About The Event (#AutomatingPowerGrids)
As the power sector undergoes a rapid transition towards cleaner energy sources, the forum addresses the challenges and opportunities of integrating renewable energy into power grids. Participants delve into innovative solutions that ensure grid stability, balance supply and demand, and support the seamless integration of solar, wind, and other renewables.
The Power Grid Digitalization and Automation Forum is a premier gathering of industry leaders, professionals, and technology experts in the energy sector. This forum serves as a platform to explore the dynamic landscape of digitalization and automation in power grid systems. With a focus on driving operational efficiency, grid reliability, and sustainable energy infrastructure, the forum brings together stakeholders from utilities, technology providers, regulators, and research institutions.
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About the event
The global electricity landscape is in the midst of a monumental transformation as the demand for cleaner, more reliable, and more efficient sources escalates. Leading this revolution is the digitalization of the power grid, a process that doesn't just upgrade technology, but fundamentally reshapes how electricity is produced, distributed, and consumed
The power grid, a critical infrastructure that delivers electricity to homes, businesses, and industries, is undergoing a profound transformation through digitalization and automation. This article explores the key aspects of power grid digitalization and automation, their significance, and the impact they are having on the energy sector.
Power grid digitalization involves the integration of advanced digital technologies and communication systems into the traditional electrical grid infrastructure. It enables real-time monitoring, control, and optimization of power generation, transmission, and distribution.
Power grid digitalization and automation have global implications. Developing countries can leapfrog traditional infrastructure and adopt digitalized grid systems, enabling rapid electrification and promoting sustainable energy solutions. Additionally, the scalability of digitalization allows for the integration of microgrids, smart cities, and regional interconnections, fostering regional energy cooperation and resilience.
Power grid digitalization and automation are reshaping the energy sector, unlocking new possibilities for a sustainable, reliable, and efficient power grid. Through enhanced monitoring, control, and optimization, digitalized grids offer numerous benefits, including improved grid reliability, integration of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and grid flexibility. However, addressing cybersecurity concerns, ensuring data privacy, and upgrading legacy infrastructure remain critical challenges.
By embracing the opportunities offered by power grid digitalization and automation, stakeholders in the energy sector can accelerate the transition to a clean energy future, reduce carbon emissions, and create a more resilient and customer-centric energy system. It requires collaboration among governments, utilities, technology providers, and consumers to fully harness the potential of a digitalized power grid and drive the energy transformation needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Welcome to the Power Grid Digitalization and Automation Event, the leading platform for professionals and experts in the energy sector to explore the transformative potential of digitalization and automation in power grid systems.
Discover the power of digital technologies, including advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing, in optimizing power grid operations. Explore how digitalization can enable real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and grid optimization for improved energy efficiency and reliability.
Explore the role of automation in creating smarter and more resilient power grids. Learn about automated control systems, intelligent sensors, and autonomous devices that enhance grid management, reduce outage durations, and enable efficient energy distribution.
This Power Grid Digitalization and Automation Forum brings together industry leaders, technology providers, policymakers, and researchers to discuss and showcase the latest advancements, strategies, and best practices in leveraging digital technologies and automation to optimise power grid operations, improve reliability, and enable a more sustainable and efficient energy infrastructure.
Join us at the Power Grid Digitalization and Automation Conference to connect with industry pioneers, exchange knowledge, and drive forward the digital transformation and automation of power grid systems. Together, we can create a smarter, more resilient, and sustainable energy future.
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Past Speakers
Valerie Layan
Schneider Electric
VP, Power & Grid Europe, Energy Management Business
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Valerie Layan
Schneider Electric
VP, Power & Grid Europe, Energy Management Business
Appointed in February 2023 as Vice-President Power & Grid Europe, Valerie is responsible to develop the Power & Grid market in Europe for Schneider Electric.
Major ambition is to accelerate more Green, more electrification and more digital, and Power and Grid customers are at the center of this new energy landscape, not only the physical grid but many other business models driving decarbonization and sustainability.
Prior to taking this position in the company, Valerie was Transportation Global Segment President, and previously held several roles in the Digital Energy Division, as Line of Business Vice President. Previously Valerie worked 20+ years in the Colo and Telco Industry at Nortel, Nokia and Colt.
The has brought this in-depth and long-standing experience and knowledge of End to End Digitized & Cloud based Solutions to Schneider Electric. She graduated from the Institut Polytechnique de Lorraine and London Business School.
Kira Engelhardt
E.ON Digital Technology
Head of Data & AI - Energy Networks
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Kira Engelhardt
E.ON Digital Technology
Head of Data & AI - Energy Networks
Kira is an accomplished data and AI leader with over a decade of experience in revolutionizing critical business processes through the application of data science, analytics, and artificial intelligence She began her career in the financial sector, working as a Data Scientist at HUK Coburg, KPMG, and Allianz. Building on her extensive expertise, Kira moved into the energy industry, successfully leading major AI projects and organizational transformations in Germany and Sweden with E.ON.
Currently, she spearheads the global Data and AI in-house consulting team for Energy Networks at E.ON. Under her leadership, the team is at the forefront of digitizing the electricity and gas grids, playing a crucial role in advancing the energy transition.
Rainer M. Bachmann
E:E Consulting GmbH
CEO and Co-Founder
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Rainer M. Bachmann
E:E Consulting GmbH
CEO and Co-Founder
2021- heute Sprecher der Geschäftsführung, E:E Consulting GmbH, Aumühle Internationale Management- und Strategie-Beratung für Energie-, E-Mobilitäts- und Immobilien-Wirtschaft; Consulting, 40-50 Berater; Mitglied des EU Senats für Technologie; Vorstand in der Mobility Alliance der EU Technology Chamber; A’Rat Vorsitzender der Society6.0
2017- 2021 Head of Global Platforms & Operations (CIO) E-Mobility im E.ON Konzern, E.ON Solutions GmbH, Essen Energiewirtschaft; ca. 79.000 MA
2012- 2017 Geschäftsführer, E:E Consulting, Kevelaer und DataConsulting GmbH, Kevelaer IT-, Management- und Strategieberatung mit Fokus auf Energie; 20-30 Berater
2010- 2012 Leiter Business Development B2B E-Mobility, RWE Effizienz GmbH, Dortmund Speicherlösungen Energiewirtschaft (200 MA)
2002- 2009 Business Partner, Leiter Regionalbüro Frankfurt, RWE Consulting GmbH, Essen Management- und Strategie-Beratung im gesamten RWE Konzern (200 MA
2001- 2002 Interims-Geschäftsführer einer Privatbank, BerrinLord, Düsseldorf, Banking & Finance (10 MA) Zusammenarbeit mit Forschungseinrichtungen und Universitäten, Aufbau und Vertrieb von Technologie-Fonds.
2000- 2001 Projektleiter, Boston Consulting Group GmbH, Düsseldorf Strategieberatung (21.000 MA)
1997- 2000 Bereichsleiter Informationstechnologie (CIO), DEMINEX GmbH, Essen (später Veba Oil & Gas GmbH), zu der Zeit die größte deutsche E+P Gesellschaft Energieversorgung / Upstream (300 MA)
1994- 1997 Leiter Informatik & Organisation (CIO), Thyssen Schachtbau GmbH, Mülheim Hoch- und Tiefbau, Schacht- und Tunnelbau, internationales Bergbau-Spezial-Unternehmen (2000 MA)
1990- 1994 Bereichsleiter kommerzielle Anwendungen und Projektleiter kaufmännische Informatik, Thyssen Edelstahl / Thyssen Stahl AG, Krefeld / Duisburg Stahl-Industrie (25.000 MA)
1985- 1990 Betriebsabteilungsleiter Prozess-Automatisierung Stahlwerk, Leiter inter-nationale Projekte zur Prozessautomation in Indien und Korea, Krupp Stahl AG, Duisburg, Stahl-Industrie (20.000 MA)
1984- 1985 Fachberater IT und DFÜ, Siemens AG, Köln / Düsseldorf Telekommunikation, Sicherheit, Telefonie (180.000 MA)
1984 Diplom in Physik an der RWTH Aachen, Prädikats-Examen
Mark Beukeboom
Eneco
Product Manager Virtual Power Plant
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Mark Beukeboom
Eneco
Product Manager Virtual Power Plant
Mark Beukeboom is a product manager for the Virtual Power Plant at Eneco. He manages the steerability of a multi GW portfolio with a wide range of assets on multiple markets.
Motivation for this current role comes from improved energy efficiency and with that contribute to a more sustainable society. He has a strong belief in technology first as enabler for a energy integration.
He loves the intricacies of the energy markets and the complexity that it brings. In his previous role he set up a chain for renewable asset curtailment with an IOT platform and in-house built and developed hardware for steering. He has a background in engineering and IT consultancy.
Matthias Heinecke
Siemens Energy
Head of Innovation Management at Digital Grid
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Matthias Heinecke
Siemens Energy
Head of Innovation Management at Digital Grid
Matthias Heinecke / Head of Innovation Management at Digital Grid / Siemens Energy Leading expert in the field of digitalization and innovation with more than 14 years’ experience in the power transmission sector Head of innovation management for Digital Grid at Siemens Energy Advocate of digitalization & innovation as key enablers for more resilient and reliable power grids, working with partners & customers on new technologies for the energy transition Been a speaker and contributor at various industry events and forums for the energy sector Holding a master’s degree in industrial and electrical engineering from Technical University Berlin, Germany and in Business Administration from Maryland, USA
Elie Abou Assaf
Enedis
Head of Electrical Network and Third-Party Security Department
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Elie Abou Assaf
Enedis
Head of Electrical Network and Third-Party Security Department
Elie Abou Assaf is a knowledgeable engineer with over ten years of experience in the energy and industrial sectors, alongside five years in investment. Currently, he leads the Electrical Network and Third-Party Security department at Enedis in Lyon, France. Elie has a background in portfolio management and operational excellence and transformation, having managed significant assets, led teams and implemented strategic initiatives in the energy sectors. He holds an advanced degree in Gas Engineering and Management from Mines ParisTech and an engineering degree in Industrial Engineering and Information Technology from Polytech Marseille.
Jorrit Nutma
TNO
Researcher
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Jorrit Nutma
TNO
Researcher
Jorrit Nutma is Researcher Energy Flexibility at TNO, the Dutch applied research institute. It is his passion to work on the energy transition by applying expertise about devices that can provide energy flexibility and software to model and manage flexibility. He has a lot of practical experience in the research field of optimization and unlocking of energy flexibility. Also, the interactions between distributed energy resources and the (electricity) grid are part of his research domain.
Dan Wilson
Electricity North West Ltd
Asset Analytics Manager
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Dan Wilson
Electricity North West Ltd
Asset Analytics Manager
Dan is the Asset Analytics Manager at Electricity North West and leads a team within Electricity North West responsible for gaining insight from asset and related data to drive optimisation of the capital investment programme, and identification of operational efficiencies.
A Chartered Engineer and European Engineer (EUR ING), Dan has worked within the electricity distribution sector for 7 years, and previously worked as a Systems Engineering consultant in the Defence and Nuclear Decommissioning sectors.
Niels Ehlers
50Hertz Transmission GmbH
Senior Manager Digitalization
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Niels Ehlers
50Hertz Transmission GmbH
Senior Manager Digitalization
Dr. Niels Ehlers is heading a digital transformation team of the German grid operator 50Hertz Transmission GmbH. He has more than 20 years of experience in the energy sector.
After studying electrical engineering at RWTH Aachen he received his PhD with honors at TU Berlin for his work on integrating renewables into the energy market.
A particular focus of his work was on the cannibalization effect of energy storage systems. Before his current position he led teams for market development and system operation concepts.
The team created new IT tools that managed and coordinated several TWh of redispatch per year to avoid critical grid congestion. In his current position his team is focusing on accelerating delivery of infrastructure projects by smarter use of data and tool-based automation.
Alexander von Selasinsky
50Hertz Transmission GmbH
Group Head of Data Platform
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Alexander von Selasinsky
50Hertz Transmission GmbH
Group Head of Data Platform
Alexander leads the product teams of Elia Group responsible for data management topics. This includes teams that offer a Data Platform to all IT developers and Citizen Developers of the company and teams that use this platform to productize data in the form of data products. His key interest is the intersection between electricity markets, digital services, and mobility. Currently, his work focuses on the digitalization of the energy transition. Alexander holds a PhD in Energy Economics and did research in the field of continuous intraday markets for electricity.
Magnus Cormack
National Energy System Operator (NESO)
Senior Manager, AI & Analytics
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Magnus Cormack
National Energy System Operator (NESO)
Senior Manager, AI & Analytics
Magnus has worked in data technology for over 25 years in multi-national’s and start-ups. From being an econometrician in Australia’s financial services industry, he has lived in the UK since 2002. He was the Business Operations manager for Electronic Data Systems / HP (EMEA) from 2005 – 2009. After getting an MBA from Cambridge University, he has grown several AI teams in a consulting capacity covering FMCG, Airlines, Financial Services Automotive and Government clients. He joined National Grid ESO in mid-2003 and has been working with the existing AI teams to introduce a framework to increase efficient and effective deployment of AI into production, concentrating on Data, Technology and Capabilities.
Dr. Yashar Ghiassi-Farrokhfal
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
Associate Professor
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Dr. Yashar Ghiassi-Farrokhfal
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
Associate Professor
Dr. Yashar Ghiassi-Farrokhfal is an Associate Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Additionally, he serves as the academic director of smart energy and sustainability at the Erasmus Center for Data Analytics (ECDA) and holds the position of Erasmus Uni. scientific lead at the Centre of Energy System Intelligence (CESI). He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, Canada, and has numerous publications in esteemed journals, focusing on the topic of energy transition. Dr. Ghiassi-Farrokhfal has been continuously invited as guest speaker in leading energy discussion stages such as the ‘World Energy Congress (WEC)’, and has organized numerous conferences and workshops in the field of energy transition. His involvement extends to various European and Dutch projects, including FlexSUS (municipal heat transition), MAGPIE (Energy transition in Ports), HyTROS (Hydrogen market), and Com2Heat (composite-based heat network), MODES (energy data markets). His recent interests include investigating the role of energy data and the associated challenges in the context of the digital energy transition.
Narcis Vidal
Gridspertise
Head of Regional Sales EMEA
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Narcis Vidal
Gridspertise
Head of Regional Sales EMEA
Narcis Vidal is Vice President of Business Development and Sales for Asia Pacific and North America at Gridspertise, helping utilities solve their complex challenges on smart metering, smart grid, and digitalization. During his 20 years of experience in the energy sector he worked for Endesa, Enel and EnelX as: eMobility & Innovation Project Manager, eMobility Technical Manager, Head of e-Mobility Innovation and Head of e-Mobility Global Technical Sales. Focusing on business development, sales, strategy, innovation, and technology he was involved in large international strategic projects related mainly with grid edge, electric vehicles, and smart cities. He is a telecommunications engineer with an Executive MBA at ESADE in Barcelona.
Lorenzo Arizzoli-Bulato
Axpo Grid AG
Head of Automated Inspection
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Lorenzo Arizzoli-Bulato
Axpo Grid AG
Head of Automated Inspection
Lorenzo Arizzoli-Bulato is an electrical engineer and co-founder of the Swiss start-up LINIA, which developed software for inspecting power lines using drones. After founding LINIA in 2018, he successfully led the company by offering innovative solutions for the digitalization of inspection processes that increase efficiency and safety and reduce costs and CO2 emissions. In 2024, LINIA was acquired by the Axpo Group, whereupon Lorenzo relinquished his role as Managing Director and now works as Sales Director and Head Automated Inspection at Axpo Grid AG. There he contributes his expertise to further develop LINIA's software solutions and apply them on a larger scale. With his deep industry knowledge, especially in the challenges of inspecting overhead lines, he remains a key person in the field of automated grid inspections.
Arya Fazilat
50Hertz Transmission GmbH
Advisor for Digitalization of System Operations and MCCS Labs
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Arya Fazilat
50Hertz Transmission GmbH
Advisor for Digitalization of System Operations and MCCS Labs
Arya Fazilat is Advisor for Digitalization of System Operations and MCCS Labs. In this role, he consults and supports internal and external stakeholder in strategy and technology to digitize operations or to set-up organisations that deliver functional software for the control room. Prior to this, he worked on innovation for Offshore, Asset Management and System Operations, advised the government in China on topics related to energy transition and worked for the European Commission on international energy cooperation.
Miguel Krause
E.ON Digital Technology
Data Science Manager
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Miguel Krause
E.ON Digital Technology
Data Science Manager
Miguel Krause is a distinguished data and AI expert with experience in data science and artificial intelligence. During his Finance PhD, Miguel researched deep generative models and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on global financial markets. With a background in the energy sector from RWE and Statkraft, Miguel now leads AI projects at E.ON Digital Technology. As an in-house consultant at E.ON’s Data & AI Team, Miguel has developed advanced forecasting tools and anomaly detectionson IoT data, optimized customer contact allocation, and leveraged the company's digital capabilities to support the energy transition.
Marnick Huijsman
TenneT
Lead Digital & Data
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Marnick Huijsman
TenneT
Lead Digital & Data
TBA
Heleen Groenenberg
SustainBrain
Independent Consultant
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Heleen Groenenberg
SustainBrain
Independent Consultant
TBA
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Hotel & Venue
We will confirm the venue approximately 3-6 weeks prior to the event date and we will negotiate discounted room rate for conference attendees
Join us in Amsterdam on the 14th - 15th October, 2025
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