GEF Monthly Luncheon
Topic: Defend the Grid. Unlock the Capacity.
Speaker:
Nicolas Friès
Business Development Director, Europe
ENODA Ltd
Presentation Title
Defend the Grid. Unlock the Capacity.
Synopsis
Utility leaders face a growing paradox: they must defend service quality and grid operability while connecting more demand, renewables and storage at unprecedented speed. Yet the traditional response to constraints remains network reinforcement—often before the full behaviour and potential of the existing grid are understood. This presentation explores what prevents utilities from adopting innovation at scale and argues that the real challenge is not technology alone, but confidence, controllability and evidence. Drawing on ENODA’s approach, Nicolas will show how active grid control can release usable capacity, strengthen resilience and support better investment decisions before utilities default to further capital expansion.
Key Themes
Defend the licence to operate: Reliability, power quality and local disturbances quickly become board, regulatory and political issues; innovation must therefore strengthen operability rather than introduce new operational risk.
Control before reinforcement: Before committing capital to a constrained part of the network, determine whether greater controllability can safely release the required capacity from existing infrastructure.
Turn innovation into evidence: Utilities scale innovation when it produces measurable operating data, defensible investment decisions and a clear economic case—not merely successful pilots.
Location:
12:00–14:00, Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Hotel d’Angleterre, Quai du Mont-Blanc 17, 1201 Geneva
Speaker
Nicolas Friès
Business Development Director, Europe
ENODA Ltd
Speaker Biography
Nicolas Friès is Business Development Director for Europe at ENODA, working with utilities and energy-sector partners to accelerate the deployment of innovative grid technologies. He brings 18 years of international experience across energy, industry, decarbonisation and business development, including roles with Schneider Electric, Italcementi and Soletanche Bachy. His career has focused on turning complex technical and sustainability challenges into practical business outcomes. An Arts & Métiers engineer and INSEAD MBA, Nicolas combines strategic, commercial and operational perspectives to help organisations move from innovation pilots to scalable infrastructure solutions.