[tomder55]

• The world has to add or replace 49.7 million miles of transmission lines by 2040 in order for countries to meet their climate goals and to achieve energy security priorities, according to a new report published by the International Energy Agency on Tuesday.
• This remarkable scale up in the construction of transmission lines across the globe will require the annual investment in electric grids of more than $600 billion per year by 2030, which is double what current global investment levels are in transmission lines, the IEA says.

World must add or replace 50 million miles of transmission lines: IEA (cnbc.com)

You can build a fossil fuel power plant close to the community it serves . That is rarely the case with renewables . They are built in open space and require many more miles of transmission lines to get the energy to it's destination.

Metals like aluminum ,copper ,steel are required to make these lines. Where do they come from ? You got it ...... China.
Metal manufacturing takes a massive amount a energy and most of it is mined and manufactured overseas.


Metals Demand From Energy Transition May Top Current Global Supply (imf.org)

From the IEA report

There are currently 1,500 gigawatts of renewable clean energy projects in what the IEA calls “advanced stages of development” that are waiting to get connected to the electric grid around the world. For some sense of perspective, a mid-size city needs a gigawatt of electricity,

So today a total of 1,500 midsize towns could be serviced with existing capacity if the transmission lines were available.

[jlisenbe]

So today a total of 1,500 midsize towns could be serviced with existing capacity if the transmission lines were available.

It's always inspiring to see a good plan working itself out.