Schneider Electric and Kraken today announce a strategic partnership to accelerate global adoption of electricity demand flexibility. Schneider Electric and Kraken are partnering to deliver new solutions for Distribution System Operators (DSO) and utilities, providing new levels of capabilities to monitor the grid, forecast congestion and shift demand in real time.
By unlocking greater demand flexibility and improving the use of existing network capacity, these capabilities deliver faster connections for data centers and large industrial loads. This delays the need for expensive grid upgrades, helping lower overall system costs and avoid rising bills for consumers and industry, supporting growth and accelerating the energy transition.
The partnership enables households and businesses to contribute to a more flexible and efficient electricity system. Optimizing electricity demand across EVs, home batteries, solar PV, industrial loads and utility-scale energy resources can reduce network congestion, balance the grid in real time and create value across the energy system. Analysts estimate the global value of demand-side flexibility across industrial and commercial sectors could be worth up to $1 trillion per year.
The need for flexibility is becoming increasingly urgent as electricity demand increases. Electricity demand from data centers alone reached around 415 TWh in 2024, and this figure is set to double by 2030. In addition, grids face severe congestion because DSOs often lack real-time network visibility. Traditional solutions rely on capital-intensive infrastructure upgrades with long lead times. This gridlock delays network connections, stalls growth and increases costs for everyone.
This partnership offers a faster, smarter, and more resilient path forward. Schneider Electric provides real-time visibility of network constraints through its One Digital Grid Platform and EcoStruxure DERMS, together with efficient demand-side flexibility from its broader EcoStruxure™ ecosystem, for predictive optimization, energy intelligence, distributed control, and for flexible load management.
Kraken complements this visibility by turning distributed energy resources into a single, coordinated system. The AI-powered platform connects EVs, home batteries and heat pumps which provide visibility over the local, low-voltage network. Kraken orchestrates these devices alongside utility-scale storage, generation assets and industrial loads to shift consumption and balance the grid in real time.
Amir Orad, CEO of Kraken, said: “For Kraken, it’s clear: speed to flexibility means speed to power. AI is not just a driver of demand – it revolutionizes the capacity we can get out of the grid we already have. We are unlocking that capability at scale, to boost grid connections and power growth. Together with Schneider Electric, we’re building a more resilient, more affordable and cleaner energy system – for consumers and for the planet.”
“Utilities and grid operators are under real pressure to maintain reliability, respond to shifting demand and make better decisions with better data, whilst working with aging infrastructure.” Frédéric Godemel EVP of Energy Management at Schneider Electric told The Voice of Renewables. “Our aim is to create an interoperable energy system that works seamlessly. By combining Schneider Electric’s platform approach with specialist partners like Kraken, we can help customers make the most of existing assets, reduce complexity, roll out new capabilities faster, unlock hidden capacity and see value sooner.”
