Frédéric Godemel from Schneider Electric explores
Twenty years ago, the launch of the first Apple iPhone marked the start of a new technological era, not simply because of one new device, but because it arrived at a system-wide tipping point where cloud adoption and the growth of data centre infrastructure, meant advances in communication technology that made it cheaper and easier to connect to the internet
As such changing consumer behaviour converged to enable a new platform model. Phones went from communication products to adaptable digital platforms, capable of being personalised and continuously improved through software updates and connection to powerful computing resources far beyond the device itself. That model now sits in the hands of billions of people worldwide.
Metal and the energy infrastructure
Energy is approaching a similar moment. For more than a century, power systems have been built with a simple philosophy: install once, operate reliably, and change as little as possible. Electrical infrastructure became synonymous with solidity. Steel cabinets, copper conductors, hardwired logic, and designs were meant to last for decades without modification. But the world around power systems has changed faster than the systems themselves.
Today, electricity demand is accelerating as transport, buildings, industry, and digital infrastructure shift toward electrification. At the same time, energy supply is becoming more distributed, more variable, and more complex. Solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, data centres, and smart buildings are no longer edge cases; they are becoming the norm. In this context, systems designed to remain static are being asked to operate in an environment defined by constant change.
This is where software defined energy begins—not as a new layer of complexity, but as a necessary revolution for energy systems to adapt at the speed of change.
What Software- Defined Energy really means
Software defined energy represents a fundamental shift in how electrical systems are architected and managed.
At its core, it is about decoupling intelligence from hardware. Instead of hard coding functionality into electrical devices and wiring, features like protection, safety, control, and optimisation are increasingly defined by software that can be deployed, updated, and coordinated across the system.
The physical realities of electricity do not disappear. Power must still obey the laws of physics, flow through conductors, and be protected with absolute precision. What changes is how intelligence is applied. Software makes it possible to continuously modify the way energy is distributed, protected, and optimised without redesigning the entire system every time conditions change. The result is an energy system that behaves less like a fixed installation and more like a platform that can evolve rapidly. Rather than oversizing infrastructure to anticipate every future scenario, organisations can adapt as those scenarios actually unfold.
The case for change
In traditional electrical architectures, responding to change often meant interruption. Adding a new production line, integrating onsite generation, adjusting to new tariffs, or tightening safety and cybersecurity requirements typically required bespoke engineering, physical reconfiguration, and planned downtime.
Software defined architectures replace bespoke designs with standardised physical building blocks whose behaviour is governed by software. Electrical components are standardised and purpose built, while intelligence is introduced through software that configures how those components behave together. Functions can be enabled, adjusted, or extended through software updates instead of physical redesign.
Benefits of software-defined energy in industry
In power-critical industrial environments, where downtime directly impacts profitability, software defined energy enables a fundamentally different operating model. When grids, tariffs, or capacity constraints demand immediate action, such as shedding a large amount of kW, traditional systems treat it as a simple arithmetic exercise, cutting load evenly and hoping nothing critical is affected. Too often, that approach disrupts essential processes like cooling or production support, triggering cascading failures and costly penalties.
With software defined energy, the response is shaped by real-time context. Non-critical loads are selectively reduced first, critical operations remain protected, and targets are met without disruption. Production lines and supporting systems can be coordinated immediately to avoid demand peaks, making better use of existing electrical capacity instead of defaulting to costly infrastructure upgrades.
At the same time, edge-level intelligence enables faster fault detection, isolation, and coordinated response, preventing local disturbances from cascading into wider disruptions. Maintenance strategies also change: software driven configurations of standardised architectures reduce commissioning time, simplify testing, and allow many updates to be performed without shutting systems down. For example, Schneider Electric’s Smart Bloc, a pre-engineered power block for datacentre and critical power infrastructure, replaces complex, custom‑wired panels with a standard base and software‑controlled plug‑in modules. This can cut build and commissioning from four weeks to one and enables routine tests and software updates with power on, reducing the 1 or 2 day maintenance windows to zero.
As production requirements, compliance rules, and energy markets evolve, electrical infrastructure becomes an enabler of flexibility rather than a constraint on growth.
Software-defined energy transforms panels and distribution systems into intelligent control points. Energy use can be prioritised, shifted or optimised automatically, based on price, comfort, and availability of renewable power or user preferences. At scale, this flexibility is essential. The safety and efficiency of the future grid will depend not only on generation and transmission, but on millions of intelligent, responsive endpoints.
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