“I’m dismayed at the discussion about AI in Europe” says E.ON chief

New Eurelectric president Birnbaum says ‘we have to get AI in our energy systems’

The chief executive of E.ON and new Eurelectric president Leonhard Birnbaum has slammed the prevailing attitude to artificial intelligence in Europe.

“I’m dismayed at the discussion about AI in Europe,” he told the Eurelectric Power Summit in Brussels.

He said negativity around AI obscured what he believes is an essential stepping stone to accelerate the energy transition: “We have to get AI in our systems.”

And this he said was going to take “a different mindset: stop thinking that “no business is digital – realise that your business is digital”.

“We should have a completely different attitude, otherwise, we are going to be surpassed. We have talent in Europe: the potential is huge and we need to unleash it.

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“If we don’t fully digitize our energy system then we cannot manage volatility and flexibility. And we cannot integrate renewables.”

Asked what keeps him awake at night he said simply: “Speed and scale.”

He elaborated: “Only what scales matters and only what scales fast matters.”

And he said that speed and scale were needed more than ever in response to the Inflation Reduction Act in the US.

The IRA is, he said, “simple, predictable and stable”.

In contrast, he said EU regulation is “complicated, not stable and often delivers an outcome that is a [unwanted] surprise.”

“The IRA is a carrot: EU regulation is a stick. But either has to be stable, predictable and not complicated. There is much to be learned from the IRA.”