Host Arjan Missinne, Business Unit Manager Energy Transition, speaks with two Sweco experts: Jesse Kamerling, Energy Consultant within Energy for Industry and Digital Coach within the Energy Transition business unit, and Luka Obuljen, Chief Digital Officer at Sweco Belgium.
Challenge Accepted Extra: Digitalisation as a driver of the energy transition
The energy transition confronts companies with complex choices. Rising energy prices, major investment decisions and a growing volume of data make it increasingly difficult to act quickly and based on solid insights. In this extra episode of Challenge Accepted, one question takes centre stage: how does digitalisation help companies gain control over their energy challenges, and how does Sweco translate data into tangible value?
Digitalisation with a clear focus
Digitalisation at Sweco started with internal optimisation: working more efficiently, improving quality and streamlining processes. Today, the focus is broader. Digital solutions are increasingly used to enhance the customer experience and enable new forms of value creation. Digitalisation is not an end in itself, but a means to better support clients in their decision-making.
The energy transition and digitalisation are inseparable
According to Jesse Kamerling and Luka Obuljen, the energy transition is barely achievable without digitalisation. Companies have access to large volumes of data, such as consumption profiles, market prices, technical parameters of installations and operational constraints. Digital tools make it possible to process that data, compare scenarios and align investments with both financial and sustainability objectives.
From data to decisions
A key insight from the episode is that data only creates value when it leads to better decisions. Digital tools speed up analyses and increase accuracy, but they do not replace the expert. The combination of digital solutions and domain expertise remains essential to translate insights into concrete actions for the client.
The Flexibility Tool as a practical example
The extra episode makes digitalisation tangible with the Flexibility Tool. This tool maps the flexibility potential of an asset based on client-specific data and boundary conditions. This can include production processes, batteries, heat pumps or other flexible installations.
The tool translates technical possibilities into a clear business case and assesses both behind-the-meter options, such as self-consumption and dynamic tariffs, and front-of-the-meter options, such as market participation and ancillary services. This gives energy-intensive companies faster insight into where investments deliver the highest return.
More than cost savings
These digital tools support companies not only in reducing costs and making investment decisions. They also provide insight into CO₂ reduction, help define decarbonisation pathways and support better asset management. By steering processes more intelligently, companies can structurally optimise their energy consumption.
Collaboration as an accelerator
A common thread throughout the conversation is the collaboration between digital experts and domain experts. Domain knowledge is needed to ask the right questions, and digital expertise to build scalable and reliable solutions. This interplay ensures that tools match real client needs.
Start digitalisation early
The episode concludes with a clear message: start digitalisation early and involve both employees and customers. Digitalisation is not about technology alone, but about creating value. By combining data and expertise, organisations gain more control over their role in the energy transition.
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