BDEW calls for the removal of digital barriers

17.04.2025

Source: E & M powernews

The German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) has presented a digital policy agenda. It is aimed at the future German government.

At the presentation of the draft coalition agreement on April 9, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) attracted attention with the announcement of a digital ministry. Measures to modernize the state are to be bundled there. Merz spoke of "service" for citizens and a "digital simplification" of the administration.

It remains to be seen to what extent the cabinet member responsible for digitalization in the future will also take care of the digitalization of the energy industry or whether responsibility will remain exclusively in the economic department. In any case, Merz's statements have once again put the topic in the spotlight of political discussion in all possible sectors of the economy and society.

Against this backdrop, the BDEW has published a "Digital Policy Agenda for the Energy Industry". With this ten-page position paper, the association aims to show how the remaining obstacles in the industry can be removed.

The authors outline six areas that deserve particular attention:

Governance of digitalization in the energy sector: the BDEW advocates a central organizational unit at ministerial level that keeps an eye on all topics related to the digitalization of the energy industry. This is the only way to avoid further fragmentation of the subject area - as has been the case to date at authority level.

At the same time, the German government should develop a holistic strategy for the digitalization of the energy industry and align it with the "Strategic roadmap for digitalization and AI in the energy sector" planned by the EU Commission.

The authors also point out that the IT resources of energy companies are all too often taken up by purely regulatory-driven projects. A reduction is necessary here. An IT regulation barometer could be used to record the burdens and make them transparent.

Political framework: BDEW calls for a new data strategy from the German government that focuses on important sectors. The aim should be better data availability and use as well as improved data exchange. Regulatory obstacles also need to be removed here.

Data and data policy: The association is in favor of strengthening data ecosystems in order to ensure a high degree of interoperability and, among other things, optimal integration of decentralized systems into the energy system. Even if data protection is a valuable asset and the General Data Protection Regulation is to be supported, the additional effort required to implement it should not be excessive.

AI in the energy industry: In the opinion of BDEW, the national AI strategy needs to be revised or at least comprehensively developed further. In the association's view, the original version from 2018 and the update from 2020 do not do justice to current developments. In dialog with the energy industry, it should be identified which sector-specific measures are necessary for the development and operation of AI systems. This also includes the establishment of AI real laboratories. In addition, the European AI regulation should be implemented quickly in order to create planning and legal certainty.

Digitization of the electricity grids: BDEW attributes particular importance to this area in the implementation of the energy transition. Above all, the regulatory recognition of opex (operating costs) is a concern of the association. The digitalization of grid connection procedures could be accelerated if the legislator "refrains from legislative micromanagement on the one hand and reduces reporting and notification obligations on the other," the position paper states.

It also addresses the electricity requirements of data centers, for example. Large consumers should primarily be located where sufficient grid capacities are available.

European digital policy: Finally, the BDEW calls for existing regulation to be implemented first before new regulatory requirements are imposed. Accordingly, the German government should advocate a "digital policy implementation phase" at European level.

The "Digital Policy Agenda of the Energy Industry" is available on the BDEW website.

Author: Fritz Wilhelm