Every six months, a different Member State takes on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. While the role may sound procedural, it often determines how quickly Europe’s biggest energy files move from political ambition to practical implementation.
That makes Ireland’s Presidency, which runs from July to December 2026, particularly significant.
Europe is facing a defining moment for its electricity system. Electrification is moving higher up the political agenda. Grid investment has become one of the continent’s biggest infrastructure challenges. Artificial intelligence is creating entirely new sources of electricity demand. At the same time, Europe needs to strengthen its energy security by reducing its dependence on imported fossil fuels.
Against that backdrop, Ireland has placed electricity firmly at the centre of its Presidency. Its priorities focus on strengthening Europe’s grids, accelerating electrification, improving energy security and supporting the digital transformation through artificial intelligence.
Many of these priorities closely align with the challenges Eurelectric has been highlighting over recent months.
This week’s #FridayFeature looks at what the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU 2026 means for Europe’s electricity transition and why the next six months could shape the sector for years to come.
From policy ambition to delivery
Over the past few years, Europe has produced an unprecedented number of energy and climate policies. The challenge today is less about setting new targets than delivering on the existing ones.
That means building infrastructure faster, creating investment certainty and ensuring that clean electricity can reach consumers, industries and new technologies when and where it is needed
Ireland’s Presidency reflects that shift, as much of its agenda focuses on completing negotiations on existing proposals and ensuring key initiatives move towards implementation.
For the electricity sector, that could make the second half of 2026 one of the most consequential policy periods of the current institutional cycle.
Europe’s grids move centre stage
If there is one file likely to dominate the Presidency, it is the European Grids Package.
Europe’s electricity grids are becoming the backbone of the clean energy transition. As renewable generation expands, electric vehicles multiply, heat pumps replace fossil fuel boilers and new demand emerges from data centres, grids are facing far larger volumes of electricity than they were originally designed for.
Grid congestion and long connection queues are already delaying renewable projects, industrial electrification and data centres.
Ireland has therefore made concluding negotiations on the European Grids Package one of its headline priorities alongside network charges after Member States reached a General Approach under the Cypriot Presidency . Attention now turns to negotiations with the European Parliament.
The package aims to modernise Europe’s electricity networks by:
- accelerating grid investment
- strengthening cross-border interconnections
- improving planning between transmission and distribution networks
- reducing connection bottlenecks
- making better use of existing infrastructure
For Europe’s electricity transition, few files are more important.
Electrification moves from targets to action
Another major milestone will arrive almost immediately after years of Eurelectric requesting it finally on 15 July, the European Commission is expected to publish its long-awaited Electrification Action Plan.
Ireland has made electrification one of the central themes of its Presidency, recognising that competitive electricity will increasingly underpin Europe’s industrial competitiveness, energy security and decarbonisation objectives. This also includes wider climate legislation such as reforms to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), both of which will play an important role in Europe’s long-term industrial decarbonisation strategy.
However, targets alone will not electrify Europe’s economy and that is precisely the message Eurelectric has been making in its recommendations for the Action Plan.
The electricity sector argues that electrification now requires the right enabling conditions across three areas.
- First, stronger funding mechanisms to support industrial electrification, including greater use of the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank, the @European Investment Bank and more effective recycling of EU Emissions Trading System revenues.
- Second, taxation reform that removes distortions which continue to make electricity less competitive than fossil fuels.
- Third, enabling regulation that accelerates deployment across industry, transport and buildings.
As we highlighted in our report, Power Couples 2.0, the technologies already exist, now the challenge is scaling them.
Energy security enters a new chapter
In less than five years, Europe has experienced two major energy crises, first came the gas price shock following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. More recently, renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East once again exposed how quickly Europe’s dependence on imported fossil fuels can translate into higher energy prices and economic uncertainty. Together, these crises have fundamentally changed the debate around energy security.
Today, energy security means weaning off our dependence on fuel imports – not securing them. It is about building an electricity system that is more resilient, more flexible and less exposed to global fossil fuel markets.
Speaking at Eurelectric’s Power Summit 2026, Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen captured this ambition with a simple message – “Europe must become the world’s first electrocontinent.”
That is why strengthening Europe’s energy security has become one of the Irish Presidency’s central priorities. Alongside progressing the forthcoming Energy Security Package, Ireland aims to strengthen the resilience of Europe’s energy infrastructure while accelerating the transition towards a more electrified economy powered by home-grown clean electricity which also closely reflects one of Eurelectric’s own Presidency priorities.
Earlier this year, Eurelectric’s Battle-tested power systems report examined what Russia’s war against Ukraine has taught Europe about protecting its electricity infrastructure. The findings underline how the security landscape has evolved.
According to the report since 2022, Europe’s energy sector has experienced 23 cyberattacks, while at least 11 attacks on critical infrastructure were recorded in 2024 alone. The report concludes that Europe’s electricity system is no longer simply critical infrastructure – it has become strategic infrastructure and an essential pillar of Europe’s security.
The Irish Presidency now has the opportunity to translate that vision into policy. By advancing the Energy Security Framework alongside the Electrification Action Plan and the European Grids Package, it can help build an electricity system that is not only cleaner and more competitive, but also more secure and resilient against the growing geopolitical challenges Europe faces.
The growing link between AI and electricity
One of the more distinctive features of Ireland’s Presidency is the prominence it gives to artificial intelligence. Dublin is home to one of the largest data centre markets in Europe with a sustained high demand (100 to 250 MW/yr) and has a total of 85 data centres (87% of national data centres). Overall, data centres make up nearly a quarter of national electricity demand.
Additionally, Ireland plans to host an AI Summit while advancing work on cloud computing, digital infrastructure, connectivity and subsea cable resilience.
That reflects a growing reality highlighted in Eurelectric’s workstream on The Era of Electric Intelligence. Artificial intelligence and electricity are becoming increasingly interconnected.
On one side, data centres for AI are emerging as one of Europe’s fastest-growing sources of electricity demand.
According to Eurelectric’s analysis, data centres could account for around 28% of Europe’s electricity demand growth by 2030, with annual electricity consumption reaching between 149 and 287 TWh.
On the other side, utilities are increasingly deploying artificial intelligence themselves to improve forecasting, optimise grid operations, predict maintenance needs and accelerate customer services.
Europe’s digital transition is therefore becoming inseparable from its electricity transition. Ireland’s dual focus on energy and AI reflects exactly that convergence.
A Presidency built around competitiveness
Across every priority, one theme consistently emerges – competitiveness.
Reliable, affordable electricity increasingly underpins Europe’s ability to attract investment, decarbonise industry and develop new digital technologies.
Whether discussing grids, electrification, AI or energy security, Ireland’s programme recognises that Europe’s economic future depends on modern electricity infrastructure.
The next six months will not solve every challenge facing Europe’s power system. However, they could determine how quickly many of the building blocks now move from legislation to reality. For the electricity sector, that makes Ireland’s Presidency one of the most important opportunities yet to turn Europe’s energy transition into practical delivery.
This week’s edition written by: Erin Kalejs – Strategic Communications, Eurelectric
Disclaimer: This article is for communication purposes only and may not reflect Eurelectric positions. Any positions taken in this article shall not be attributable to Eurelectric’s official positioning. Official Eurelectric positions are reflected only in position papers published here.