Europe plans new grids as AI demands surge - Dec 10, 2025

As of December 10, today’s news sees developments in energy infrastructure, the AI sector's reliance on data centers, and international geopolitical tensions. Prysmian has emerged positively on the stock market today, witnessing an increase of 2.4% amidst a generally negative backdrop in Milan, where the overall market was down by 0.3%. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump's freeze on approvals for major onshore wind and solar projects is leaving thousands of megawatts of clean power capacity in limbo at a time of soaring demand for electricity, a Reuters review of permitting data and interviews with industry officials shows. Just one solar project has been approved on federal lands since Trump took office in January, and none have been permitted since July when Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered that all new decisions related to renewable energy projects require his personal sign-off. Furthermore, the European Commission adopted its European Grids Package earlier today. The Package sets out the Commission’s plan for a pan-European electricity network to support decarbonization and energy security. In particular, it emphasises faster permitting, more centralised planning, new investment tools, and stronger cross-border interconnections, including updates to the TEN-E regulation. Turning to market updates, the artificial intelligence boom continues to drive massive investments in data center infrastructure, estimated at 3 trillion dollars to support cloud computing and AI by 2028. However, concerns are arising over the creditworthiness of emerging renters in this space, as the stability of the sector depends heavily on the financial health of these companies. Oracle’s recent partnership with OpenAI raises further scrutiny as the tech giant balances a high debt load with ambitious cloud expansion plans. Simultaneously, geopolitical tensions escalate following Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia to ship advanced chips to China, stirring concerns over military implications. This move has drawn criticism for potentially undermining U.S. technological advantages and could affect international security. Regarding global trends, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to implement a quarter-percentage-point rate cut, but there are varying opinions among policymakers regarding the future trajectory of interest rates, considering the recent economic turbulence caused by the government shutdown.