Managing the power grid on a weekly basis is a thing of the past. Today, everything happens in a matter of seconds. During a panel discussion held as part of the Smart Energy event and moderated by journalist Jonas Schneiter, four industry experts painted a picture of a rapidly evolving grid, where flexibility and decentralization are becoming the watchwords.
For François Maréchal, a professor at EPFL Valais-Wallis, the energy transition is changing the very nature of the grid. “The energy transition aims to electrify heating and transportation—and these are small components of the system. We’re now starting to see them emerge among grid operators.”
This growth in the number of small-scale producers and consumers opens up new possibilities. “In an electric car, you drive an average of 30 kilometers a day, but you don’t use most of the battery’s capacity—which could, however, be made available to the grid,” explains François Maréchal. According to him, buildings should also be designed to function as neighborhood-scale batteries. “We need neighborhoods that don’t create consumption spikes. With a little investment, we can create assets that we can manage, but for now, we’re seeing this mainly from the bottom up, not yet from the top down, via the grid operators.”
Germany and Scandinavia are leading the way
Ben Gemsjäger, Head of Siemens PTI Central Europe, confirms that flexibility is already a reality elsewhere in Europe. “Since January 1, 2024, small installations must be integrated and controlled by grid operators in Germany. After two years, integration was nearly complete. ” He also cites the example of Scandinavia, where local flexibility markets are developing, as well as Rome, which is relying on flexibility to avoid an increase in grid construction projects. “The technologies are here; we simply need to accept the diversity of approaches. We have the technologies we need for 2030.”
At FMV, Benoît Martinet, Head of Business Management and Sales, points out that new ways of working have also changed how large-scale projects are managed. “At Swissgrid, we now use the Nant de Drance power plant more regularly for intraday trading. When the rules change, it has a direct impact on our local generation facilities.”
However, he is keen to qualify the idea of a complete shift toward decentralized energy. “Is this the end of large-scale power generation? Without Nant de Drance, the situation would have been very different in 2022. We’re talking about large volumes and stability here. These large-scale facilities complement decentralized energy: no matter the weather, they ensure there is energy in the grid.”
Nicolas Varone, Head of Energy and Transition at OIKEN, confirms that flexibility is no longer just a theory, but an operational reality. “Since this summer, we’ve already been managing this flexibility with our own electrical installations, totaling 4 megawatts. By the end of the year, we plan to reach 19 megawatts. ” The company has set up a virtual power plant to manage these facilities remotely. “We’re starting with our own investments first. The next step is to communicate and offer products that benefit customers, but also the grid and the energy sector.”
The Data Challenge: The Key to Success
While the will is there, the tools don’t always keep up. Ben Gemsjäger mentions the term “flexsumer,” which succeeds “prosumer.” “Over the past five years, we’ve seen three million additional installations in Europe—one million of those in the last five years alone—and requests keep coming in. But there’s still a lack of suitable software, particularly the next generation of SCADA systems. We don’t have time for slow development—we need a new generation, potentially cloud-based.”
The meter replacement program is a key initiative for Nicolas Varone. “We’re still missing some data; we’re in the midst of a transition phase. By the end of 2027, 80% of the meters will be installed, with readings taken every 15 minutes to measure electricity usage. But the data will ultimately be collected only once or twice a day, and that won’t be enough in the long run. We’ll need solutions to achieve real-time data, particularly by connecting directly to heat pumps and water heaters.”
Benoît Martinet confirms the scale of the challenge on the production side. “We’re already working on a quarter-hour basis for our productions, but the data requirements are enormous and the analytical methods are still under development. That’s our daily struggle.” He also points to a growing complexity linked to the increasing number of stakeholders. “There are more and more stakeholders around the table, and the question of each party’s liability is currently being resolved through legal channels.” For Nicolas Varone, one thing is certain: “The key to success is the quality of the forecast for the next minute.”
New Approaches to Management
François Maréchal points to a promising technological approach for managing this complexity: agent-based systems. “One agent can decide what it needs to do in the next second, and another agent can ask which agent is capable of doing the job. We no longer need a central authority to determine everything. It’s an approach based on small agents—one agent per object—with contracts managed by the blockchain.”
Despite this extensive digitization, the panelists agree on one point: the final decision rests with the consumer. “It’s the end user who decides, no matter what. And they’re the ones paying,” notes François Maréchal. “We are primarily responsible for our own behavior, and management systems need to account for this change in behavior—for example, through tiered pricing.”
Ben Gemsjäger shares this view, urging people not to unnecessarily complicate the customer experience. “Here, everyone thinks in terms of digital, down to the second. But for the end customer, what’s needed is a clear and understandable pricing structure.”
A pivotal moment, then, as Ben Gemsjäger puts it: “This is a time when we can shape the system of tomorrow. There is room to maneuver, and we must take advantage of it.”
Interview conducted on August 28, 2026, at the Smart Energy Event