Nearly a year ago, the “Draghi Report” on the EU’s competitiveness highlighted that the energy sector is among the areas with the greatest potential to benefit from the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) to increase efficiency and accelerate innovation.
Digitalisation and AI have definately the potential to significantly accelerate the energy transition, but four key challenges must be addressed:
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Access to quality data: A major barrier to the uptake of innovative AI-enabled energy services and solutions is the lack of consistent, high-quality, and interoperable energy data. Data is often siloed across operators and regions, with limited data-sharing frameworks. This hampers the training and deployment of AI models, slows down innovation, and reduces the ability to optimise operations across the entire energy value chain.
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Slow adoption and fragmentation: The uneven pace of digital technology adoption in the energy sector stems from outdated infrastructure, resistance to change, and fragmented national efforts. This leads to uneven progress across Member States and limited economies of scale, undermining the EU’s ability to build an integrated smart energy system.
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The growing energy demand of digital technologies: The rising energy needs of digital technologies—particularly AI training and data centre operations—pose an increasing challenge. Without coordination and efficiency standards, this demand could strain local grids, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and offset some of the gains of the energy transition, especially in areas already facing capacity constraints.
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Intrinsic risks related to large-scale deployment of digital and AI tools: While a solid legislative framework has recently been adopted—comprising horizontal rules (such as the NIS2 Directive and the Cyber Resilience Act) as well as sector-specific regulations (like the Network Code on cross-border electricity flows)—the widespread deployment of digital and AI tools in the energy sector presents multiple challenges, especially when integrated into critical energy infrastructures. Promoting transparency and explainability is essential to ensure public trust. Oversight of the use of these tools in the energy sector is crucial to maintain strong consumer protection.
In response to these four main challenges, the European Commission has launched an open public consultation and a call for evidence on the forthcoming Strategic Roadmap for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence in the Energy Sector. These two initiatives are key elements contributing to the preparation of the roadmap, which is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2026.
The added value of the Strategic Roadmap lies in the creation of an EU framework that avoids diverging or non-complementary national approaches, which could weaken the Union’s competitiveness. Moreover, the roadmap will build upon the EU Action Plan on the Digitalisation of the Energy Sector, adopted in 2022.
The measures to be developed in the Strategic Roadmap are expected to deliver a wide range of benefits, including:
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Optimising grid planning (e.g. identifying optimal locations for new energy infrastructure)
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Improving grid operations through predictive maintenance and consumption forecasts
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Enhancing the integration of renewable energy sources by improving forecasting of variable generation and demand
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Empowering consumers through smart energy management in buildings and dynamic pricing
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Increasing system flexibility via demand-side management of distributed energy resources (DER)
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Contributing to affordable energy, system decarbonisation, and the achievement of climate goals
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Enabling new business models, such as peer-to-peer energy trading
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Accelerating research and innovation, including the use of AI in material discovery for next-generation batteries
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Coordinating planning and improving the integration of data centres into the power grid, promoting their energy efficiency and use of clean energy
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Strengthening cooperation among relevant stakeholders and jurisdictions with shared interests, to harness the many opportunities offered by digitalisation and AI in energy, while effectively managing risks.
Over the next 14 weeks (until 5 November 2025), the European Commission will be collecting input from stakeholders. In addition to the open consultation and call for evidence, the Commission is conducting targeted consultations via dedicated workshops with stakeholders from the digital and energy sectors.
As foreseen in the Action Plan for Affordable Energy, the Strategic Roadmap complements a range of initiatives already announced in the field of artificial intelligence, such as the AI Act and the AI for Europe Initiative.
