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Energy

Key actions for digitalising energy

The Commission adopted the Digitalising the energy system - EU action plan in October 2022.

The action plan contains 24 key actions, which are listed in the annex of the Communication (COM/2022/552) and presented below together with the indicative timeline and information on each actions implementation and follow-up. An additional action regarding the development of an energy savings application was added after the adoption. It is presented below together with the other consumer-oriented actions.

An EU framework for sharing data

Prepare the ground for and adopting an Implementing Act on interoperability requirements and procedures for access to metering and consumption data (Q3 2022 – submission to comitology).

Formally establish the Smart Energy Expert Group and set up Data for Energy (D4E) as one of its permanent working groups (Q1 2023).

Promote a code of conduct for energy-smart appliances to enable interoperability and boost their participation in demand response schemes (Q4 2023).

Establish the governance of the common European energy data space (2024).

Intend to support the deployment of the common European energy data space through a Digital Europe Programme call for proposals (2024).

Promoting investments in digital electricity infrastructure

Support European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (TSOs) and the Association of European Distribution System Operators (DSOs) to create a digital twin of the European electricity grid (as of 2022).

Support the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the National Regulatory Authorities in their work to define common smart grid indicators (by 2023).

Support, under the Connecting Europe Facility – CEF Digital, the development of concepts and feasibility studies for pan-European Operational Digital Platforms (by 2024).

Ensuring benefits for consumers: new services, skills and empowerment

Ensure that key research and innovation projects work together to identify strategies to engage consumers in the design and use of digital tools.

Develop a Common European Reference Framework for an energy savings application (2023).

Support the establishment of a large-scale partnership as part of the Pact for Skills (end of 2023).

Identify and shortlist digital tools and produce guidance on energy sharing and peer-to-peer exchanges for the benefit of energy communities and their members, as part of the Commission initiative Energy Communities Repository (2023-2024).

  • The digital toolbox guidance for energy communities was published on May 2023, providing practical examples of digital solutions for energy communities in different scopes of application (e.g. demand response, energy monitoring).

Develop an experimentation platform to test and simulate energy communities (2023-2024).

Strengthening cybersecurity and resilience in the energy system

Propose a delegated act on the cybersecurity of cross-border electricity flows (Q1 2023).

Propose a delegated act on cybersecurity for gas networks (subject to confirmation after the outcome of the legislative procedure).

Controlling the energy consumption of the ICT sector

Fund a study and prepare a communication and awareness raising campaign on the responsible energy consumption of day-to-day digital behaviours (2022-2023).

Propose binding obligations and transparency requirements, as well as provisions to promote the reuse of waste heat, for data centres (Q4 2022).

Develop an energy-labelling scheme for computers and evaluate a possible revision of the eco-design regulation on servers and data storage products. Explore the possibility to develop common indicators for measuring the environmental footprint of electronic communications services (Q4 2023).

Establish an EU Code of Conduct for the sustainability of telecommunications networks (2022-2023).

Explore and prepare the introduction of an environmental labelling scheme for data centres (2025).

Develop an energy efficiency label for blockchain (2025).

An EU-wide coordinated approach

Develop, in cooperation with the European Green Digital Coalition, tools and methodologies to measure the net impact of enabling digital technologies in the energy sector, on the environment and climate (2023-2024).

Create a platform Gathering Energy and Digital Innovators from across the EU (GEDI-EU) (2022).

Intends to provide financial support for research and innovation and market uptake of digital technologies in the energy sector, through the Digital Europe Programme, LIFE, cohesion policy and a flagship programme for the digitalisation of energy in Horizon Europe (2023-2024).