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March 202618 min readIRENA 2025G7 Advisory
IRENA 2025 Report Analysis

Digitalisation & AI for
Power System Transformation

A digitalised power system is no longer a nice option — it's a decisive enabler of electrification and decarbonisation. An interactive deep-dive into the data behind the transformation.

Source: IRENA (2025) — Perspectives for the G7|68 pages, 170 member countries|Interactive analysis by techmadeeasy
Electricity Share by 2050
52%

of final energy consumption

RE Capacity Additions 2024
92.5%

of all new capacity

AI Forecast Improvement
45%

more accurate than traditional

Outage Reduction (FLISR)
50%

shorter outage duration

Denmark AI Savings
$9M/yr

operating reserve costs cut 10-15%

Skills Gap Barrier
60%

say workforce is #1 barrier

Digital Projects in Power Sector (2017-2023)
Number of digital projects tracked by BloombergNEF

Source: BNEF 2024 via IRENA

Digitalisation by Technology Area (2023-2024)
353 projects tracked across 7 technology areas

Grid control accounts for ~30% of all activities

The Big Picture: Why Digitalisation Matters Now
52%

Electricity's share of final energy by 2050, up from ~20% today

91%

New RE projects cheaper than cheapest fossil fuel in 2024

3.5x

More digital projects in the West than Asia-Pacific

The ongoing transformation of power systems is characterised by increasing complexity. As electricity demand doubles, the variability of growing demand and generation — alongside rising numbers of distributed energy resources — requires a digital transformation of power systems to maintain reliability without diminishing the cost reductions brought by renewables.

Yet IRENA finds that 66% of countries are incorporating digitalisation in their energy strategies, while most respondents don't believe any digital use case will be available in their country within 3 years. The gap between strategy and execution is the central challenge.

The Digital Energy Divide
Digital projects deployed by region in 2023

Key insight: Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 85% of the global population without electricity, yet receives only 4% of global R&D spending. The cost of capital for generation projects is ~3.8% in Europe vs ~12% in Africa.

Data Source: IRENA (2025), Digitalisation and AI for Power System Transformation: Perspectives for the G7, International Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi.

This interactive analysis was created by techmadeeasy to make complex energy policy data accessible and engaging.