Schneider Electric helps Europe address its grid challenges

  Posted by: electime      9th November 2026

At Enlit Europe 2026, Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, will showcase how intelligence across the grid, edge and asset levels can help utilities manage growing complexity, optimize network performance and prepare grids for rising and more dynamic electricity demand.

“Enlit comes at a crucial moment for Europe’s energy system. With energy costs putting pressure on our competitiveness and the need to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels, accelerating electrification has become an economic and strategic imperative. But electrification at scale requires us to rethink how we build, operate and use our grids,” said Laurent Bataille, executive vice president, Europe Operations, Schneider Electric. “We need to build more infrastructure but also unlock much more from what we already have. This means moving from a largely reactive system to one that can anticipate and plan for future needs. Digital intelligence and flexibility will be critical to this shift, helping utilities turn existing infrastructure into usable capacity, integrate more renewables and connect new demand faster.”

Energy intelligence across the grid, edge and assets

At booth A.a60, Schneider Electric will showcase how energy intelligence across the grid, edge and asset levels can help utilities maximize existing infrastructure and prepare for future energy demands.

Grid Intelligence: Schneider Electric will showcase One Digital Grid Platform, ArcFM, EcoStruxure ADMS, DERMS and ETAP digital twins, helping utilities plan with greater confidence, operate more efficiently and respond faster to changing grid conditions.

Edge Intelligence: EcoStruxure LV Grid Management, software-defined substations and EcoStruxure Microgrid Advisor will demonstrate how greater visibility and flexibility across distribution networks can help utilities integrate distributed energy resources at scale.

Asset Intelligence: EcoCare, EcoStruxure Asset Management System and new advanced condition-monitoring technologies will demonstrate how asset data can be transformed into actionable maintenance insights to strengthen reliability and extend asset life.

Together, these capabilities will demonstrate how utilities can move from reactive operations toward intelligent, connected and increasingly autonomous grid management.

The showcase will also highlight Schneider Electric’s strategic collaborations with Kraken and AiDASH, bringing together digital platforms, network flexibility, vegetation management and climate resilience capabilities to help utilities navigate increasingly complex energy networks.

New technologies address evolving grid requirements

At Enlit Europe 2026, Schneider Electric will unveil:

• SF6-FreeRM AirSeT 36kV RMU tech preview: The next step in Schneider Electric’s SF₆-free innovation, extending proven AirSeT™ technology beyond 24 kV to meet demands of increasingly power-dense applications. The preview of RM AirSeT 36 kV combines pure-air insulation with proven shunt vacuum interruption technology; it delivers a future-ready alternative to SF₆ while preserving the reliability and operational simplicity customers expect.
• A new generation of Partial Discharge Monitoring and localization for underground cables: Bringing a new level of intelligence and precision to underground medium-voltage cable networks. Until now, grid operators managing ageing cable infrastructure have largely faced two costly choices: wait for a fault to trigger an outage or take cables offline for testing and replace large sections, often including healthy assets, resulting in unnecessary excavation, outages and investment. Schneider Electric introduces a disruptive alternative: continuously monitor partial discharge of energized cables, locate it precisely and act before cable fault makes outages. The technology measures partial discharge of cable, identifies their type, assesses their risk and pinpoints their location to approximately ±1 meter across networks up to 2 kilometers. Operators gain actionable insight into what is happening, exactly where it is happening, and how urgently they need to act, enabling precise, targeted intervention. The result is fewer unplanned outages, less unnecessary excavations and cable replacements, longer asset life and more optimized investment. Designed for non-intrusive deployment on existing networks, the technology can be deployed today with Schneider Electric’s services teams in Europe with global availability planned next. Schneider Electric also plans to integrate the technology more broadly and natively across its medium-voltage switchgear portfolio, advancing its vision for more resilient, efficient and sustainable grids.

As the energy transition accelerates, bringing more renewables, energy storage and high-power loads such as EVs and AI data centers, Schneider Electric reveals new tech previews for the New Energy Landscape:

• Medium-Voltage Direct Current (MVDC) Switchgear Preview: RM AirSeT DC, Schneider Electric’s first MVDC switchgear, opens the way to a new generation of Hybrid AC/DC grid. MVDC switchgear is emerging as a key technology for Hybrid AC/DC grid enabling high level integration of renewable energy.  Building on the proven AirSeT technology, RM AirSeT DC has already been successfully demonstrated in an MVDC pilot project. Schneider Electric is now looking to expand into larger-scale deployments, further maturing the technology and accelerating the transition toward a hybrid AC/DC grid.
• From grid connection to battery rack: one coordinated BESS solution: Schneider Electric expands its low-voltage DC portfolio for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) with the EasyPact CVS DC breaker, EasyPact MVS DC switch-disconnector and EasyTeSys DC contactors. Combined with its MV offers, it now supports BESS from grid connection to battery rack in one fully coordinated application. Centered on EasyPact CVS DC, the full range Coordination Protection Solution combines breaker, fuses and a BMS-controlled contactor into protection built for DC, with 30 kA breaking capacity at 1500 V DC for evolving battery storage, while EasyPact MVS DA1 adds high short-circuit withstand of up to 250 kA with Schneider Electric fuses. One protection concept across three architectures helps customers simplify and standardize integration, supporting safer, faster BESS deployment and accelerating the energy transition.

A session not to be missed: Accelerating Europe’s Energy Future

During the opening ceremony keynote, Laurent Bataille and Gerhard Christiner, CEO of Austrian Power Grid, will explore how Europe can strengthen competitiveness, affordability and energy sovereignty through electrification powered by renewables and storage. The discussion will examine how grid modernization, smarter connection processes and greater system flexibility can accelerate the integration of renewable energy while supporting growing demand from electrification, data centers and AI factories. Drawing on examples from Europe and beyond, the session will highlight practical approaches to unlocking more capacity from existing infrastructure and building a more resilient and efficient energy system.

Meet Schneider Electric at Enlit Europe 2026: 10-12 November 2026, Messe Wien, Vienna, Hall A, Booth A.a60