The growth of electrification is putting increasing pressure on the capacity of power grids. In this context, DEMELEK was launched as a collaborative industrial project aimed at anticipating how demand will evolve, modelling future scenarios, and developing new flexibility strategies. Ariadna is part of this consortium, contributing a tool designed to apply different future demand scenarios and capacity optimisation strategies to a representative case study in the Basque Country.
The electrification of industry, mobility and new data processing centres is accelerating the transformation of the power system. But it is also bringing to the surface a reality that electricity distribution companies know well: the grid must be prepared for demand that is more complex, more dynamic and harder to predict.
That is precisely the starting point of DEMELEK, a collaborative industrial research project led by i-DE Redes Eléctricas Inteligentes, in which ten Basque companies are taking part to address grid saturation resulting from the progress of electrification. The project is funded by the Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability of the Basque Government, through the HAZITEK 2025 programme, and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF 2021–2027).
The power grid has become critical infrastructure for the decarbonisation of the economy. The project itself is based on a clear trend: electrification is advancing rapidly in key sectors such as industry and transport, while new loads such as electric vehicle charging and data centres are increasing pressure on the grid. DEMELEK also points out that this trend will drive very significant growth in electricity demand over the next decade.
In this context, the project documentation notes that the updated draft of Spain’s National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) reinforces the electrification of the economy as one of the main drivers of the energy transition, and that in the Basque Country the energy transformation requires both stronger industrial competitiveness and a grid adapted to new needs. It also highlights a particularly relevant structural challenge: the Basque power grid is operating at the limit of its capacity and urgently requires reinforcement to respond to this new scenario.
DEMELEK, whose approach is summarised as “solutions based on prospective models and new flexibility services for demand electrification”, aims to anticipate the growth of electrification through the development of georeferenced prospective models capable of accurately estimating how electricity demand will evolve in key sectors for the Basque Country.
Based on these models, the project will generate grid scenarios that take into account different levels of electrification and their probability of occurrence. The aim is to build a more detailed and dynamic view of the future power system, while also incorporating the modelling of uncertainties associated with demand and infrastructure planning. All of this will be integrated into advanced decision-support tools to optimise the management of available grid capacity.
At the same time, DEMELEK also addresses the development of new flexibility strategies, both from the grid operation side and from the demand side. The project analyses how the consumption of sectors such as industry, electric mobility and data processing centres can adapt to the conditions of the power system, promoting technological capabilities that enable more intelligent interaction between consumers and system operators.
The project consortium brings together key players from different fields.
- i-DE coordinates the development of the georeferenced model for future demand scenarios;
- Ayesa Ibermática develops the flexibility deployment optimisation model;
- Sener works on the characterisation of electrification technologies and on new flexibility models for industrial processes;
- Veltium Smart Chargers and Iberdrola Clientes address flexibility schemes for electric vehicle charging;
- Saltoki and Ebielec study advanced flexibility strategies for data processing centres;
- Ariadna is developing a tool that makes it possible to apply different future electricity demand scenarios and grid capacity management optimisation strategies.
In addition, the project is supported by organisations from the Basque Network for Science, Technology and Innovation, such as Tecnalia, the Ibermática Innovation Institute and Ikerlan, as well as BASQUEENERGY Cluster for communication and dissemination activities.
Within this consortium, Ariadna has a very specific mission of great value to distribution companies: to develop a tool that makes it possible to apply, to a representative case study in the Basque Country, different future electricity demand scenarios and the grid capacity management optimisation strategies designed within the project.
This contribution is particularly relevant because it connects a growing need of DSOs with a critical capability: moving from data to operational and investment decision-making. It is not only about gaining better visibility of the grid, but also about having tools that make it possible to test scenarios, prioritise actions and anticipate constraints before they become a real capacity or power quality problem.
Ariadna’s contribution to DEMELEK fits with a vision the company has already been reinforcing in its strategy: turning real grid data into actionable insight for operation, planning and regulatory compliance.
Several key messages stand out which connect directly with DEMELEK: transforming GIS into a simulation-ready model, calculating connection capacity using real measurements, and comparing planning alternatives to optimise CAPEX and prepare the grid for the integration of distributed energy resources.
In other words, Ariadna’s participation in DEMELEK is not marginal. It is aligned with an approach in which grid digitalisation does not stop at observability, but moves forward into simulation, scenario assessment and optimisation of grid decisions.
One of the major current challenges for distribution companies is that electrification can no longer be managed using historical criteria alone. The grid needs tools capable of answering questions such as:
- Which areas will come under the most pressure if industrial electrification increases.
- How electric vehicle charging will affect certain transformers or lines.
- What impact new data centres will have on available capacity.
- Which combination of grid investment and flexibility is best suited to respond to growing demand.
Ariadna’s value proposition is aimed precisely in that direction. The company positions itself as an independent and agnostic partner, focused on helping the DSO decide where to act, with what equipment and why, while optimising CAPEX and OPEX. Applied to the DEMELEK context, this reinforces a central idea for the sector: flexibility and advanced planning do not replace grid investment, but they do make it possible to invest better, earlier and with stronger technical justification.
For a DSOs, projects such as DEMELEK matter because they help move forward on several priorities at the same time.
The first is anticipation. Being able to estimate how electricity demand will evolve by territory, sector or consumption type makes it possible to move beyond reactive planning.
The second is capacity optimisation. If the grid has a more accurate view of future demand behaviour and expected constraints, it can better assess which actions are the priority and where flexibility can complement or defer certain investments.
The third is regulatory and economic efficiency. In an environment where investment decisions must be justified more and more rigorously, having tools capable of comparing scenarios and supporting decisions on a technical basis provides far more value than simple grid visualisation.
And the fourth is resilience. DEMELEK explicitly states that the project’s final outcome will help grid operation adapt and respond more efficiently to new connection needs, mitigating the potential impact of saturation and strengthening system resilience in the face of the challenges of the energy transition.
The energy transition is raising the level of demand placed on distribution grids. It is no longer enough to digitalise assets or collect more data: what is needed is context, a model, simulation capability and sound judgement for decision-making.
In that context, DEMELEK represents a highly relevant line of work for the Basque electricity sector and for DSOs that need to prepare for a future with more electrification, more uncertainty and more pressure on grid capacity. And within that effort, Ariadna’s participation reinforces a very clear vision: that of a smarter grid, easier to plan and better prepared to turn data into useful decisions.
Because when electrification accelerates, the advantage no longer lies only in seeing the grid. It lies in understanding what is going to happen, what alternatives exist, and how to act before saturation limits growth.
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