This session is focused on digitalising the energy sector and will present several relevant papers from our Special Issue in the MDPI journal Energies “Energy Digitalisation and Data” (accepting submissions till March 2023). Under the editorial leadership of EUREC board member Andrea Michiorri (MINES Paris), this Special Issue focused on digitalisation as an ongoing trend in shaping the energy sector, with the potential to guarantee better utilisation of generation assets and facilitate the integration of variable renewable energy sources and energy carriers. The session will allow for the research community to contribute to the debate on this issue, highlighting possible paths, benefits and challenges of this trend.

A representative from the European Commission (DG ENER) will also present the EU Action Plan for digitalising the energy sector, aimed at “developing a competitive market for digital energy services and a digital energy infrastructure that is cyber-secure, efficient and sustainable”. EUREC previously co-hosted alongside DG ENER a workshop to collect input from stakeholders on the Action Plan in February 2022.

The session will conclude with an open discussion with the European Commission (with representatives from DG ENER and DG CNCT) related to some of its current initiatives such as Common European Energy Data Spaces. Anna Spoden, Communications and Policy Officer at EUREC, will give a brief update on MEPs’ interest in promoting access by building users to data from building energy management systems in under Article 14 of the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). This session can help bring researchers’ perspective to this and other important policy debates surrounding the incorporation of data and digitalization into energy policy.