Of the Paris Agreement’s 195 signatories, only one nation has begun formal withdrawals. This summer, President Trump signed the contentious One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), sweeping legislation aimed at curbing energy tax credits and environmental programs from 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA marked a seismic investment in renewables, designed to bolster domestic manufacturing and supply chains. Coupled with new tariffs, the future of renewable projects hangs in the balance.

According to Anne-Laure Chassanite, CEO of ENGIE Resources and ENGIE North America, the most immediate impacts have been felt in battery storage, where the company is directing much of its upcoming projects: “Tariffs impacted the battery market the most because of the Chinese footprint, but we have inventory. The key issue will be restrictions on components from certain foreign entities starting at the end of 2025.”

Under current rules, wind and solar projects must begin construction by mid-2026 to remain eligible for incentives. Chassanite is confident this is a sufficient window to capitalize on benefits and keep investors engaged; whether it triggers a clean-energy gold rush remains to be seen.

That optimism, she cautions, is tempered by bottlenecks further down the value chain: “Industrial and commercial customers want to avoid power-related crises and understand the benefits of renewables. What they don’t always see is the looming issue of grid congestion… Even when the investment is ready, it’s not always enabled in a timely manner. Grid congestion and long permitting times are the big threats to power availability in a massive load growth context.”

Undeterred, Canadian Solar announced over $2 billion in investments across Indiana, Kentucky, and Texas, covering battery storage and solar cell and module production. French technology and Earth data company Viridien is also doubling down on locations where legacy energy and transition projects are developing concurrently: “The US is key, especially in the shallow Gulf, where sequestration projects are growing. Houston is becoming a major energy hub… Europe moved earlier on carbon storage, but US incentives helped it catch up,” explains CEO Sophie Zurquiyah. Seeking funding to scale its BrightLoop chemical looping platform, Babcock & Wilcox aims to convert feedstocks like biomass and waste into clean hydrogen, fuels, or power while capturing CO₂. “The money is out there, whether it’s public support from the U.S. Department of Energy or private backing,” says CTO Brandy Johnson.

While the transition is slower than expected, Debashis Ghosh, President, Lifesciences, Healthcare, Energy-Resources and Utilities Business Group, Tata Consultancy Services, assures that companies are not abandoning renewables: “It will take a mix, not a single breakthrough… In AI, there was one ChatGPT moment, but in energy, there will be no single silver bullet, rather, a combination of technologies and behaviours that achieve the balance we need.”

Despite policy flux in Washington, companies betting billions on the U.S. hint at a momentum that politics alone may not be able to derail. Still, clean generation alone won’t tip the scales. The real test will come at the point of use: whether consumption can keep pace with production.