Training course · Generative AI · Energy & Utilities

Generative AI for the Energy Sector

Vendor-neutral, hands-on day: how language models work, where they go wrong and how to roll out AI successfully in your team.

Duration
1 day (7 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“Generative AI for the Energy Sector” is a hands-on course for roles such as Staff at municipal utilities and energy suppliers, Grid operators in planning, connections and operations and Customer service and billing teams. Rather than learning Generative AI in the abstract, you work on tasks from your daily routine – with examples, exercises and templates from Energy & Utilities.

Generative AI has reached most organisations, yet teams often lack a shared understanding of what language models can actually do and where their limits lie. In this vendor-neutral course you will learn how large language models generate text, why they hallucinate and how careful prompting, context and source checking lead to reliable results. Rather than relying on any provider's marketing claims, you will work with transparent criteria that help you compare tools and judge their fit for your own tasks.

The second focus is everyday implementation. You will identify concrete use cases in your area of work, weigh benefit, risk and effort, and draft a realistic roll-out plan for your team. This covers ground rules for handling confidential data, a practical prompt library and ways to build acceptance and make results measurable. Throughout the day you work with examples from your own field, so you leave with an actionable roadmap rather than a set of abstract ideas.

The energy sector is undergoing a deep transformation: distributed generation, grid expansion, sector coupling, new market roles and dense regulation are reshaping municipal utilities, grid operators, suppliers and energy service providers alike. Generative AI helps above all in managing complexity. It summarises regulatory decisions and legislative changes, answers customer enquiries about billing, tariffs or grid connections efficiently, unlocks technical documentation and prepares project documents for permits. AI agents can support market communication processes, pre-sort fault reports or automate reporting. Because critical infrastructure is involved, requirements for IT security, data quality and traceability are especially high.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Staff at municipal utilities and energy suppliers
  • Grid operators in planning, connections and operations
  • Customer service and billing teams
  • Regulatory affairs and energy trading
  • Renewable energy project developers

Typical challenges we address

  • Dense regulation that changes frequently
  • Growing numbers of customer enquiries on tariffs, bills and grid connections
  • Extensive technical and permitting documentation
  • Skills shortages alongside rising investment volumes

What you will be able to do

  • You can explain clearly how language models generate text and why hallucinations occur.
  • You can write prompts that consistently deliver useful, verifiable results.
  • You can compare AI tools against transparent criteria covering data protection, features and cost.
  • You can identify and prioritise concrete use cases for your area of work.
  • Navigate regulatory requirements and technical documents faster and more reliably with AI.
  • Relieve customer service and grid connection processes through AI-supported pre-checks and draft replies.
  • Assess AI use cases with due regard to IT security and critical infrastructure requirements.

Course outline

Module 1 How large language models work
  • Tokens, context windows and probabilities: what happens when a model generates text
  • Training knowledge versus web search versus your own documents (RAG)
  • Text, images, audio and code: what multimodal models can do today
  • Realistically assessing typical strengths and weaknesses in office work
Module 2 Spotting hallucinations and getting reliable output
  • Why models produce plausible-sounding errors and when the risk increases
  • Prompting techniques: role, context, examples, output format and step-by-step instructions
  • Requesting sources, cross-checking facts and introducing a four-eyes principle
  • Scoping tasks so that AI assists rather than decides
Module 3 Choosing tools without vendor bias
  • Overview of chat assistants, AI built into office suites and specialist tools
  • Criteria: data processing, hosting location, admin features, integrations and pricing model
  • Enterprise licences, API access and locally hosted open-source models compared
  • Building a simple scoring matrix for your own tool selection
Module 4 Identifying use cases in your field
  • Systematically capturing recurring writing, research and analysis tasks
  • Rating benefit, risk and implementation effort for each use case
  • Distinguishing quick wins from strategic initiatives
  • Creating a prioritised use-case backlog for your team
Module 5 Rolling out generative AI in your team
  • Usage rules: which data may go into which tool and who signs off results
  • Building and maintaining a shared prompt library and templates
  • AI champions, training formats and peer exchanges to embed new habits
  • Measuring success: documenting time saved, quality and user satisfaction
Module 6 Practice lab: Energy & Utilities
  • Making regulation understandable
  • Relieving customer service
  • Pre-checking connection requests
  • Unlocking technical documentation
  • Permitting and project documents
  • Reporting and market analysis
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • As operators of critical infrastructure, utilities and grid operators face heightened IT security requirements, for example under NIS2 and sector-specific security catalogues; grid and asset data must not flow uncontrolled into external AI services. Consumption and metering data is personal data under the GDPR and metering regulations, and unbundling rules must also be observed.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Making regulation understandable

Regulatory decisions, legislative changes and industry guidelines are summarised, their impact on internal processes derived and prepared as task lists for departments – reviewed by regulatory affairs.

Relieving customer service

Enquiries about instalments, annual bills, tariff changes or registering wallboxes and PV systems are classified, draft replies created and missing documents requested specifically. Recurring issues feed into FAQs and self-service content.

Pre-checking connection requests

Incoming applications are checked for completeness, technical details extracted and passed to grid planning in a structured format, with follow-up questions to installers drafted. Processing times shrink noticeably.

Unlocking technical documentation

Operating manuals, maintenance logs and excerpts from standards are made searchable so teams quickly get answers to technical questions, including a reference to the source.

Permitting and project documents

For wind, solar or grid projects, application documents are structured, comments from authorities and the public analysed and project reports prepared for boards. Deadlines and conditions are tracked clearly.

Reporting and market analysis

AI helps write commentary on sales, generation and grid KPIs, summarises market reports and drafts mandatory disclosures and internal reports. Figures always come from verified source systems, never from the AI.

Prerequisites

No technical background is required. It helps to bring along typical tasks from your day-to-day work that you would like to support with AI. Professional experience in an energy sector company; no programming skills required.

Technical requirements

You will need a laptop with an up-to-date browser and internet access. A free account with a common AI assistant is sufficient; company licences are welcome.

Data protection & compliance

As operators of critical infrastructure, utilities and grid operators face heightened IT security requirements, for example under NIS2 and sector-specific security catalogues; grid and asset data must not flow uncontrolled into external AI services. Consumption and metering data is personal data under the GDPR and metering regulations, and unbundling rules must also be observed.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Tue, 24 November 2026 Online Request
  • Tue, 8 December 2026 Bremen Request
  • Fri, 8 January 2027 Augsburg Request
  • Fri, 15 January 2027 Online Request
  • Mon, 18 January 2027 Salzburg Request
  • Tue, 2 February 2027 Online Request

Frequently asked questions

Is the course tied to a specific AI tool?

No. The training is deliberately vendor-neutral. You work with widely used chat assistants and learn principles that apply to all major language models. That way you can transfer your skills to whichever tool your organisation has approved and evaluate new offerings yourself using clear criteria instead of relying on marketing statements.

How is confidential company data handled during the course?

For the exercises you use anonymised or fictitious examples from your area of work. At the same time you learn which categories of data may be entered into which tools, what to look for regarding data processing agreements and use of inputs for training, and how to set out these rules clearly for your team.

Will we leave with something concrete to implement?

Yes. You leave with a prioritised use-case backlog, a scoring matrix for tool selection, tested prompt templates and a draft set of team usage rules. These materials are designed so you can take them straight into internal discussions with management, IT and your data protection officer.

May a grid operator use cloud AI services?

In principle yes, but only for suitable data and after approval by IT security and data protection. Operational and grid data from critical assets does not belong in external services. In the course we carefully distinguish non-critical use cases such as text work from sensitive areas that require special safeguards.

Can AI reliably interpret regulatory changes?

AI summarises regulatory decisions and legislation well and helps identify affected processes. Binding interpretation, however, remains the job of regulatory affairs or the legal department. The course shows how to back up AI summaries with source references and avoid misinterpretation.

How much does “Generative AI for the Energy Sector” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 1 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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