AI’s Growing Demand on Europe’s Energy Grid
Artificial intelligence is changing electricity consumption patterns across Europe. Schneider Electric’s Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) warns that rising compute needs, driven largely by data centers and AI training workloads, are placing new loads on distribution and transmission networks. The International Energy Agency projects that electricity use from data centres and AI services could roughly double by 2030 under high-growth scenarios, raising immediate questions about capacity, siting, and system balance.
Grid operators now face peak loads, congestion at connection points, and uneven regulatory responses across member states. Fragmented permitting and inconsistent grid-connection rules slow deployments and increase costs for developers and system planners.
Crafting Sustainable AI Energy Futures
Three guiding principles should shape policy and investment: robust infrastructure and flexibility, adaptive regulation that aligns market signals with system needs, and accelerated decarbonization of generation. The green efficiency paradox is relevant: efficiency improvements in compute and power use can lower costs per operation, but lower costs often expand overall demand, offsetting emissions gains unless supply and system design evolve in parallel.
Policymakers and industry must anticipate rising baseload and peak requirements while keeping emissions on a downward path. That requires coordinated planning between grid operators, data centre developers, and regulators.
The Policy and Infrastructure Imperative
Actions that unlock capacity fast include streamlined permitting, harmonised grid-connection standards across countries, and targeted investment in low-carbon generation. Above all, energy storage systems must become an explicit policy priority. Batteries, long-duration storage, pumped hydro where feasible, and emerging storage technologies provide time-shifting, frequency support, and congestion relief that are essential for hosting AI loads alongside intermittent renewables.
Policy levers that support storage include revenue certainty through capacity mechanisms, clear market access for stacked services, and procurement that values flexibility. Co-locating storage with data centres can reduce grid stress while supplying ancillary services that improve system resilience.
Europe can accommodate rapid AI growth without sacrificing decarbonization, but only if storage is integrated into policy frameworks now. Investors, operators, and regulators must move from ad hoc responses to coordinated strategies that align infrastructure, markets, and technology deployment.
