With visitors from 62 countries and halls buzzing with discussion, the inaugural Power Transmission & Distribution Technology Expo 2025 in Cologne, Germany, underscored Europe’s accelerating transformation toward smarter, more resilient energy systems.
Moderated by Chris Gerber, Senior Partner at Genesiss Consulting, the event brought together leading manufacturers, utilities, system operators, and innovators to explore the technologies shaping tomorrow’s power networks.
The show delivered exactly what the market had been waiting for: “a 100% totally relevant audience of people who are involved in power transmission and distribution technology; people involved in designing and developing next generation grids; and people in search of everything that powers, supports and reinforces power transmission efficiency and resilience.” – Tony Robinson.
The tone throughout the event was clear — the transition is here, the investment is massive, and the focus has shifted from ambition to execution.
The global transformer market is under intense strain, Vinamra Agarwal, Joint Managing Director and CEO, and Jan Prins of Prins Power Solutions described the moment as unprecedented: “This has thrown up unique challenges, not just before us, but amongst everybody in terms of how you scale fast enough…”
To keep pace, Technical Associates is investing in new production capacity up to 765 kV and training programs for hundreds of engineers. From a European market perspective, Jan Prins noted that “global manufacturers are not able to keep up with the demand… and there is room for good quality suppliers overseas.”
He also highlighted the growing importance of lifecycle care: “Not only you deliver the product, but you also make sure, in case anything happens, you take care of your product after the delivery.” Together, the two companies are demonstrating how scale, quality, and customer focus can work in tandem to meet a rapidly changing global demand landscape.
For Baerte De Brey, Vice President at ElaadNL, the integration of electric vehicles into Europe’s grid remains both a technical and systemic challenge. He described the complexity of aligning eMobility with distributed energy sources such as rooftop solar, heat pumps, and data centers.
While public acceptance of EVs is widespread, De Brey cautioned that infrastructure deployment in emerging markets still faces a “classic chicken and egg problem.”
“If you want to integrate batteries with different car manufacturers, different charge point operators, you have to have some communication between the traditional sectors of automotive and energy,” he said.
Collaboration, he believes, is the key: “Our vision, the Dutch vision, is really merge those two sectors, automotive and energy. And when you merge them together, you learn from each other… learning is also having some issues and solve them together.”
Leonardo Maschietto, Senior Energy Consultant at VERTIND, sees Europe’s energy sector at a turning point, facing a long-term supply chain gap that could persist for decades: “I would say for 20–25 years… there is a need to refurbish the grids to avoid the same problem we had in Spain in April,” he predicted.
Through VERTIND, Maschietto is working to connect Asian suppliers with European utilities and OEMs, fostering structured partnerships and joint projects. “I can be asked from Europeans as well from the Asians if we can make a project where this company and that company come together.”
The accelerating energy transition has placed “the stability of the system in the spotlight,” according to Mohammad Moradzadeh, Senior Consultant at Elia Group.
“There are new instability phenomena happening,” he explained, noting that “the consumption is set to rise significantly over the coming years… there are new types of players like data centres and large energy storage, which have distinct impact on the system itself.” As a Transmission System Operator (TSO), Elia is working tirelessly “days and night to come up with technical solutions, new approaches and tools to avoid having blackouts.”
Moradzadeh added: “For energy transitioning towards carbon neutrality not only we need to expand on renewables, but also we have to make sure that the stability of the system is there.”
Oliver Franz emphasized that achieving Europe’s net-zero targets depends heavily on Distribution System Operators (DSOs), who manage “75% of renewable energy sources and storage.”
However, he warned of growing regulatory pressure — particularly the mandated phase-out of SF₆ gas — which complicates the rollout of essential new switchgear and transformers. “E.ON, leveraging its pan-European scale, is tackling these challenges by actively standardizing its assets and streamlining its procurement strategy,” Franz explained. “Their long-term procurement strategy provides OEMs with necessary transparency to justify investments in increasing manufacturing capacity.“
Europe’s fragmented standards and technical requirements make adaptability a strategic necessity, said Ruth Ramayla, Head of Sales and Engineering, Europe, JST Power. “Germany doesn’t necessarily operate the same way as some of Eastern European countries,” she observed, pointing to the varying IEC standards and certification pathways across the continent.
Operating from its European headquarters in Frankfurt, JST Power has built its strategy on “agility, customization, and speed to market, ensuring their manufacturing processes meet the specific technical requirements and certifications demanded by various European nations.” Looking beyond Europe, Ramayla added: “The way I see it, American market is very strong right now in two areas. One is the data centers. The other one is one that has always been traditionally strong, which is the utility, I’d say transmission and distribution… Then now with everything going IoT, industry 4.0 AI, data centers is the biggest push.”
An Industry in Motion
From eMobility integration and supply chain realignment to regulatory adaptation and system stability, the Power Transmission & Distribution Technology Expo 2025 captured the energy sector at a defining moment. As Europe pushes forward with its energy transition, collaboration between manufacturers, utilities, and policymakers will remain the driving force. The conversations in Cologne made one thing clear — the continent’s power future will be built not only on technology, but on cooperation, vision, and resilience.
This article was originally published in the November 2025 issue of the Resilience of the Power System magazine.
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