Best of LinkedIn: E-world 2026

00:00:00: This episode is provided by Thomas Allgaier and Frennis, based on the most relevant LinkedIn posts about eWorld twenty-twenty six.

00:00:07: Frenis supports ICT enterprises with market and competitive intelligence decoding emerging technologies customer insights regulatory shifts in competitor strategies.

00:00:16: so product teams and strategy leaders don't just react but shape the future.

00:00:21: Welcome to The Deep Dive!

00:00:23: So today we are basically walking the virtual halls of Mesa Essen.

00:00:28: We're going to unpack the big trends from eWorld, twenty-twenty six.

00:00:32: Right?

00:00:33: And I have to say looking at all of the LinkedIn commentary we've pulled my whole idea for this event has kind

00:00:38: of shifted.

00:00:38: Oh yeah!

00:00:39: How so?

00:00:40: because you know normally think E World is just a lot of suits talking kilowatts and gas pipes.

00:00:45: That was The Old World.

00:00:47: I mean, that feels like ancient history looking at this stuff.

00:00:49: This is much more a massive ICT and tech convergence event.

00:00:53: The lines have just completely blurred.

00:00:55: You can't really pull the electron apart from data packet anymore.

00:00:58: That's perfect way to put it.

00:00:59: If i had one word Every single source we looked at, it's execution.

00:01:05: Execution not vision or strategy?

00:01:07: No exactly.

00:01:08: in past years It was all flashy slogans.

00:01:11: these big twenty forty targets.

00:01:13: You know We should do this.

00:01:14: the tone In twenty twenty six feels radically different.

00:01:17: okay its way.

00:01:18: less we Should and much more.

00:01:21: here is how we are doing.

00:01:23: Yeah pragmatic decarbonization, digital platforms and the real nuts-and-bolts of it all.

00:01:29: We're past the why in deep into how.

00:01:32: that makes a lot of sense.

00:01:33: The what is settled right?

00:01:34: we have to decarmonize now.

00:01:35: It's a fight over at the actual engineering And the economic levers to pull.

00:01:39: so to keep us on track We've broken this down Into four key clusters.

00:01:43: we saw everywhere In the commentary.

00:01:45: first up Digitalization in AI, which is kind of the brain of the whole operation.

00:01:49: Then we'll get into back bone grids and flexibility.

00:01:52: after that a reality check on hydrogen and green molecules And will finish up where it really matters to people mobility and buildings.

00:01:59: solid

00:01:59: plan.

00:02:00: Let's jump into the digital side.

00:02:01: all

00:02:02: right theme one Digitalization an AI.

00:02:06: It feels like you couldn't walk five feet in SN without tripping over an AI algorithm.

00:02:11: But is it just buzz or?

00:02:13: Is it doing real work?

00:02:14: because we've been hearing AI will save the grid.

00:02:17: for what?

00:02:18: five years now It's

00:02:18: definitely doing work, but I think the framing has changed.

00:02:21: It's not this you know futuristic add-on.

00:02:23: It's being talked about as the control layer

00:02:25: and control layer.

00:02:26: yeah Laura Sophie Bother from Deloitte had a really strong post on that.

00:02:30: She said energy isn't just about generation in grids anymore.

00:02:33: It's about i'm quoting her here data automation And connecting systems at scale.

00:02:39: Connecting Systems at Scale sounds great But what does that mean for the bottom line?

00:02:43: Well, she was talking about digital twins and how AI is creating measurable value now.

00:02:47: Okay Think about it if you have a perfect digital copy of a wind farm You can run thousands of simulations predict failures before they happen.

00:02:55: It's moving from just monitoring things to predictive control.

00:03:00: That measurable value part is so key.

00:03:02: And I saw Nora Schultz EON was on this topic too, but she was looking at it from the customer side of things.

00:03:08: Ah!

00:03:08: The customer experience.

00:03:10: yeah that gets lost sometimes in these deep tech talks

00:03:12: totally.

00:03:12: She was saying digital intelligence is the main lever for That experience.

00:03:16: not just you know Digital bills But AI for Things like congestion forecasting or automated Customer service.

00:03:23: It's about managing all that complexity.

00:03:25: so You the user don't have.

00:03:26: and that word

00:03:27: complexity Is doing a lot of work there?

00:03:29: Because as the system gets more complex, the risk changes.

00:03:33: Right?

00:03:33: I saw a post from Carolyn Hoffman at Interatech on this.

00:03:36: she was focused on secure AI especially for municipal structure.

00:03:41: Municipal structures so like local utilities.

00:03:43: that can't work

00:03:44: exactly.

00:03:45: her point was it's not enough to just unleash AI to optimize a grid.

00:03:49: you have to do it responsibly.

00:03:50: if your smart city is built on a shaky digital foundation You're just creating new vulnerabilities.

00:03:56: That ties in perfectly with the infrastructure side.

00:03:59: You can't have secure AI without a secure cloud.

00:04:03: Benedict Scherzinger from Stackit, he brought up a term.

00:04:06: I think we're going to hear lot more digital sovereignty.

00:04:08: Oh yeah that's huge topic right now and this is where energy transition meets well geopolitics.

00:04:15: He was talking about cloud solutions which are one hundred percent compliant with European security standards.

00:04:22: A Cloud Made In Germany they call it

00:04:24: Which is so interesting because energy sovereignty used to mean where's our gas from?

00:04:29: Now it means, Where's Our Data Stored.

00:04:31: It's the same thing if The grid runs on data...the data center Is as critical As a power plant.

00:04:37: If you lose your control data..The lights go out.

00:04:39: You can't separate them anymore.

00:04:41: Okay before we leave digital I want To touch On A Sales Angle From Dennis Hergenroder At Edesso.

00:04:47: He argued AI Is Turning Marketing From A Cost Center Into A Profit Center.

00:04:51: That's a bold claim for marketing, especially at a utility.

00:04:54: It is but the logic makes sense.

00:04:57: he's talking about using data to predict what customers need.

00:05:02: so if your data shows a customer just bought an EV you can proactively offer them a dynamic charging tariff.

00:05:09: You're not just selling you're solving a problem For them.

00:05:12: that's a good point.

00:05:13: it moves The Utility from being A simple commodity provider To more of a service partner.

00:05:17: Exactly.

00:05:18: But And it's a big butt.

00:05:19: Yeah, all this digital intelligence needs of physical body and if your nervous system is shot the brain can't do much.

00:05:27: Which

00:05:27: brings us right to our second theme grids and flexibility.

00:05:31: The backbone.

00:05:32: yeah, and if Digitalization as the brain the grid is the nervous system?

00:05:36: Right now It's the bottleneck.

00:05:39: Oh you could feel the frustration in some of these posts.

00:05:41: Stefan Dollar just said it bluntly more grids not fewer renewables.

00:05:45: Classic dollar, no minced words there.

00:05:47: He was basically saying look the energy transition only works if the grids keep up.

00:05:51: stop blaming The wind farms and the wires aren't ready.

00:05:53: We're building generation way faster than we're building transmission

00:05:56: And that bottleneck leads directly to the biggest buzzword of the whole event Flexibility.

00:06:03: it's always flexibility isn't?

00:06:04: It is but the context feels different.

00:06:07: its not just an engineering idea anymore Its a financial one.

00:06:10: Halvard Granheim from Statcraft pointed out that power prices are swinging like crazy.

00:06:15: Right,

00:06:15: negative price is then huge spikes.

00:06:17: Exactly so he says.

00:06:19: batteries and flexible assets our fast becoming Europe's new hedge.

00:06:23: It's not just for keeping the lights on it's a financial tool for managing risk.

00:06:28: That makes me think of a post by Christopher Freud.

00:06:30: He had this great line.

00:06:32: he said The winners to the energy transition won't be those who build the biggest but Those Who Build the smartest.

00:06:38: A perfect summary of the shift in the BAS market, The Battery Storage Market.

00:06:43: Right!

00:06:43: He wasn't focused on battery chemistry.

00:06:45: he was talking about building business cases that actually work year after year.

00:06:50: Can your batteries switch from one grid service to another instantly?

00:06:53: If not you're leaving money at a table

00:06:55: And speaking kind of smart switching.

00:06:57: there is specific tech example Dr Christian Von Toll at Weidmiller showing off EBS Relay Converter.

00:07:05: Okay I saw it Quick plain English version for us.

00:07:08: What does that thing actually do?

00:07:10: Sure.

00:07:10: So think about all the existing buildings, millions of them.

00:07:15: they're not smart.

00:07:16: this device is basically a retrofitable brain.

00:07:20: it connects those old buildings to the Smart Grid.

00:07:23: It lets the grid securely control things inside the house like a heat pump or an EV charger.

00:07:29: so its like a translator

00:07:30: Exactly!

00:07:31: It let's the old infrastructure talk to new system which is huge.

00:07:34: we can't just tear down every building and start over.

00:07:36: No

00:07:37: Of course Not.

00:07:38: But even with smart devices, there's a bigger problem.

00:07:41: Ryan Bottoms had pretty sobering take on this.

00:07:43: He said the grid connection queues are overflowing.

00:07:46: The queue problem!

00:07:47: Yeah you hear about it all of time Gigawatts.

00:07:49: is solar just waiting for a connection

00:07:51: Right?

00:07:52: and he argued we need to move from first come First served To first ready First Served.

00:07:57: That

00:07:57: would be game changer.

00:07:58: right now A speculator can block project that will go tomorrow.

00:08:02: Exactly It'll clear out all zombie projects.

00:08:05: It's a bit controversial, but it fits that execution theme.

00:08:09: You know we don't have time to wait.

00:08:10: agreed and speaking of reality checks Let's move to Theme three Hydrogen in green molecules.

00:08:16: the tone here felt well different A lot more sober.

00:08:21: sober is the perfect word.

00:08:23: a couple years ago hydrogen was magic dust.

00:08:26: now Sabine Augustin from RWE she said The hype has given way too healthy realism.

00:08:32: And what does healthy realism look like?

00:08:33: two accompany?

00:08:34: Like rwe

00:08:35: It means admitting that hydrogen is crucial.

00:08:37: Yeah, but it needs help.

00:08:39: She was talking about storage and contracts for difference to make the business case actually work.

00:08:44: Green Hydrogen Is Still Just Too Expensive Without Subsidies And

00:08:47: you have To Move It Around.

00:08:48: I Saw Kirsten Westfall From BDUW Was Talking About The Core Hydrogen Network.

00:08:53: i Think It Was Nine Thousand Kilometers Planned By Twenty Thirty Two?

00:08:56: IT

00:08:56: IS On Paper.

00:08:58: But Her Big Warning Was Planning Does Not Equal Market.

00:09:01: Ouch!

00:09:01: That's a fair point.

00:09:03: It's true, isn't it?

00:09:03: Just drawing lines on the map is not enough.

00:09:05: You need to scale up together.

00:09:08: She said everyone was just waiting for someone else To make their first move.

00:09:11: The classic chicken and egg problem

00:09:13: Totally...The steel plant waits For the pipeline.

00:09:15: The pipeline Waits for producer.

00:09:17: It'a stalemate.

00:09:19: Dr Stephanie Kesting from Thyssen Gas Had an interesting idea On how to break that.

00:09:23: She asked if A national quota could

00:09:25: work A Quota.

00:09:27: Did she support it?

00:09:28: Her conclusion was nuanced.

00:09:29: She said the goal has to be CO² reduction, not technological ideology.

00:09:35: basically don't hit hydrogen against biogas if it cuts carbon use.

00:09:40: that really resonates with what Simone Peter was saying about domestic bio gas being overlooked.

00:09:46: were obsessed with imported LNG or future Hydrogen from the media but we're ignoring a source of energy.

00:09:51: We have right here at home

00:09:52: this shiny new toy syndrome

00:09:53: for sure But there is some movement on the market side.

00:09:56: Eric Raku had a great insight on trading, he said even though of big infrastructure still years away.

00:10:01: The trading products are already emerging.

00:10:04: Your choice product race?

00:10:05: It's signal that real hydrogen prices on the horizon.

00:10:09: When traders start building derivatives you know commodities becoming real

00:10:13: Which brings us to our last cluster.

00:10:15: and it may be most important because where we all come in Theme four Mobility and buildings.

00:10:22: The end user integration, where this stuff stops being a theory and starts being something you park in your garage.

00:10:28: Well

00:10:28: speaking of garages Dominic Bex shared a solution from BMW an EONM that I think he'll love.

00:10:34: It's a vehicle to grid.

00:10:35: offer

00:10:35: the holy grail.

00:10:37: How does it work?

00:10:38: So get this You plug-in Your car let the utility use your battery To help balance the grid And In return you Get A bonus and upto fourteen thousand kilometers Of free charging.

00:10:48: wait

00:10:48: fourteen Thousand Kilometers That's That's like a year of free driving for most people.

00:10:52: Exactly, it is huge deal!

00:10:54: It completely flips the script.

00:10:55: The car no longer just a load...it'a flexible asset.

00:10:59: Instead of paying to fuel your car Your cars kind-of working while you sleep.

00:11:03: Wow But its not all that easy in mobility space.

00:11:07: Nina London shared her study on electric trucks And the biggest hurdle wasn't the truck themselves.

00:11:12: No, rarely was it.

00:11:14: Greed capacity and permitting.

00:11:16: Forty-eight percent of the people they surveyed cited insufficient grid capacity.

00:11:21: Imagine buying a fleet of electric trucks and you can't even plug them in.

00:11:25: So we're right back to that grid bottleneck again, it's all connected.

00:11:28: Let's look at buildings because there is similar dynamic there.

00:11:32: Hogan Lessing from ISTA had great analogy.

00:11:35: He said if want lose weight You need scales.

00:11:37: If wanna save energy You need measure.

00:11:39: Simple but true.

00:11:41: And he gave this massive example of equipping the Berusha Park Stadium.

00:11:45: Right, and the logic is if you can digitize a whole stadium which has crazy complex property You can digitized any building.

00:11:53: it's about getting that visibility.

00:11:54: so you see the waste.

00:11:56: stop at.

00:11:56: It feels like hardware there but intelligence.

00:11:59: just catching up.

00:12:00: Jakob Adelik from E-Charge saw same thing in EV charging.

00:12:04: He called it shift from Hardware to Platform.

00:12:07: That's a crucial distinction.

00:12:08: It used to be just about putting a charging station in the ground, now it is all about smart software that manages everything.

00:12:14: If the charger is broken or app is clunky The hardware is useless.

00:12:17: And to wrap this up Dr.

00:12:19: Dirk from Noventic Group said perfectly Integration.

00:12:29: It's making the heat pump talk to smart meter, which talks to grid and billing system.

00:12:35: That is the execution challenge we started with.

00:12:37: We have all puzzle pieces.

00:12:39: The job now just fitting them together.

00:12:41: So let us bring this home.

00:12:43: What does it mean for someone listening right?

00:12:46: I think eWorld is telling us that vision phase is over.

00:12:50: We are in installation phase now.

00:12:51: The messy middle

00:12:52: The complicated but productive middle.

00:12:56: Digitalization isn't a separate thing, it's the control layer.

00:12:59: Flexibility is not nice to have—it's only way of keeping systems stable and for everything from Hydrogen to EVs…the hardware gets there but the market has to catch up.

00:13:10: It really feels like industry has grown-up.

00:13:12: we're done with glossy brochures down to spreadsheets and API integrations

00:13:19: Precisely.

00:13:20: And for everyone listening, that means the opportunities are in those details now In the software platforms The specific business cases For batteries Navigating those grid cues.

00:13:31: The broad strokes Are painted.

00:13:33: Now we need people To fill-in the rest.

00:13:35: Well said An exciting time to be in the weeds of it all Absolutely.

00:13:39: If you enjoyed this episode New episodes drop every two weeks.

00:13:42: Also check out our other editions on cloud Defense Tech, Digital Products and Services, ICT & Tech Insights, Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability in Green ICT, DefenseTech and HealthTech.

00:13:54: Thanks

00:13:54: for listening!

00:13:55: We'll catch you on the next Deep Dive.

00:13:56: Don't forget to subscribe – see ya next time!