Drivers for a Resilient and Secure Energy Transition

Date: Monday 16 March 2026
Time: 09:00–16:00 CET, followed by dinner

Objectives: To critically examine how geopolitical tensions and supply chain vulnerabilities intersect with the energy transition, and to co-create new interdisciplinary knowledge on how to build resilient, secure, and future-proof energy systems.

The energy transition is unfolding amid rising geopolitical and technological pressures. As governments move to strengthen supply security and economic resilience, short-term concerns over security and affordability risk overshadowing long-term climate objectives.

Energy remains the backbone of modern societies — powering transport, communication, food production, defence, and digital infrastructure. Globalisation, digitalisation, and competition for critical raw materials have created new interdependencies across continents. Initiatives such as the EU’s Preparedness Union Strategy illustrate a growing recognition that resilience must be embedded throughout the entire energy system.

Historically, reliable and affordable energy has supported economic growth. Today, the shift towards low-emission systems must take place in a far more complex environment. Artificial intelligence and digitalisation have the potential to raise productivity and create value in less energy-intensive ways, yet they also bring new risks: fast-growing data centres and digital infrastructure may sharply increase electricity demand while the world works to decarbonise.

This high-level workshop explores how Europe and global partners can strengthen energy resilience and sustain economic growth amid geopolitical turbulence. Discussions will address the evolving global threat picture; decentralised systems and lessons from Ukraine; AI as both a vulnerability and an enabler; and the security implications of critical-material and technology supply chains. We emphasise the synergies across topics, including AI, supply chains, and system flexibility.

Participants will work toward identifying no-regret resilience strategies that enhance preparedness, reinforce cross-border cooperation, and support the twin imperatives of emission reduction and affordability. Topics will draw from recent EU and Norwegian reports on energy security and resilience, with potential input from the Norwegian Defence Research Institute.

Preliminary programme

09:00	Framing Session: Threats & Resilience The main geopolitical threats: the war in Ukraine, great-power rivalry, energy weaponisation, hybrid actions, and sabotage. Embedded technologies and cybersecurity: electronics and digital control systems in energy hardware. Global trade disruptions and the use of raw-material supply chains for political leverage. Economic transition and possible decoupling of energy use and growth — the story of AI and the service economy.
10:00	Break Coffee/tea and informal discussions.
10:30	Session I: AI & Data in the Energy Transition How data centres and AI may transform economic activity. How digitalisation and AI may reshape energy demand. AI as both a demand driver and a system enabler. Security of data centres, flexibility, and overall system efficiency. Presentations, interventions and round-table discussions.
12:00	Lunch Informal networking.
13:00	Session II: Robust Integrated Systems Decentralised renewable systems: scaling, stability, and resilience. The role of natural gas and hydrogen: incentives for mature and emerging technologies. Social and political implications: does a stronger security narrative make deployment easier or harder? Presentations, interventions and round-table discussions.
14:30	Break Coffee/tea and informal discussions.
15:00	Session III: No-Regret Solutions — Messages and Actions Framing presentations: identifying “no-regret” resilience strategies. Round-table discussion: key messages, actions, and recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders.