Digital twin technology is finding new applications across the energy industry, driven, in part, by the growing infrastructure demands of businesses serving power-hungry data centres in support of AI.
A case in point is the recently announced agreement between Kongsberg Digital and US energy infrastructure company Williams, under which Kongsberg Digital’s AI-driven digital twin platform Kognitwin is to be deployed across Williams’ natural gas-fired power generation facilities.
Williams, whose 33,000 miles of pipeline infrastructure handles around a third of US natural gas, has been building on this footprint and its midstream expertise by expanding into onsite generation, so it can more effectively cater to growing demand from cloud computing hyperscalers. It is a complex task, which a digital twin platform can help to streamline.
Shane McArdle, CEO of Norway-based Kongsberg Digital, said the partnership reflected a fundamental shift in how critical energy infrastructure is operated.
“As demand for power grows alongside the AI data centre boom, operators must move beyond fragmented systems toward integrated, real-time decision environments. By combining Williams’ deep gas infrastructure expertise with our industrial intelligence platform, we are enabling a generation of power facilities that are not only reliable, but optimised from the outset,” he said.
As part of a multi-year collaboration, Kongsberg Digital plans to create a real-time replica of Williams’ power generation facilities, as well as processing complex data to make it ready for interpretation by AI.
The platform, built around Kongsberg Digital’s Industrial Work Surface process, integrates data and AI in real time to create an operational environment that enables real-time situational awareness across assets, predictive maintenance and reliability optimisation, scenario-based performance modelling and workflow automation
By embedding industrial intelligence into end-to-end workflows, Williams aims to increase uptime and support the energy intensity demands of AI-driven infrastructure.
Brandon Croley, Director of Information Technology at Williams, said that hyperscale data-centre developers demanded power solutions that were both reliable and insight-driven right from the start.
“By partnering with Kongsberg Digital, we’re building a scalable digital foundation that connects our onsite generation assets, our data, and our people so we can make faster, better-informed decisions across every facility,” he said.
Implementation is now underway, with phased rollout aligned to facility commissioning timelines.
Diverse partners
The growing maturity and proven effectiveness of digital twins has allowed companies like Kongsberg Digital to forge multiple alliances across the energy sector.
The firm formed a partnership earlier this year with Google Cloud to accelerate the delivery of scalable, AI-powered industrial intelligence for global energy and industrial customers, combining its Kognitwin with Google Cloud’s hyperscale computing infrastructure and advanced AI capabilities.
In 2025, Kongsberg Digital signed a memorandum of understanding with Sinopec Shanghai Offshore Oil & Gas Company – part of the Sinopec Group – to jointly accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of offshore oil and gas assets. It also announced a partnership with Indian-based digital solutions company Celebal Technologies to equip current and future customers with advanced digital twin capabilities.
The firm has also been able to cater to growing demand for AI-driven solutions in the Middle East. Last November, Kongsberg Digital and Abu Dhabi-based AIQ said they would collaborate by combining Kongsberg Digital’s industrial and domain knowledge with AIQ’s expertise in developing AI technology to explore the potential co-design and delivery of agentic AI capabilities for drilling.
In the same region, Kongsberg Digital announced a strategic partnership with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) in September to deliver an enterprise AI-powered digital twin. PDO is using Kognitwin as part of its drive to create safer operations, improve production levels and make cost efficiencies.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
