Al, digital twins are modernising power systems, accelerating path to net-zero

The future energy operating system will use Al to predict and balance supply and demand, ensuring resilience, and enabling new energy markets

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THE vast energy needs of AI are encapsulated by an imposing development in Ashburn, northern Viriginia (US).

The development forms part of the world's biggest cluster of data centres (the state has more than 600 listed data centres) and it has strongly divided opinion.

On the one hand, these centres are the engine of AI and cloud computing and a vital component of modern society.

On the other, they are making negative headlines for the strain they are placing on the state's energy and water resources.

AI, as the International Energy Agency (IEA) noted in its 2025 report, is "one of the biggest stories in the energy world today".

Global electricity demand from data centres is set to more than double over the next five years, it noted, consuming as much electricity by 2030 as the whole of Japan does today.

For grid operators everywhere, the challenge is how to maximise the potential of AI to develop robust and intelligent grids and deliver far more value than the energy it consumes?

AI: THE NET-ZERO ACCELERATOR

The answer lies in using AI, digital twins and other technologies to modernise our power systems.

By modernise, we mean enabling grids built around fossil fuels to adapt to geographically dispersed and intermittent renewable energy sources.

I would argue these technologies are, apart from stringent policy, the single greatest accelerator for the energy transition.

They are helping us to compress timeframes and de-risk the massive capital investments required in modern energy programmes.

They can accelerate project and infrastructure planning, design and delivery, equip decision-makers with better foresight into long-term infrastructure needs and help grid operators anticipate and respond to surges in demand

DIGITAL IN ACTION: THE PINNAPURAM INTEGRATED RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT