A ‘Roadmap’ for digitalisation and the inclusion of artificial intelligence in the energy sector was adopted by European Commission, on Wednesday 3 June, with the rest of the legislative package on tech sovereignty (see other news).
It is intended to promote the creation of a European energy system that uses digital tools and artificial intelligence to optimise its operation, reduce its vulnerability and lower energy costs, for consumers and industrial players alike. At the same time, this ‘Roadmap’ seeks to address the challenges posed by the expected increase in energy demand to power artificial intelligence and data centres located in Europe.
It is based on three pillars: integrating data centres into the energy system, using digital solutions and artificial intelligence to optimise the operation of infrastructure, and improving the exchange and availability of European energy data.
One watchword: integration. Integrating data centres into the European energy system will involve a Commission initiative, which will draw up a model tripartite agreement between public authorities, data centre operators and energy sector actors, so that Member States and regions can take it up. A initial declaration of intent by 14 actors from the two sectors was adopted today, including, for example, the operators ENTSO-E, E.DSO and Wind Europe.
A European tool for assessing and monitoring data centres’ energy consumption, focused on their efficiency and performance in terms of decarbonisation, will also be put in place. The Commission is planning a delegated act establishing a European rating scheme for the sustainability of data centres, which is expected to be adopted in July (see EUROPE 13873/18). At the same time, a public consultation on minimum performance standards for EU data centres will be launched. The aim of this measure is to increase the transparency of data centres and encourage optimisation of energy and water consumption.
More efficient grid infrastructure thanks to artificial intelligence. The second stated objective of this ‘Roadmap’ is to complement the proposal of 10 December 2025 on the ‘grids’ package (see EUROPE 13770/4) by integrating digitalisation and artificial intelligence for better planning and management of European energy grids.
A legislative proposal from the Commission will task the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) with formulating recommendations to regional and national regulatory authorities by 2028 so that they use ‘smart’ indicators of grid performance. ACER will monitor these indicators to identify progress in the operation of infrastructure and will provide recommendations for more efficient development, if necessary. A legislative proposal for the rollout of smart meters in the EU will also be presented.
The strategy goes further and also proposes using open source artificial intelligence models to improve the management and planning of grids and digital portals to speed up permit-granting procedures. Forty-eight organisations have signed a project agreement to develop these artificial intelligence models, which are intended to be operational by the end of 2027. Generative artificial intelligence technologies to speed up permit-granting for renewable energy and storage projects are expected to be deployed in 2028.
Data, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The final strand provides for cross-border exchange of energy data to train artificial intelligence models, which will be implemented from 2027, taking account of security and cybersecurity, and involving Member States. This is intended in particular to improve the availability of European energy data.
As for the sources of funding for this strategy, Agence Europe will come back to this subject.
Read the Commission communication: https://aeur.eu/f/m5w (Original version in French by Nadège Delépine)