Across the world, the energy landscape is shifting with unprecedented speed. Within a decade, today’s electricity networks will look unrecognisable. The driving force is the rapid electrification of economies: electric vehicles, heat pumps and a proliferation of smart devices are reshaping demand, while energy-hungry data centres , many of them powering artificial intelligence , are multiplying at breakneck pace. According to the International Energy Agency, electricity demand alone is set to grow six times faster than overall energy demand by 2035.
On the supply side too, transformation is underway. Solar power and other renewables are no longer peripheral technologies; they are poised to become the backbone of modern grids. Provided the right policies and infrastructure are in place, renewables could grant countries a new energy sovereignty that fossil fuels never could. Yet this shift brings its own complications. Grid operators must now juggle fluctuating renewable output while ensuring consumers have affordable and reliable power.
The scale of the challenge is staggering: by 2030, more than 30 billion digitally connected devices will be operating in homes and businesses worldwide ,double today’s number. To keep pace, energy systems will have to adapt to demand swings far faster than earlier forecasts ever imagined. Digitalisation, for all its pitfalls, may be our best hope.
AI-driven tools already show that they can predict the output of weather-dependent renewables with remarkable accuracy, identify faults and stabilise supply-demand imbalances. These technologies promise cleaner, cheaper and more secure energy. Yet many of the devices that could enable this future still cannot talk to each other. They are built on incompatible software, siloed standards and outdated design. The result is avoidable inefficiency, higher costs and choked innovation.
Digital capability alone is no longer enough. What the world urgently needs is interoperability , systems that can communicate, coordinate and integrate seamlessly. When every unit in the network speaks a common language, the benefits multiply: EV chargers can power up when renewable supply peaks; smart appliances can respond to real-time pricing; rooftop solar systems can feed surplus electricity back to the grid without friction.
Ignore interoperability, and we risk locking ourselves into a future of underused technologies, stranded investments and heightened security threats. The warning signs are already here: cyberattacks on energy infrastructure have tripled in the past four years, and AI-enabled intrusions are only growing more sophisticated. Robust, interoperable digital systems will be essential to defend the world’s power networks.
Governments and industries must therefore confront an uncomfortable truth: without a shared long-term vision for digital energy infrastructure, the transition to clean energy will falter. Proposals for a Digital Energy Grid ,with universal identity standards, machine-readable systems and verifiable transactions , offer a roadmap toward transparency and trust. India’s launch of the India Energy Stack is a significant step in this direction and could serve as a model for others.
The stakes are high. A world racing toward electrification cannot afford fragmented systems and fractured ambitions. The energy networks of the future must not only be green and smart , they must be able to speak the same language. Only then will the promise of a cleaner, more resilient and more democratic energy system truly be within reach.
