared data ecosystem—secure, trusted, scalable—is a game-changer for managing the complexity of renewable energy and its supply chain challenges. 

Using process simulation to de-risk clean energy development

Advanced process simulation allows renewable energy organizations to explore “what-if” scenarios without the cost or risk of real-world experimentation. For example, companies can simulate the impact of delayed turbine shipments, reduced material availability, or new tariffs on imported components. They can rebalance material, energy, and labor requirements based on real-time constraints—addressing weaknesses before they become disruptions.

OMC Thermochemistry is a startup developing a novel thermochemical process to produce green hydrogen and syngas. OMC used AVEVA™ Process Simulation to model plant operations, material usage, and cost scenarios across both blue and green hydrogen production. By rigorously simulating multiple operating scenarios, OMC validated the environmental and economic performance of its process, accelerating its path toward commercialization.

Radical collaboration to future-proof renewable energy

Vulcan Energy Resources is meeting supply chain challenges by innovating a new way to sustainably source and provide lithium. Sourced from naturally heated subsurface brine in the Upper Rhine Valley, this battery-quality lithium provides the European battery and associated industries with a local sustainable source. And the process of producing this lithium also provides renewable energy for local heating.

Using AVEVA’s industrial intelligence platform, CONNECT, Vulcan enhances collaboration by allowing secure data sharing between multiple stakeholders, including contractors. Digital twins, asset information management, contract risk management, and secure document control enable Vulcan to anticipate and meet challenges before they occur. This means it can focus on building the world’s first sustainable lithium and renewable energy business—smarter, faster, and more cost-effectively.

Building intelligent supply chains for a resilient energy future

The success of the energy transition depends not only on deploying renewable assets, but on building supply chains that are intelligent, resilient, and adaptable. Approaches that include process simulation, IoT-enabled monitoring, and industrial AI are becoming essential for companies that want to get ahead of potential supply-chain disruptions.

By embracing industrial intelligence and integrated digital platforms, renewable energy organizations can strengthen supply chain visibility, reduce risk, and scale more efficiently. In doing so, they position themselves to deliver cleaner, more reliable energy—even in an increasingly complex global environment.

Ready to tackle supply chain challenges?  

^{[1] “The energy world is set to change significantly by 2030, based on today’s policy settings alone,” IEA. October 24, 2023. https://www.iea.org/news/the-energy-world-is-set-to-change-significantly-by-2030-based-on-todays-policy-settings-alone
[2] “Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025,” IEA. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-critical-minerals-outlook-2025
[3] Therkelsen, Christian, Diego Hernandez Diaz and Humayun Tai. “How Might Tariffs Affect the Energy Transition?” McKinsey & Company. July 22, 2025.
[4] World Economic Forum and Bain & Company, “Visibility and Traceability: The Twin Engines of Sustainable Supply Chains,” World Economic Forum, 2020, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Visibility_Traceability_Twin_Engines_Sustainable_2020.pdf.
[5] “Renewable-energy development in a net-zero world: Overcoming talent gaps.” McKinsey & Company. November 4, 2022. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/electric-power-and-natural-gas/our-insights/renewable-energy-development-in-a-net-zero-world-overcoming-talent-gaps}