Powering the future of energy with AI-ready data infrastructure

The UK’s energy transition is accelerating, but the sector faces a challenge that cannot be solved through physical infrastructure alone. As the Energy Systems Catapult noted in their Energy Digitalisation Taskforce in 2022: 

“Digitalisation of the energy system is not just a ‘nice to have’; it is a core requirement of a Net Zero economy.”

To operate a decentralised, electrified and flexible system at scale, the UK must now modernise the digital foundations of the energy system.

Aker enables energy organisations to build the secure, real-time and interoperable data infrastructure that this future requires.

Energy’s Future Is a Data Challenge

Today’s energy system was never designed for millions of distributed assets, dynamic flexibility markets or real-time system balancing. In 2019 The Energy Data Taskforce highlighted that “data is recognised as crucial to building a smart system that supports achieving decarbonisation objectives”, yet the sector remains heavily fragmented. Critical asset information sits across siloed systems, and operators lack the visibility needed to forecast accurately or manage emerging constraints.

Real-time telemetry across the grid is inconsistent, with legacy OT/IT systems that cannot support sub-second decision-making. Security models designed for centralised infrastructure struggle to protect a hyper-distributed system, prompting the Digitalisation Taskforce to mandate “Zero Trust and least privilege” approaches be adopted. Without action, the system risks higher cost, reduced resilience and slower decarbonisation.

The taskforce findings were unequivocal: 

“It is not possible to manage the transformed energy system using current methods… there will be a dependency on effective, efficient and timely data exchange.”

The Digitalised Energy System the UK Needs

A consistent vision is emerging across government and industry. The future energy system must be digital-first, real-time and secure, with interoperability built into its core architecture. This requires an environment where system data is presumed open - “shared unless there is a clear reason to restrict it” - allowing transparency and coordination between all the market participants.

Open data models, shared APIs and metadata standards will replace the bespoke integrations and duplicated datasets that limit collaboration today. Automated, algorithmic decision-making will underpin system stability, with the Energy Digitalisation Taskforce warning that the system must soon “manage hundreds of millions of actions and assets every year.”

Security must evolve into continuous verification at every layer, and customers must be supported through simple consent models and digital protections. 

A digitalised system doesn’t just cost less; as the Energy Data Taskforce found, smart, flexible operation could unlock up to £40bn in system savings by 2050.

How Aker Helps Deliver This Vision

Aker brings mission-critical data infrastructure and engineering capability proven in some of the UK’s most sensitive national platforms, applying the same design principles to energy. Our secure, data-sharing expertise, solutions and technology can enable real-time, governed data exchange across networks, operators and innovators - directly aligned with the goals of Public Interest Digital Assets and a national Digital Spine.

Ensuring authoritative asset data is made widely available, focussing on managing data as a product, addresses the challenge highlighted in the EDTF that “an estimated 10% of assets are not visible to the electricity system operator today.” In addition, interoperable data models, open APIs and flexible data sharing mechanisms eliminate fragmentation and allow energy organisations to integrate quickly.

Real-time infrastructure handles high-volume streaming from millions of devices, enabling predictive maintenance, flexibility markets and algorithmic balancing - exactly the capabilities envisioned when the Taskforce described a future “rich with algorithmic balancing and automated asset optimisation.” Aker delivers zero trust security and embedded auditing by default, ensuring resilience at national scale.

Aker delivers these outcomes with the speed and certainty required to support the UK’s transition.

The Future of Energy Needs Modern Data Foundations — And Aker Delivers Them

The UK’s ability to achieve Net Zero, unlock flexibility markets and operate a resilient, decentralised grid depends on the data infrastructure being planned and built today. Ofgem and NESO are now driving forward the policies and programmes needed to turn this future vision into reality. Aker can provide the engineering precision, platform capabilities and AI-ready architecture to make it achievable.

The future of energy will be defined by data.
Aker delivers the foundation that makes it possible.

References:

1. Energy Systems Catapult. (2019, June 12). Energy Data Taskforce: A strategy for a modern digitalised energy system. https://es.catapult.org.uk/report/energy-data-taskforce-report/
2. Energy Systems Catapult. (2022, January 17). Delivering a Digitalised Energy System: Energy Digitalisation Taskforce Report.https://es.catapult.org.uk/report/delivering-a-digitalised-energy-system/