Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Plexigrid (Plexigrid: Plexar Operated Grids)
Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-05-31
Electricity grids were designed over a century ago for an energy system made up of relatively few, large, centralized, controllable power plants, with very predictable power flows from the power plants to the cities to consumers. But as the energy transition unfolds, with hundreds of millions of distributed and intermittent solar panels, windmills, electric vehicles, batteries… power flow dynamics become bidirectional and much more complex, and an unprecedented number of bottlenecks, congestions and stability challenges are emerging in electricity distribution grids. These grid bottlenecks are already the number one cause of delays and cancellations of renewable energy projects and electrification projects in Europe and most of the world.
Efficiently hosting and integrating all these new complexity in Europe’s grids requires the shift to a completely “new generation of network technology” (similar to the one that happened in the Telecom sector three decades ago by moving from analogue telephony to digital telephony and GSM). Plexigrid is developing this “new generation of network technology” to make Europe grids fit for the energy transition. Plexigrid's technology is built on a digital twin that is the
most advanced and fastest on the market, years ahead of its competitors.
How does Plexigrid technology solve bottlenecks without increasing grid capacity? Instead of increasing grid capacity on the supply side (which would cost hundreds of billions of euros and years of work), Plexigrid can do it on the demand side, adapting flexible demand to available grid capacity, ten times cheaper and ten times faster than the traditional approach.
Its innovative technology is based on a real-time digital twin of the entire grid infrastructure that is built by connecting to grid operators' legacy grid control systems (smart metering systems, geographic information systems and SCADA systems), and providing an additional layer of grid intelligence that enhances these legacy systems and provides grid operators with the three superpowers they need to enable the energy transition, namely:
1. REAL-TIME VISIBILITY of what happens in each and every node of the grid, down low voltage and to household level, in networks with millions of nodes. Currently distribution grid operators have limited to zero real time visibility under 20kV infrastructure, which is where they have 90% of the kilometres of cables and nodes, where most of the new EVs, solar panels, batteries, heat pumps are being deployed.
2. REAL-TIME ANALYTICS, such as for example the computation of power flows and state estimation in grids with millions of nodes. Again, grid operators have only real-time analytics up to 20kV voltage level, but not below.
3. REAL-TIME ACCESS TO AND ORCHESTRATION OF FLEXIBLE PRODUCTION, consumption and demand of millions of solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, heat pumps, etc…
Plexigrid have been developing their digital twin for years, even before the company was founded. It is the most robust, accurate and fastest digital twin that has ever existed for distribution networks, combining analytical methods with artificial intelligence techniques that allow it to adapt to changing environments, loss of data and even errors or lack of knowledge in the layout of power lines.
While other competitors add conventional mathematical models as a patch to legacy platforms claiming to have a digital twin, Plexigrid's platform has been designed to rest on this digital twin and all modules have been designed for ultra-fast interfacing with, combining analytical techniques with artificial intelligence since the moment of its creation. Achieving performance and accuracy levels similar to those of Plexigrid would require our competitors to completely refactor their platforms, which is a task that could take years.
Efficiently hosting and integrating all these new complexity in Europe’s grids requires the shift to a completely “new generation of network technology” (similar to the one that happened in the Telecom sector three decades ago by moving from analogue telephony to digital telephony and GSM). Plexigrid is developing this “new generation of network technology” to make Europe grids fit for the energy transition. Plexigrid's technology is built on a digital twin that is the
most advanced and fastest on the market, years ahead of its competitors.
How does Plexigrid technology solve bottlenecks without increasing grid capacity? Instead of increasing grid capacity on the supply side (which would cost hundreds of billions of euros and years of work), Plexigrid can do it on the demand side, adapting flexible demand to available grid capacity, ten times cheaper and ten times faster than the traditional approach.
Its innovative technology is based on a real-time digital twin of the entire grid infrastructure that is built by connecting to grid operators' legacy grid control systems (smart metering systems, geographic information systems and SCADA systems), and providing an additional layer of grid intelligence that enhances these legacy systems and provides grid operators with the three superpowers they need to enable the energy transition, namely:
1. REAL-TIME VISIBILITY of what happens in each and every node of the grid, down low voltage and to household level, in networks with millions of nodes. Currently distribution grid operators have limited to zero real time visibility under 20kV infrastructure, which is where they have 90% of the kilometres of cables and nodes, where most of the new EVs, solar panels, batteries, heat pumps are being deployed.
2. REAL-TIME ANALYTICS, such as for example the computation of power flows and state estimation in grids with millions of nodes. Again, grid operators have only real-time analytics up to 20kV voltage level, but not below.
3. REAL-TIME ACCESS TO AND ORCHESTRATION OF FLEXIBLE PRODUCTION, consumption and demand of millions of solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, heat pumps, etc…
Plexigrid have been developing their digital twin for years, even before the company was founded. It is the most robust, accurate and fastest digital twin that has ever existed for distribution networks, combining analytical methods with artificial intelligence techniques that allow it to adapt to changing environments, loss of data and even errors or lack of knowledge in the layout of power lines.
While other competitors add conventional mathematical models as a patch to legacy platforms claiming to have a digital twin, Plexigrid's platform has been designed to rest on this digital twin and all modules have been designed for ultra-fast interfacing with, combining analytical techniques with artificial intelligence since the moment of its creation. Achieving performance and accuracy levels similar to those of Plexigrid would require our competitors to completely refactor their platforms, which is a task that could take years.
During the first reporting period, the Plexigrid project made substantial technical and scientific progress across all core modules. The ARI prototype was fully deployed, featuring a redesigned topological estimator and a robust electrical state estimator, both capable of operating under real-world data limitations. The AI-based Grid Manager was enhanced to perform real-time validation and corrective actions. The TATARI module delivered an AI-powered digital twin for short- and mid-term forecasting, eliminating the need for detailed physical grid models and replacing resource-intensive Monte Carlo simulations with representative seasonal scenarios. The TIA module progressed with the integration of an AI-driven Grid Optimizer, laying the groundwork for real-time flexibility activation. Platform integration efforts advanced through the redesign of the data model, backend, and user interface. Additionally, a secure CI/CD infrastructure and automated testing framework were implemented, supporting reliable deployment and validation of functionalities. All developments are progressing on schedule, with several deliverables and milestones successfully completed, confirming the technical readiness and scientific robustness of the platform.
Plexigrid has delivered several key innovations that go beyond the current state of the art in low-voltage grid management. These include an AI-powered digital twin capable of forecasting voltage behavior using only smart meter data—eliminating the dependency on complete physical grid models—and a real-time flexibility management engine that enables DSOs to simulate and activate optimal grid states under both normal and emergency conditions. The replacement of Monte Carlo simulations with seasonal scenario modeling also represents a significant advance in computational efficiency and planning realism. Moreover, the full-stack platform architecture, with embedded CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and secure data governance (ISO27001-certified), sets a new standard for operational readiness and scalability. To ensure successful market uptake, further actions are required in large-scale demonstration, customer onboarding, and regulatory alignment for flexibility services. Continued investment in commercialisation, IPR protection (ongoing patent applications), and strategic partnerships will also be essential for international deployment and long-term impact.