ASTANA – The global energy transition is often discussed through the language of climate targets, emissions cuts and renewable energy. Yet the next stage of the transformation may be defined by a more practical question: how much economic activity can countries run on electricity, and how efficiently can they do it?
Photo credit: iStock
According to Clem Perry, global lead for clean energy supply at the World Resources Institute (WRI) Polsky Center for the Global Energy Transition, electrification is moving beyond a climate strategy to become a question of affordability, competitiveness, energy security and resilience to volatile fossil fuel markets. The shift is visible in electric buses, heat pumps, electric vehicles and increasingly electrified industrial processes, but its implications extend far beyond individual technologies.
The global economy still has a long way to go. According to WRI, electricity accounts for about 20% of final energy use globally, with the share approaching 30% in China, compared with roughly 22% in the United States and 21% in the European Union. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says global electric car sales exceeded 20 million in 2025, with electric cars accounting for one in four new cars sold worldwide.
These figures point to a structural change rather than a temporary technology trend. More economic activity is shifting from direct fossil-fuel combustion toward electricity, from transport and buildings to industrial equipment. But electrification does not necessarily mean consuming more energy. Its economic logic lies partly in efficiency.
Perry notes that combustion engines can waste as much as 80% of the energy contained in fuel, while electric motors can convert around 80% of electrical energy into motion. Heat pumps can deliver several units of heat for each unit of electricity consumed. This means an economy can use more electricity while using less energy overall to achieve the same output.
This creates a second, less obvious transformation: as households and businesses electrify transport and heating, electricity consumption may rise while overall energy costs can fall because electric technologies are more efficient. Avoided fossil-fuel costs can offset higher electricity costs, although the scale of savings varies by market and technology. WRI cites an analysis estimating that fully electrifying a typical European household’s heating and transport could cut its overall energy bill by more than half.
But the transition also exposes a new constraint: electricity networks. The challenge facing many economies will not only be whether they can generate enough power, but whether their grids can deliver it at the right place and at the right time. Electric vehicles, industrial facilities, data centers, cooling systems and new housing are all adding demand to networks that in many countries are already under pressure.
This is where the next phase of electrification becomes more sophisticated. Not every new megawatt of demand requires another megawatt of generation. Some consumption can be shifted in time. Electric vehicles can charge overnight, buildings can pre-heat or pre-cool, and batteries, water heaters and certain industrial processes can respond to periods of grid congestion. Smart controls can automate much of this without requiring consumers to change their daily routines.
Why electrification matters for Kazakhstan’s competitiveness
Ruslan Sultanov. Photo credit: gov.kz
For Kazakhstan, this global trend is becoming increasingly relevant. The country is seeking to expand industrial production, transport, digital infrastructure and data centers — all areas that depend on reliable and increasingly large amounts of electricity. As economist Ruslan Sultanov, author of the Tengenomika channel, notes, the issue should be considered not only in terms of electricity generation but also in terms of economic efficiency. The key question is not simply how many kilowatt-hours Kazakhstan can produce, but how much industrial output and added value the economy can generate from each megawatt.
For Kazakhstan, this could change how we define energy competitiveness. Generating more electricity will remain important, but generation capacity alone will not be enough.
Sultanov points to the importance of networks, storage, demand management and the ability to connect new industrial consumers quickly. The ability to move electricity to where it is needed and manage demand when networks are under pressure could therefore become nearly as important as the amount of power produced. This is particularly relevant as Kazakhstan seeks to expand industrial production and other electricity-intensive activities.
Sultanov also raises a broader industrial question: how much of the investment generated by a more electrified economy can remain inside Kazakhstan through domestic production, construction, technology and services? In that sense, electrification could become an opportunity to deepen domestic value creation rather than simply increase electricity consumption.
At the same time, electrification has clear limits. Steelmaking, chemical production, aviation and shipping remain harder to electrify directly, while hydrogen, synthetic fuels and other low-carbon alternatives may be more suitable for some applications. As Perry notes, the practical objective is not to “electrify everything” regardless of cost, but to electrify directly where it makes the most economic and efficiency sense while reserving other technologies for harder-to-electrify sectors.
For Kazakhstan, that distinction matters. The country does not need to replicate the energy pathway of China, Europe or the United States. It needs to identify where electrification can generate the greatest economic return — from urban transport and industrial processes to buildings, digital infrastructure and new manufacturing.
The global energy transition is therefore moving into a new phase. The question is no longer simply how to replace fossil fuels with cleaner sources of power, but how to build an economy that uses electricity more efficiently, connects new demand faster and converts additional power capacity into greater productivity. Perry’s analysis highlights the importance of grid expansion, smarter demand management and coordination between power, transport, buildings and industry, while Sultanov’s Kazakhstan-focused argument emphasizes the economic value created from electricity.
For Kazakhstan, that may ultimately be the more important measure of the transition: not simply how many kilowatt-hours the country produces, but how much economic value it can generate from each megawatt. Sultanov’s central argument is that the focus should increasingly be on the amount of industrial output and added value the economy can derive from its electricity resources.