Sam Young
DesignationAI Practice Manager at Energy Systems Catapult
AI is transforming the UK’s path to Net Zero by 2050 – addressing skills gaps, optimising project delivery, and enabling smarter, faster, and scalable energy solutions.
Achieving the UK’s Net Zero ambitions by 2050 is an unprecedented challenge that requires systemic change across industries. At Energy Systems Catapult, we believe the key to success lies in embracing new technologies and pioneering business models that not only reduce emissions but also address the real bottlenecks in the system – skills shortages and the need for speed.
AI and machine learning are already demonstrating their transformative potential, helping us to prioritise and deliver projects more efficiently while equipping the future workforce with the tools needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving energy landscape. We’ve produced the Decarbonisation Challenge Cards to highlight other key challenges where AI could help the UK reach net zero.
Bridging the Skills Gap With AI-powered Solutions
One of the biggest challenges facing the energy sector is the increasing lack of skilled professionals, from heating installers to large-scale infrastructure project managers. AI offers a way to mitigate these gaps, not by replacing people, but by augmenting their capabilities.
Take retrofit schemes as an example. AI-driven platforms, such as those offered by Kestrix, can help guide engineers through the retrofit strategy design process, minimising errors and accelerating implementation.
In infrastructure and construction, similar gaps exist. AI can streamline processes by collecting and analysing data from large-scale projects, helping teams anticipate issues before they arise. For instance, to help networks that struggle to find experienced project managers, nplan is using AI to risk-score projects and assign experienced people where they can make the greatest difference – ensuring timely and effective delivery.
Triaging and Prioritising With AI
AI is revolutionising how we plan and prioritise energy projects. Through machine learning, we can assess sites, projects, and decarbonisation pathways at a speed and scale previously unimaginable.
For example, Continuum Industries uses AI to rapidly evaluate different options for routing infrastructure, such as overhead lines. This allows the best options to be compared quickly, and key risks identified early. Renewables companies have found this can compress planning timelines down from months to weeks.
Similarly, Energy Systems Catapult’s InSite programme is capturing detailed data on emissions, energy use, and costs across NHS estates and schools. By analysing this information, AI will be able to identify archetypes and tailor decarbonisation pathways for each site, factoring in variables such as size, age, and usage. This approach enables public sector estates to be assessed en masse, helping decision-makers avoid premature technology replacement and stranded assets.
This prioritisation capability transforms decision-making. Instead of waiting months for manual assessments, policymakers can triage sites almost instantaneously, focusing resources where they will have the greatest impact on net zero goals.
Accelerating Net Zero Progress Without Cutting Corners
While some view AI as a cost-cutting tool, its true power is in enabling faster, more informed decisions. By reducing delays and providing robust analytics, AI ensures the UK’s energy transition is not hindered by bureaucracy or inefficiency.
For instance, the rapid assessment capabilities of AI allow large infrastructure projects to move from planning to execution far more quickly than traditional methods. This is critical for meeting Net Zero targets within tight timelines.
By supporting training and development, AI helps build the skilled workforce needed to sustain progress. The energy sector doesn’t just need more people; it needs tools that empower those people to deliver at scale and with precision.
Managing a Complex Energy System With AI
Beyond planning, AI is integral to rethinking how energy systems operate. From ensuring consumers maximise the benefit from their solar panels to coordinating the charging of EVs across the country, AI is playing an increasingly important role in managing day-to-day energy use.
The UK is making good progress, with projects like the InterNET Zero initiative and the University of Strathclyde’s Jed-AI project highlighting how intelligent systems can optimise energy consumption while integrating with autonomous technologies. These developments underscore a future where systems are not only energy-efficient but also dynamically adaptive.
However, other countries are perhaps ahead of the UK in applying cutting-edge AI, like Reinforcement Learning, to operate electricity networks. Exciting new projects and tools are coming out of France, the Netherlands, and the EU. The UK needs to ensure network innovation funding is targeted at building the capability to apply AI to the core of system operations, not just low-risk, low-reward AI applications.
A Vision for Collaborative Innovation
Achieving Net Zero is a collective endeavour, requiring strong partnerships across government, industry, and academia to unlock innovative solutions that can reshape the energy landscape. A prime example of this collaborative approach is the Artificial Intelligence for Decarbonisation’s Virtual Centre of Excellence (ADViCE) initiative, led by Digital Catapult in partnership with Energy Systems Catapult and the Alan Turing Institute.
This groundbreaking initiative focuses on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to address critical challenges in the energy, manufacturing, and agriculture sectors. By bringing together expertise from across these leading organisations, ADViCE is creating impactful and scalable frameworks that can be adopted across the industry.
From triaging projects more intelligently to optimising training and operations, integrating AI at every level will be essential to achieving Net Zero. With the right tools, partnerships, and shared vision, the UK can lead the way in creating a cleaner, smarter energy future.
Final Thought
The deployment of AI in pursuit of Net Zero isn’t about replacing human expertise or cutting corners – it’s about empowering people to deliver smarter, faster, and at scale. AI, working hand in hand with experts, is a powerful enabler that helps bridge skills gaps, streamline planning and unlock the collaborative innovation needed to drive meaningful, cost-effective change.
