DIGITALEUROPE's feedback on the European Grids Package consultation

Executive summary 

In May 2025, the Iberian Peninsula faced a sudden blackout, requiring over 35,000 be rescued from trains and metros: the full cost may be anywhere between €400 million to €1.5 billion. This is a stark reminder that the electricity grid needs to transform at the speed needed to keep up with societal mega shifts, such as digitalisation and decarbonisation. 

Electricity’s share of energy demand is set to triple, from 20% to 60%, by 2050. To keep up, Europe will need to double its grid investments, including in grid modernisation. Digitalisation and grid-enhancing technologies will be crucial to modernise the grid. They allow grid operators to better use the physical grid’s capacity today, identify where upgrades are the most useful and efficient. Digital flexibility management solutions can also forecast, evaluate and mitigate grid congestions, which makes grids more stable and resilient. Meeting energy demand solely by building more power lines is unrealistic—it would require 152 million kilometres of new cables, enough to stretch from the Earth to the Sun.4 In addition, critical grid projects face permitting and procurement delays, often lasting up to 12 years, due to inefficiencies across EU countries, as reported by our members. 

DIGITALEUROPE brings together a diverse range of companies leading the digital transformation of Europe’s energy infrastructure. Our members include energy providers, clean tech leaders like grid equipment manufacturers, and energy consumers like data centres. To remain globally competitive and strengthen the security and resilience of critical infrastructure, Europe must prioritise investment in grid modernisation and digital innovation. The upcoming European Grids Package offers a unique opportunity to deliver on this ambition. We therefore recommend for the European Grids Package to: 

• Adopt a Total Expenditure (ToTEx) approach supported by a grid productivity metric to foster digital grid investments and enable recovery of both operational and capital costs. 

• Design flexibility incentives that respect voluntary participation while aligning with national needs assessments, ensuring fair, effective uptake across sectors and Member States. 

• Extend fast-track grid permitting measures from the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) to grid infrastructure, including Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) and innovative network projects, as well as harmonise permitting processes across the EU. 

• Enhance transparency and long-term visibility of electricity demand, capacity, and grid development plans by extending planning horizons to at least 20 years. 

• Set up clear grid connection queues based on clear, objective and measurable criteria with strong safeguards, relevance, and added value to the grid instead of using the slower first-come, first-served model across all Member States.