Novo Nordisk Foundation Funds AI Grid Project
A four-year, up to DKK100 million award will support AI4GRIDS, a Nordic research effort to make electricity grids more efficient.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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The Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded up to DKK100 million (€13.3 million) over four years to establish AI4GRIDS, led by the Technical University of Denmark with partners Lund University and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The project aims to help grid operators make better use of existing infrastructure as electricity demand grows.
Why it matters
Rising demand and new assets such as renewables, batteries, EVs, heat pumps, and data centres are placing pressure on existing grids, increasing the risk of brownouts and blackouts. AI4GRIDS targets that pressure by combining AI with mathematical models of how grids behave.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation committed up to DKK100 million (€13.3 million) over four years, with AI-based tools targeted at computations up to 100 times faster than existing approaches. Whether the speed gain has been demonstrated or remains a goal is not yet established.
The players
Novo Nordisk Foundation
A Danish foundation that funds scientific and health research and provided the DKK100 million award for AI4GRIDS.
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
A Copenhagen-based public technical university that leads the AI4GRIDS consortium.
Lund University
A research university in southern Sweden that is a partner in the AI4GRIDS project.
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Norway's largest technical university, based in Trondheim, that is a partner in the AI4GRIDS project.
The details
AI4GRIDS brings together researchers in power systems, artificial intelligence, energy data, and control theory across Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The project will explore AI-based tools that work alongside mathematical models of electricity networks, with findings that could be scaled across Europe's electricity systems.
Timeline
Four-year funding period for AI4GRIDS, awarded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Big Picture
AI4GRIDS extends established Nordic university cooperation into applied AI for electricity grid management, a domain where grid complexity is rising alongside renewables and electrification. The project positions Scandinavian research institutions to test whether AI-assisted grid modelling can ease pressure on infrastructure built for earlier demand patterns.
Improved grid management could reduce the likelihood of brownouts and blackouts as demand from EVs, heat pumps, and data centres grows. Any eventual gains would depend on the tools being scaled from research into operating systems used by grid operators.
The takeaway
Electricity grids built for earlier demand patterns are being asked to carry renewables, batteries, and new loads at once, and AI-assisted modelling is one approach researchers are now testing to make that load manageable.
Further reading
Explore more stories in Artificial Intelligence for context on how AI is being applied across research and infrastructure.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Enlit.
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