Berlin – September 07, 2026 -- European grid operators, regulators and digital infrastructure executives convened for an Economist Enterprise panel warning that AI data center and electric vehicle demand is pushing power grids toward capacity limits, forcing energy resilience into boardroom decision-making across the continent.
EcoFlow leverages 10 million deployed devices to enter commercial energy market
The panel, titled "Flexible by Design: Energy Resilience for Business," was released ahead of IFA Berlin 2026, running Sept. 4-8 at Messe Berlin Hall 3.2. EcoFlow, drawing on a global footprint of over 10 million deployed devices and 5 million users, is extending its consumer battery and solar architecture into small business and enterprise segments, citing modular hardware, dynamic tariff optimization and AI-driven software as core commercial offerings.
Chief Strategy Officer says SMEs face identical volatility as households
Nick Chen, EcoFlow's Chief Strategy Officer, said small and medium businesses confront the same price volatility and grid unpredictability as residential consumers, and that mass clean-energy adoption depends on extreme simplicity, modular scalability and intelligent automation. He said the company is applying that proven consumer foundation to help commercial operators cut operating costs and secure power resilience.
Regulators, Elia Group and Equinix address connection queues and distributed assets
Bram Claeys, Secretary General of the Council of European Energy Regulators, joined James Matthys-Donnadieu, Chief Customers, Markets & Systems Officer at Elia Group, and Eulalia Flo, Vice President of Growth & Emerging Markets Europe at Equinix, to examine multi-year grid connection queues threatening industrial expansion. The panel, moderated by Phillip Cornell, Senior Advisor for Energy & Sustainability at Economist Enterprise, discussed flexible connection agreements and demand-response mechanisms as near-term relief, alongside distributed storage and solar assets operating alongside transmission infrastructure to balance supply and demand.
Panel maps regulatory and market design shifts through 2030
Discussion also covered how periods of negative wholesale electricity rates are reshaping corporate investment strategy, and how current regulatory adaptations and technology deployments will influence European electricity market design and industrial competitiveness over the next decade. The full session is available on-demand via The Economist Events Portal, with EcoFlow presenting its residential and commercial energy ecosystems on-site at IFA Berlin 2026.