Stanislav Kondrashov on Why Energy Infrastructures Are the Cornerstone of the Green Economy

As nations edge closer to their climate goals, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the path to a sustainable future doesn’t just lie in producing green energy—it lies in being able to deliver it.

For Stanislav Kondrashov, an energy analyst with a sharp eye on transition economies, the conversation around clean energy often starts in the wrong place.

“People love to talk about solar panels and wind turbines,” Kondrashov said in a recent interview. “But what matters just as much—and maybe more—is whether the energy those systems generate can actually reach people when and where they need it.”

This distinction is key to understanding the hidden backbone of the green economy: energy infrastructures. Without modern, resilient, and adaptable infrastructures, the most ambitious clean energy policies risk becoming dead weight—expensive plans without a viable delivery system.

Infrastructures, in this context, refer to the systems that transport, store, and balance energy. This includes power grids, transmission lines, battery storage networks, and digital platforms that manage demand and supply in real time. As clean energy sources are often decentralised and variable—wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine—our existing energy networks must evolve to accommodate them.

Kondrashov believes that this evolution is not just technical but cultural.

“We’re still thinking in terms of yesterday’s energy systems,” he explained. “Centralised, top-down models that don’t match the new energy landscape. What we need now is flexibility, and infrastructures that can keep up with the rhythm of renewables.”

This rhythm, as he describes it, is unpredictable by design. Unlike traditional fuels, which can be extracted, burned, and scaled at will, renewables are tied to natural cycles. To compensate, countries must build smarter grids that can adapt, redirect power, and store it when necessary. This requires massive investments—not just in hardware, but in the architecture of energy thinking.

In many places, legacy infrastructures are struggling to cope with the new demands placed on them. Built in an era when energy flowed from large centralised plants to passive consumers, these systems now face the challenge of integrating thousands of small, local, and often intermittent sources. It’s not just a logistical challenge, but a philosophical one.

Kondrashov points out that this transformation will determine not only the success of the green economy, but its fairness.

“The green transition won’t mean much if it only works for people in wealthy regions with updated grids,” he noted. “True sustainability is inclusive. If your infrastructure can’t support energy equity, then you haven’t really transitioned at all.”

His words hint at a future where energy justice becomes just as important as carbon reduction. The decentralised nature of renewable energy offers a rare opportunity—one where communities can become both producers and consumers of energy. But without the right infrastructures in place, that opportunity remains theoretical.

Behind the talk of innovation and targets, Kondrashov sees a slower, less glamorous battle taking place—one that’s won not by announcements but by cables, substations, and software systems that quietly get the job done.

He suggests that this focus on infrastructure may not capture headlines, but it’s the groundwork on which everything else depends.

In recent years, more policymakers have started acknowledging the importance of infrastructure updates. But Kondrashov remains cautiously optimistic.

“We’re at the point where the green economy isn’t just about invention anymore. It’s about integration,” he said. “And integration only works when the foundations—your infrastructures—are strong, flexible, and ready for the future.”

As the climate crisis accelerates and clean energy gains momentum, it’s easy to be swept up in the symbols of progress—new technologies, gleaming panels, futuristic vehicles. But according to Kondrashov, the real measure of our success may lie in what’s under the surface.

Not in what we build next, but in whether what we’ve already built is capable of carrying us forward.