Europe’s industrial competitiveness increasingly depends on its ability to scale electrification through coordinated partnerships between power producers, industrial consumers, infrastructure operators and policymakers, according to the most recent Eurelectric report launched at Power Summit 2026 in Helsinki.
The report argues that electrification is already a competitive advantage for Europe, but its deployment is still not moving fast enough. Based on input from 61 companies and 30 concrete projects, Eurelectric identifies a new replicable model called “Power Couples”: integrated industrial partnerships designed to optimise demand, low-carbon supply, infrastructure and flexibility at the same time.
The model is particularly relevant for sectors such as low- and medium-temperature heat, energy-intensive industries and data centres. In practice, a Power Couples approach can combine several complementary industrial loads: one may anchor long-term clean power demand, another may shift consumption when prices rise, while another may provide fast balancing services. By sharing infrastructure, risk and system value, these partnerships can improve the economic case for electrification.
“Turning fragmented decisions into coordinated, system-level delivery is the key to solve the full electrification deployment challenge,” said Markus Rauramo, Eurelectric President and CEO of Fortum. “Europe now needs investment predictability, faster grid build-out and integrated delivery models that can scale quickly. This will unlock a more resilient, competitive and investment-ready industrial economy”.
The commercial structures behind these projects can include long-term power purchase agreements, Heat as a Service, Energy as a Service, waste-heat offtake, flexibility revenues and blended public-private financing. Eurelectric argues that such integrated delivery models can help turn fragmented investment decisions into coordinated system-level solutions.
Opening the Power Summit, Kristian Ruby, Secretary General of Eurelectric, placed the report in a broader political and technological context. He described electricity not simply as a commodity, but as a vital resource for European society: essential for homes, hospitals, schools, companies, industry, data centres and public institutions. In a period marked by geopolitical uncertainty and concerns over foreign energy dependence, he argued that reliable European electric power is a strategic answer for Europe’s sovereignty, democracy and industrial resilience.
Ruby also underlined that Europe should pursue decarbonisation without deindustrialisation. This requires cooperation across the electricity value chain, technology diversity, grid expansion, cybersecurity, stronger supply chains and closer collaboration with industrial partners. The Power Couples model reflects this logic: competitiveness and decarbonisation can reinforce each other when electricity, infrastructure and industrial investment are planned together from the outset.
Another major theme of Ruby’s opening remarks was the rise of artificial intelligence. He described electricity as the “base layer” of the AI technology stack: behind every model, prompt and data-centre breakthrough are grids, substations, power plants and cables. At the same time, AI can become a tool for the energy transition itself, helping optimise grids, improve flexibility and support smarter electrification.
