Digital Sovereignty in the Energy Transition
Building a Resilient and Future-Proof Infrastructure for Europe
Michael von Roeder
CDIO Elia Group
The Energy Transition is Digital
Europe or Amazon?
The choice will define our energy sovereignty for decades to come.
From Geopolitics to Geotechnics
Targeting Critical Infrastructure
Modern conflicts prioritize essential infrastructure over traditional borders, aiming to disrupt societal functions and critical services.
Unified Digital Front
Energy grids, vast data networks, and cloud computing now form a single, interconnected battlefront in contemporary geopolitical struggles.
Real-World Physical Impact
Cyber warfare directly translates into tangible physical consequences, affecting critical systems, national security, and daily life.
Resilience Means Control, Autonomy and Independence
Infrastructure Control
Complete ownership and governance over critical digital assets and data flows.
Technological Autonomy
Building expertise and capabilities through indigenous development and innovation.
Geopolitical Independence
Independence from external dependencies and protection against supply chain risks.
Security Redefined: Resilience, Not Walls
Security Isn't Walls, It's Staying Online
Modern security prioritizes maintaining operations and adapting amidst ongoing threats, rather than just building barriers.
Survive the Attack, Keep the Lights On
Resilient energy systems are designed to ensure continuous operation, even when under cyber assault.
Critical Insight: Digitalization without sovereignty creates dependencies, not solutions.
Start with Governance and Architecture, Not Tools
Governance
First
First
"Rules before tools"
Architecture Before Automation
"Foundations before speed"
Build Sovereign Architectures on Four Principles
Modular
Build flexible, interoperable systems
Open Interfaces
Enable sovereignty through interoperability
Secure by Design
Zero Trust, resilience against evolving threats
Real-Time
Ultra-low latency for grid-critical operations
Edge Cloud is the New Control Room
Substations as Micro Data Centers
Transforming substations into compact, distributed data centers at the edge of the grid.
Local AI for Offline Operations
Ensuring critical operations continue autonomously with local AI inference, even without internet connectivity.
Ultra-Low Latency for Safety
Achieving rapid response times essential for safety-critical processes and real-time grid management.
OT/IT Convergence in Practice
Host Hardened IT
Secure, robust for grid ops
Run Standardized Edge Platforms
One platform, every substation
Store and Process Critical Data Locally
Store & act on-site
Let AI at the Edge Keep the Grid Resilient
Resilient edge AI: Centrally trained, locally inferred for robust, autonomous grid operations.
Predictive/Risk-based maintenance
Spot failures before they happen
Fault detection / automated isolation
Detect & contain instantly
Renewable intermittency balancing
Smooth out intermittency
Process Data Where the Electrons Flow
Processing Follows Electrons
Data stays close to the source
Too Big for Central
High-frequency grid data overwhelms center
Edge Efficiency
Lower latency, lower cost
Shift from Centralized Clouds to Sovereign Edge
Central Hyperscaler Model
Latency
Dependency
Always online
Distributed Sovereign Edge
Local
Sovereign
Works offline
Resilience without sovereignty is security theater.
Data Sovereignty
Who controls our grid data?
Operational Sovereignty
Who holds the kill switch?
Technological Sovereignty
Can you survive without foreign code?
If you can't switch, you're not sovereign — you're a hostage.
Control
Over architecture, APIs, and governance
Choice
Of providers, clouds, partners — mix & match
Open Standards
Exit options, zero lock-in
Sovereign = Control + Choice
Prove It Works: What we Do at Elia
MCCS Platform
Proprietary real-time control solution for critical grid operations, ensuring complete operational autonomy
EDP Platform
Cloud-native platform with edge capabilities for managing decentralized prosumer networks
Open Source
Driving community-based standards and interoperable solutions across the energy ecosystem
Sovereign Cloud
Building European-governed cloud infrastructure with full data sovereignty
Make Policy Europe’s Enabler, Not Its Constraint
Leveraging EU Regulation
Initiatives like GAIA-X, CRA, and the Data Act establish frameworks for data sovereignty, security, and fair access.
Promoting Open Systems
Embracing open-source software, standards, and APIs fosters innovation, reduces vendor lock-in, and strengthens digital resilience.
Legislation
European and national laws, such as NIS2 and KRITIS, drive sovereignty.
Invest in Three Digital Imperatives
Digital Resilience
Security through redundancy, real-time capability, and decentralized architecture
Technological Autonomy
Control through indigenous development and strategic open source adoption
Strategic Digital Investments
Long-term platform strategies instead of short-term solutions.
Do nothing = higher cost & risk
Transformation is not an IT Business Case
Act Now
Define sovereignty requirements (data / operational / technological)
Build hybrid-sovereign architectures
Embed cybersecurity and infosec in every layer
Test for failure — design for survival
If Europe doesn't choose now, others already have.
Own our destiny, not just our servers
This is not about owning servers; it's about owning our destiny
Energy security is digital security
Our energy grid, once physical, is now fundamentally digital. Protecting one means protecting both.
Digital security is sovereignty
In a hyper-connected world, national sovereignty is inextricably linked to our ability to secure our digital future.
Sovereignty = The Power to Choose
Digital Sovereignty is system stability.
Sovereignty emerges not through ownership, but through the power to shape and create.
If not us, who? If not now, when? Doing nothing is not an option.
Let's build Europe's digital infrastructure together.