From Pipelines to Transmission Lines: Redefining Security in a Renewable World

by Dan Roscoe, CEO of Roswall

Energy security is no longer about pipelines and barrel stockpiles. As electrification and renewables increasingly dominate new energy development, it’s about transmission, interconnection, and systems built to withstand shocks while securing the future.

For most of the last century, the measure of a nation’s energy security was the length of its pipelines and the size of its oil reserves. We stockpiled barrels, fortified shipping lanes, and built policies around defending supply routes. Yet time and again, wars, price shocks, and disasters have exposed just how fragile that system really is.

In a renewable world, security is no longer about guarding fuel. It is about building resilient, interconnected, and decentralized electricity systems. From pipelines to transmission lines, the foundation of energy security is shifting. Nations that embrace renewables will be better positioned not only to cut emissions, but also to ensure stability, independence, and resilience in the face of future crises.

The obvious case for renewables and security

The first argument is the simplest. Renewables are inherently more secure than fossil fuels.

Wind, solar, and hydro are domestic resources. No foreign supplier can shut off the sun or embargo the wind. That independence insulates nations from the political leverage that has long been tied to oil and gas.

They are also more stable in price. Fossil fuels trade on global commodity markets, swinging with conflict, speculation, and supply shocks. Renewables, once built, operate at predictable, low costs for decades.

And of course, renewables strengthen climate resilience. The very storms, fires, and droughts that destabilize societies are fueled by emissions. By cutting those emissions, renewable systems reduce the long-term risks to the grids and communities that depend on them.

Decentralization: the overlooked security advantage

Beyond independence and price stability, renewables offer a form of resilience that fossil fuels never could: decentralization.

Fossil fuel systems are inherently centralized. One pipeline, one refinery, or one port can cripple supply. By contrast, renewable systems are distributed across rooftops, farms, coastlines, and communities. A network of thousands of solar panels and wind turbines is far harder to disrupt. Sabotage, blockades, or natural disasters require multiple points of failure, not just one.

This advantage extends to microgrids. Communities that generate and store their own renewable power can keep hospitals, water systems, and emergency services running even if the wider grid fails. Microgrids transform electricity from a single point of vulnerability into a backbone of local resilience.

As transport and heating electrify, this resilience multiplies. Securing the power system is no longer just about lights and appliances. It is about the vehicles that move people and goods, and the systems that keep homes warm. In short, electrification means resilience in electricity becomes resilience across the entire economy.

Supply chain certainty

The differences between fossil and renewable supply chains are stark. Fossil fuels require constant extraction, refining, and transport. Each step is a choke point, vulnerable to disruption during conflict or disaster.

Renewables, on the other hand, rely on up-front infrastructure. Once a wind farm, solar array, or hydro facility is built, it draws on resources that cannot be embargoed or depleted. No ongoing shipments are needed to keep the turbines turning.

By removing dependence on imported fuels and volatile supply routes, renewable systems lock in a certainty that fossil systems can never deliver.

Geopolitics and technological sovereignty

Energy has always shaped geopolitics, and the transition to renewables is no different. The balance of power is changing.

Fossil fuels concentrate wealth and influence in resource-rich states. Renewables redistribute opportunity. Any country with access to sun, wind, or water can generate its own energy. The real competition becomes one of innovation, who can develop the best storage, transmission, and grid technologies, not who controls the largest reserves.

Transmission is now a strategic asset. Interconnections between countries smooth supply, prevent blackouts, and enhance mutual security. Electricity trade can evolve into a tool of cooperation rather than coercion.

Canada has a unique role to play here. With abundant clean resources and a tradition of cross-border energy trade, Canada can export not just power but expertise. Our knowledge in building renewable systems, interties, and market structures can become an asset to utilities around the world.

The world’s energy security can no longer be measured in barrels and pipelines. It must be measured in transmission lines, interconnections, and renewable capacity.

Nations that invest in renewables and grid infrastructure are not only advancing climate goals. They are securing a more stable, resilient, and independent future. The lesson of the last century is clear: guarding fuel supplies leads to endless vulnerability. The lesson of this century is emerging just as clearly: resilience lies in transmission, interconnection, and clean energy systems built to withstand shocks.

The age of pipelines defined the old order. The age of transmission lines will define the new one.

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Dan Roscoe is the CEO of Roswall Development, a renewable energy developer, and President of Renewall Energy, a renewable energy provider, both based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His work is focused on building the infrastructure for a cleaner, smarter energy future across Canada and beyond.