The role of software-defined power in building a resilient digital grid
EDITOR’ S CHOICE EMPOWERING TRANSITION
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
The role of software-defined power in building a resilient digital grid
By: Bin Lu, EVP, Global Power Products Division of Schneider Electric
As Europe accelerates its transition toward a cleaner and more secure energy future, the continent’ s power infrastructure faces unprecedented challenges. In 2025, wind and solar generated a record 30 % of EU electricity, higher than fossil power for the first time on record. At the same time, electricity demand is rising, driven by the growth of data centers and electric mobility.
This growing complexity and shift towards decentralization is putting more pressure on an alreadystrained grid. With 40 % of its grids over 40 years old, Europe’ s energy infrstructure must evolve beyond their original design. Resilience, adaptability, and intelligence must become the bedrock of Europe’ s energy systems if it wants to achieve climate leadership and industrial competitiveness. As the world embraces a digital-first approach, businesses now require real-time visibility, predictive maintenance, seamless automation, and embedded intelligence at every level of their operations. To meet these demands, electrical infrastructure must become smarter and more flexible. Copper alone cannot provide the agility the modern grid now requires.
With intelligence now being integrated into low-voltage devices such as smartphones and home appliances, a new digital layer is emerging, one that transforms electricity from a passive utility into an active, responsive system. This evolution forms the backbone of software-defined power, enabling Europe’ s energy networks to become smarter, more adaptive, and better equipped to meet the continent’ s sustainability goals.
Rethinking electrical infrastructure with softwaredefined power
Software-defined power reimagines electrical infrastructure as a living digital system. Intelligence functions as the brain, softwaredefined power serves as the nervous system, and power electronics acts as the muscles – enabling fast, precise decision-making across the networks.
At its core, software-defined power embeds intelligence to hardware, fully managed by software. Rather than embedding logic permanently into physical components, intelligence is delivered through software that continuously learns, updates, and optimizes performance. The result is an electrical system that can sense conditions, adapt to change, and improve over time.
Much like cloud computing transformed IT, software-defined power brings cloud-scale analytics and control to the edge of the electrical network. Once-static assets become data-driven participants in a coordinated ecosystem, enabling electrical system operators to optimize energy use in real time, reduce waste, enhance safety, and improve uptime.
Think of it as a unified, softwaredriven layer that delivers cloudscale intelligence at the edge to optimize efficiency, resilience, and sustainability.
These capabilities translate into measurable impact across the full lifecycle of electrical infrastructure. Software-defined power can shorten ordering and
20 PECM Issue 79