The role of government AI readiness in shaping renewable electricity capacity and output
Serhiy Lyeonov, Lidia Mielczarek, Dariusz Krawczyk, József Popp
Abstract
The accelerating energy transition increasingly depends on human–AI interaction in government, how public agencies, regulators, and system operators use AI to plan, permit, and manage renewable integration while maintaining reliability. This study examines whether Government AI Readiness is associated with renewable electricity development, distinguishing between installed capacity and total generation. An unbalanced panel of 179–183 countries (2020–2024) combines Government AI Readiness Index scores with renewable capacity and generation data and GDP per capita (IRENA/World Bank), analysed using transformed variables, diagnostics, and fixed/random effects panel models in R. Government AI Readiness is positively and significantly linked to total installed renewable capacity; in the FE model, a one-point increase in AI readiness is associated with ~0.017 higher log installed capacity (p < 0.001). No significant association is found for total renewable generation, implying that AI-ready governance may accelerate infrastructure rollout without automatically increasing output due to operational, infrastructural, or climatic constraints.