July 2024
Pioneers in search of the Holy Grail
For several years now, a fruitful partnership has been developing between Swissgrid and the start-up Gilytics, a spin-off from the ETH Zurich to meet a major challenge in the Swiss energy sector.
Swissgrid, responsible for electricity transmission in Switzerland, faces challenges in expanding the grid due to the country’s mountainous terrain, environmental regulations, and local population concerns. To address these issues and support the energy transition, Gilytics developed a tool called “Pathfinder” to optimize the selection of transmission line routes. Pathfinder considers factors like technical feasibility, costs, environmental impact, and regional development. The tool’s creation required significant expertise and determination, as explained by key team members, Robert Benz and Alain Appel.
In the interview
Robert Benz, Grid Program Manager at Swissgrid
Alain Appel, Grid Project Engineer at Swissgrid
March 2021
Swissgrid is the Swiss electricity Transmission System Operator managing 6,700 km of grid in mountainous and densely populated areas with interconnection throughout Europe. Pathfinder Platform provides decision support during the feasibility and pre-design phase to plan, discuss, and define corridor and route options. The results are used in the permitting and public stakeholder engagement process.
More on swissgrid.ch (English) or swissgrid.ch (in German)
