European Commission unveils roadmap for AI and digitalisation in energy

The European Commission has published a Strategic Roadmap for Digitalisation and AI in the Energy Sector, setting out plans to expand the use of digital technologies across Europe’s energy infrastructure.

The roadmap presents digitalisation as a tool for improving energy efficiency, managing electricity demand more effectively, and supporting the integration of renewable energy sources into power grids.

According to the Commission, digital tools could help consumers and businesses reduce energy costs through smarter consumption patterns, improved demand management, and greater visibility into energy use.

The strategy is built around three priorities. The first focuses on integrating data centres into energy systems in a more sustainable way. The second aims to accelerate deployment of technologies such as smart meters, intelligent grid management systems, and AI-enabled energy tools. The third seeks to establish mechanisms for secure cross-border sharing of energy-related data.

The roadmap also addresses supporting areas including cybersecurity, AI trustworthiness, digital skills development, and international cooperation.

As part of the implementation phase, the Commission plans to support industry-led cooperation initiatives and launch the AI.grids community, which will focus on developing AI models for electricity network management.

One notable aspect of the roadmap is its treatment of data centres as part of the energy system itself rather than simply large energy consumers. As AI deployment drives growing demand for computing infrastructure, the Commission is increasingly linking digital policy, energy planning, and industrial strategy within the same policy framework.

The roadmap also reflects a shift in how electricity networks are expected to operate. Managing decentralised renewable generation, fluctuating demand, storage systems, and cross-border energy flows requires significantly more data processing and automation than traditional grid models, making digital infrastructure a core component of future energy system management.