Meet the Hertie School team led by Professor Lynn Kaack contributing to the Horizon Europe project AI-EFFECT.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way we think about energy, and can make our systems more flexible, greener and more reliable. AI-EFFECT was launched last year to help drive this change, with funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe funding programme. The project brings the Hertie School Data Science Lab together with a large team of partners from across Europe: independent researchers, universities and energy providers from countries like Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Austria, Italy, and Spain.
Project aims to make Europe’s energy systems fit for the future
Together, the project partners are working on real-world implementations of AI in the energy sector – to improve how we produce, manage and use energy every day. Their aim is to speed up the development and testing of AI solutions that can make Europe’s energy systems more efficient, sustainable and future-ready.
Having started in 2024, the three-year AI-EFFECT project is bringing innovation to life through real-world applications in Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Germany. Each country is tackling a unique challenge – like making energy systems more efficient, managing power grid congestion, and integrating renewable energy from local sources.
The ultimate goal? To build a European AI Testing and Experimentation Facility (TEF) for the energy sector. This digital platform is intended to boost collaboration across Europe’s energy and tech sectors. It will allow partners to safely share data, develop and test AI tools, and connect with the broader EU data spaces framework. The TEF will also provide an overview of what European rules and regulations are relevant for deploying AI in the energy sector.
Hertie School team examines how regulation enables or hinders AI deployment
The team at the Hertie School investigates regulatory enablers and barriers to deploying AI in energy. The work is led by Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy Lynn Kaack. Reflecting on the project, she notes: “The project finally gives us the opportunity to investigate how regulation affects the ease with which energy companies can use AI – something I’ve been wondering about for a long time.”
Recently, Professor Kaack’s team kicked off their work with two student research assistants, Leon Alexander Decani and Annys Rogerson, who bring valuable support to this project. In July, PhD candidate Josefine Hintz will also join the team.
By investigating regulatory uncertainties, like how to comply with the new EU AI Act, the project will help pave the way for transparent, safe and trustworthy AI systems in energy.
Partners include EPRI Europe, Maynooth University, and IKIM from Ireland; INESC TEC, WATT-IS, and CEVE from Portugal; DTU, Bornholms Energi & Forsyning, and CDK from Denmark; Fraunhofer FIT and RWTH Aachen University from Germany; TU Delft and TenneT from the Netherlands; IRTSX from France; DNV from Norway; EnliteAI from Austria; ENEL from Italy; and EDRD from Spain. Together, they are joining forces to shape the future of AI in the energy sector through research, experimentation and collaboration.
AI-EFFECT project will run until September 2027 and is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, under agreement no. 101172952.
More about our expert
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Lynn Kaack, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy