Top 10: Grid Planning Platforms

The electricity grid is being asked to do far more than it was originally built for. 

As renewables, electric vehicles, heat pumps, batteries and large new loads pile onto the network, utilities need better ways to understand what their systems can handle.

Grid operators the world over are currently undertaking huge renovation projects, upgrading hardware to prepare their networks for the age of electrification. 

These kinds of physical updates only go so far, however. To run as efficiently as possible, the modern grid requires overarching software that can automate and optimise the distribution of power.

That is where grid planning platforms come in. By combining network models, forecasting, scenario analysis and operational data, these tools help utilities work smarter and more sustainably.

The market for these kinds of products has grown considerably in recent years and is now valued at US$2.34bn, according to Research and Markets.

In this week’s Top 10, Energy Digital spotlights some of the most prominent grid planning platforms available today.

10. Camus FlexConnect

Launched: 2024
CEO: Astrid Atkinson
Based in: San Francisco, California, US

Camus Energy was founded in the late 2010s by a team of veterans from Google’s renowned infrastructure team.

Among those was Astrid Atkinson, Camus’ Co-Founder and CEO, who was previously Google’s Senior Director of Software Engineering.

At Camus, Astrid and her team set out to create a product that can orchestrate the flow of energy through grids, reducing waste, costs and outages.

The result is FlexConnect, a sophisticated platform that has been enthusiastically picked up by data centre operators and companies with large EV fleets, allowing them to establish a connection years faster than traditional methods. 

9. GridAstra

Launched: 2023
CEO: Saugata Biswas
Based in: Frisco, Texas, US

GridAstra’s offering is firmly rooted in both AI and physics. 

The company’s approach to grid management is about creating a detailed understanding of the physical constraints that electrical hardware deals with, rather than working on abstract assumptions.

It is designed to help utilities and grid operators to find hidden capacity in their networks by rerouting flows, improving thermal ratings and using their existing assets more efficiently, all powered by AI and machine learning.

While it is still a relatively small operation, GridAstra has been gaining significant traction since its launch.

8. Envelio Intelligent Grid Platform

Launched: 2017
CEO: Dr. Simon Koopmann
Based in: Cologne, Germany

Many large-scale power grids have been around for multiple decades, with upgrades done piecemeal. These systems began life in analogue. Envelio’s mission is to digitise and automate this infrastructure wherever possible.

The German company’s Intelligent Grid Platform is built to orchestrate networks, automate integration, analyse performance and plan construction, covering nigh on all bases for grid operators.

The company’s appeal lies in how clearly it targets modernisation. This has given it considerable traction amongst utilities, who use the platform to speed up connections and automate studies.

7. Lunar Gridshare

Launched: 2017
CEO: Kunal Girotra
Based in: Mountain View, California, US

Gridshare was initially launched in 2017 by Moixa, a smart energy firm based in the UK. 

After a highly impressive few years, the company was acquired by Lunar Energy in August 2022, at which point Gridshare was incorporated into its existing technology.

Today, Lunar Gridshare is what is known as a DERMS, a Distributed Energy Resource Management System, a piece of software that can connect and aggregate energy assets like EV chargers, home batteries and solar panels from across huge regions.

As a result, Lunar is able to offer virtual power plant (VPP) services to its customers, making greater use of energy that is already in the grid without needing to actually generate electricity themselves.

6. Strata Grid

Launched: 2018
General Manager: Alan Gooding
Based in: Glasgow, UK

Strata Grid is the flagship DERMS product of Smarter Grid Solutions, a Scotland-based company acquired by Mitsubishi Electric in 2021.

Similarly to Lunar Gridshare, Strata Grid is able to orchestrate and organise grids in such a way that makes more use of the energy already available.

Its software is currently in use across huge markets like the UK, Germany, Canada and the US, with plans to expand further afield.

Alan Gooding, the company’s General Manager, says: “Real-time control is the foundation of a safe and reliable power system.”

5. DIgSILENT PowerFactory

Launched: 1997
CEO: Dr. Jochen Alber
Based in: Gomaringen, Germany

PowerFactory has been a market-leading software for designing, analysing and simulating energy grids for many years now.

Germany’s DIgSILENT initially began developing the software in the 1970s, but the platform as the industry knows it took form in the 1990s. 

PowerFactor is a broad program, allowing operators to plan transmission and distribution. It is also capable of renewable integration studies, dynamic analysis and grid automation..

 Its strength is that it can handle the messy reality of modern power systems, where planners need to understand the ever-changing demand for electricity.

4. GE Vernova GridOS for Distribution

Launched: 2026
CEO: Scott Strazik
Based in: Cambridge, Massachusetts, US

GE Vernova’s GridOS for Distribution was launched more recently than any of the platforms on this list, but its power is undeniable.

Marketed as a holistic, unified platform for managing energy grids, it allows grid operators to bring planning, modelling and operations under one roof. It is also a DERMS, meaning it is able to orchestrate disparate energy assets across networks.

By integrating all these kinds of systems, GridOS for Distribution gives users the kind of oversight that would have been unimaginable in years gone by.

Upon its launch earlier this year, Mahesh Sudhakaran, the General Manager of GE Vernova’s Grid Software business, acknowledged the power of the offering.

“GridOS for Distribution represents the culmination of more than four decades of collaboration with some of the world’s most progressive utilities,” he said. 

“GE Vernova is not just launching new software – we are establishing a new standard for grid orchestration that empowers utilities.”

3. Schneider Electric One Digital Grid Platform

Launched: 2025
CEO: Olivier Blum
Based in: Rueil-Malmaison, France

Schneider Electric’s One Digital Grid Platform is one of the clearest attempts to unify the grid software stack rather than simply add another planning tool to it. 

The platform was launched in 2025 and was designed to connect planning, asset management, operations and power flexibility in one system, creating what the company calls “the future of energy intelligence”.

As one of the world’s leading energy management and technology firms, Schneider Electric’s considerable engineering expertise forms the basis of this platform.

It is a product that aligns with Schneider’s ambitions for global electrification, helping grid operators to modernise and decarbonise faster than ever before.

2. ETAP Grid

Launched: 1986
CEO: Tanuj Khandelwal
Based in: Irvine, California, US

ETAP Grid is the latest iteration of the energy management system that made ETAP famous in the 1980s.

Today, the firm is widely recognised as one of the great powers of modern grid management, used by more than 20,000 enterprises the world over.

ETAP (which stands for Electrical Transient and Analysis Program) is best known for its ability to model electrical systems. The ETAP Grid offering broadens that scope significantly.

The platform brings together transmission and distribution analysis, geospatial network modelling, planning studies and advanced distribution management functions, giving utilities a more connected view of how their systems are built and operated. 

That breadth led Schneider Electric to acquire a controlling stake in the company in 2021. Together they form a formidable energy sector powerhouse.

Earlier this year, Schneider and ETAP announced their latest joint venture, which sees the two firms work together on bringing digital twin technology to grid planning.

1. Siemens Gridscale X

Launched: 2024
CEO: Roland Busch
Based in: Munich, Germany

Siemens’ Gridscale X platform has become an industry standard since its launch a couple of years ago. This success did not come overnight, however, it was built on the technological architecture of its predecessor – the PSS suite.

Siemens’ PSS (power simulation system) technology remains one of the industry’s reference points for transmission planning and interconnection studies, but Gridscale X builds on that further, helping utilities to make power management as simple, yet granular, as possible.

Sustainability is at the heart of the Gridscale X offering, with decarbonisation, net zero and the energy transition all key messages in Siemens’ pitch.

When the platform was first launched in 2024, the Siemens leadership team acknowledged that their new system could well be revolutionary.

“Grid requirements are changing tremendously, driven by a seven-fold increase in distributed energy resources, putting enormous pressure on power utilities,” said Sabine Erlinghagen, CEO Siemens Grid Software.

“Gridscale X enables grid operators to rethink grid management, increase capacity fast, and leverage distributed energy resources to improve customer satisfaction. It ultimately empowers utilities to reach net zero, while keeping their grids stable and reliable.”