In this paper, new results for passivation and stabilization of discrete-time nonlinear systems via energy balancing are established. When specified on sampled-data systems, the approach is constructive for computing stabilizing digital controllers that assign, at all sampling instants, a target energy profile while stabilizing a target equilibrium. The class of mechanical systems is discussed as an example. Simulations are reported highlighting, for position regulation of a 2R robot, the effect of approximate solutions with respect to standard emulation.