Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 25, 2026
3 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleE.ON will invest €48bn ($57bn) from 2026–2030 to expand and modernize European power grids, preparing for a surge in data centres. The plan tops its prior €43bn program, targeting growth in regulated networks and earnings.
By Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff
FRANKFURT/ESSEN, Germany, Feb 25 (Reuters) - E.ON, Europe's largest operator of energy networks, is raising spending to 48 billion euros ($57 billion) by 2030, it said on Wednesday, in a push to expand and protect grids and prepare them for a build-out of data centres across the continent.
Grid operators are rushing to spend more money on their assets, faced with rising demands on power infrastructure, including renewables, storage and an expected surge in electricity demand to power artificial intelligence projects.
Recent grid outages have also highlighted the need to secure what is seen as the backbone of power supply, efforts that are becoming more challenging as networks grow and full protection is virtually impossible.
CEO Leonhard Birnbaum said energy networks in Germany -- Europe's top economy -- were too exposed, adding legislation that requires operators to make grids transparent online would have to be changed "as soon as possible".
"All of Germany's critical infrastructure is effectively available on the internet and geolocated," CEO Leonhard Birnbaum told journalists after presenting full-year results.
"This cannot be reversed, but for everything we build from now on, we should at least strive to ensure that this is no longer the case in future."
SHARES HIT HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE MAY 2011
The new investment plan, running from 2026 to 2030, compares with a 43 billion euro programme over the 2024 to 2028 period, and highlights E.ON's efforts to pump more money into regulated networks to boost its asset base and profits.
Around 40 billion euros of that will flow into the 1.6 million kilometres of energy networks E.ON operates across Europe, it said, reflecting a "heightened threat landscape for critical infrastructure" and demands placed on the grid by data centres.
E.ON said the updated investment programme was contingent on adequate returns set by Germany's energy regulator.
Shares in the company rose as much as 3.1% to their highest level since May 5, 2011.
Utility stocks have been among the beneficiaries of an AI-related boom, along with expectations that a surge in data centres needed to power the technology will also drive demand for power and related infrastructure, including grids.
Year-to-date, E.ON shares have gained more than 16%, outperforming the broader sector index as well as European stocks overall.
E.ON, Germany's biggest energy firm, also recommended increasing its dividend for 2025 by 4% to 0.57 euros per share and expects core profit of 9.4 billion to 9.6 billion euros in 2026, down from 9.8 billion last year.
Analysts in a poll provided by the company expect core profit of 9.5 billion euros in 2026.
($1 = 0.8477 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Tom Kaeckenhoff, Editing by Linda Pasquini and Shri Navaratnam)
E.ON is increasing its five-year investment plan to €48 billion ($57 billion) for 2026–2030 to expand and modernize European energy grids and support rising data centre demand.
The company plans to invest €48 billion over five years, from 2026 through 2030.
To strengthen and modernize regulated power networks as Europe sees a build-out of data centres and a more decentralized, complex energy system.
It exceeds E.ON’s earlier €43 billion programme for 2024–2028, signaling a faster push into regulated networks to expand its asset base and profits.
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