European electricity utility E.On is working with Microsoft to innovate in the area of energy transition.

The two companies are expanding their existing cooperation with an innovation collaboration for advancing digitalisation and developing sustainability technology. Both partners will develop projects in close cooperation and build on each other’s expertise.

Following joint digitalisation projects in areas such as future energy homes, cloud and security, the collaboration is being extended to include more innovation that will see the two companies jointly identify new projects and develop technologies using artificial intelligence and data analytics, among others.

The innovation collaboration should provide both partners with a faster learning curve in terms of developing more products and services for their customers, as well as more effective processes in their organisations.

“The digitalisation of the energy industry is an important prerequisite for decarbonising the European energy landscape,” said Sebastian Weber, chief technology officer at E.On. “The expansion of the cooperation between Microsoft and E.On in the area of innovation is another step on the way to the energy transition. Together we will develop innovations to further optimise critical processes and thus deliver added value to our customers.”

Maria Gomez, director of energy at Microsoft, added: “We share the same understanding with E. On regarding value and sustainability strategies. In our future labs, we are working on applications for artificial intelligence, data analytics and cloud computing, with which we are driving the digitalisation of the energy industry and from which many customers can benefit in the future.”

A first project of the innovation collaboration deals with the so-called process of algorithmic hedging. The gained insights will support E.On in making improved buying and selling decisions for electricity and gas even against volatile market developments. Together, the two companies are working on the development of algorithms that analyse the current market situation on the basis of machine learning and implement hedging decisions automatically.