enersis

Digital Intelligence for the Energy Transition

The digitalisation of the energy sector is no longer a side issue – it has become a strategic lever. Executive boards and supervisory boards are faced with the challenge of expanding complex electricity, heat and hydrogen networks simultaneously while meeting climate targets under increasing regulatory pressure. Traditional planning tools are reaching their limits: data is scattered across heterogeneous silo systems, expert knowledge is scarce, and the impact of political requirements becomes difficult to assess. This is where enersis comes in – a Swiss climate tech company founded in 2011 that has created a digital twin with its platform gaia to enable the holistic implementation of the energy transition.

From Data Chaos to a Sound Basis for Decision-Making

gaia is more than just software: it is a data ecosystem. At its core lies a platform that consolidates and structures energy- and climate-relevant data from a wide range of sources – from geographic information systems and billing systems to grid control data and consumption figures. The centralised data foundation prevents the creation of new “data silos” and generates synergies across applications. Utilities, municipalities and consultancies all work with the same underlying data, enabling cross-sector planning – for example, when electricity, heat and hydrogen networks are considered together. Artificial intelligence supports the harmonisation of input data and increases dataset consistency. This creates the foundation for simulating reliable scenarios and deriving actionable recommendations.

Intelligent Applications for Strategic Challenges

With gaia, current challenges in the energy sector can be addressed more effectively:

CO₂ accounting: Emissions can be analysed for individual networks, neighbourhoods or entire regions.
Grid and heat planning: Scenarios for the expansion of renewable energy, the integration of heat pumps or municipal heat planning can be simulated.
Cross-sector optimisation: Electricity, gas, hydrogen and heat networks are mapped within shared models, enabling bottlenecks and potentials to be identified at an early stage.
Visualisation: 3D representations make complex issues tangible, allowing stakeholders – from engineers to public authorities – to understand and follow decisions.
End-to-end security: Data security is standard at enersis. Regular penetration tests, GDPR compliance and proven encryption methods are integral parts of the platform.

These applications are open to extensions by third-party providers and consulting partners. Utilities act as the main clients and platform operators, while mayors, climate protection managers and grid planners benefit from transparent, shared information.

Practical Relevance and Scalability

The capabilities of gaia have already been proven in practice: more than 1,900 municipalities in Germany and Switzerland use the platform to plan their climate and energy targets efficiently. In September 2025, enersis moved its German headquarters to the EUREF Campus in Berlin – a showcase for the energy transition – in order to strengthen collaboration with research institutions, start-ups and established energy companies. This networking is deliberate: transforming infrastructure requires close cooperation between grid operators, technology providers, regulatory bodies and academia.

gaia is not marketed as a “plug-and-play tool”, but as a long-term digitalisation project that includes consulting services. A large proportion of enersis employees are software developers, complemented by physicists, electrical engineers and data scientists. This combination of technical expertise and deep energy-sector knowledge is essential to realistically map complex utility processes.

The Future: Explainable AI as a Strategic Sparring Partner

The transformation of energy infrastructure, with its vast volumes of data, is ideally suited for the use of artificial intelligence. enersis is working towards enabling decision-makers to describe scenarios in natural language and receive immediate analyses of grid load, CO₂ balance or investment requirements. The focus is on explainable AI: algorithmic recommendations must be transparent and comprehensible to ensure acceptance among engineers, political decision-makers and citizens alike. This transparency is key to ensuring that AI is not perceived as a “black box”, but as a trustworthy decision-support tool.

Invitation to Dialogue

Strategic control of the energy transition cannot be achieved through technology alone. Regulation, financing and public participation play equally important roles. enersis therefore sees itself as a partner for cross-sector dialogue. Through its integration into the EnBW network and its presence on the EUREF Campus, practical experience is combined with scientific insight.

Executive boards and supervisory board members seeking to advance the digitalisation of their networks are invited to familiarise themselves with the concept of the “digital twin”, discuss their own use cases and define requirements for AI-based decision support.