Toward Smart and Sustainable Energy Systems Enabled by Artificial Intelligence, Optimization, and Resilience

Dear Colleagues,

The global energy sector is undergoing a profound transformation driven by the urgent need for decarbonization, digitalization, and sustainability. The increasing penetration of renewable energy resources, widespread adoption of electrified transportation and heating, and integration of green hydrogen and storage technologies have significantly increased the complexity of modern energy systems. This complexity creates new challenges for system stability, demand flexibility, and operational resilience, especially under the uncertainties brought about by climate change and extreme events. Moreover, the sustainable utilization and management of natural resources, such as critical materials for renewable technologies, are becoming central to ensuring a circular energy economy.

To address these challenges, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced optimization techniques have emerged as powerful tools to enable intelligent forecasting, adaptive decision-making, and autonomous system operation. Meanwhile, new concepts of resilience-oriented planning and control are becoming essential for ensuring that energy systems can withstand, adapt to, and recover from diverse disruptions. By combining AI, optimization, and resilience-oriented strategies, researchers and practitioners can pave the way toward smart and sustainable energy systems that are efficient, reliable, and aligned with global carbon neutrality targets.

This Topic aims to bring together innovative research and real-world applications that explore how AI and optimization techniques can enhance the resilience and sustainability of energy systems, covering the electricity, heat, hydrogen, and transport sectors.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Artificial intelligence for energy forecasting, operation, and planning;
• Advanced optimization and quantum-inspired methods for multi-energy systems; Resilience-oriented operation and planning under uncertainty;
• Demand response and flexibility in electricity, heat, hydrogen, and transport; Integration of renewable and distributed energy resources;
• Cross-sectoral coupling of electricity, heat, hydrogen, and transport;
• Digitalization, IoT, and digital twins for smart energy infrastructures; Applications and case studies in smart grids, microgrids, and energy hubs;
• Sustainable management and utilization of natural and energy resources.

Dr. Zhengmao Li
Dr. Haixiang Zang
Dr. Yanli Liu
Dr. Yunyun Xie
Dr. Yingjun Wu
Dr. Om Hari Gupta
Dr. Changbin Hu
Topic Editors