DEPSYS SA

Their core work

DEPsys is a Swiss cleantech SME that develops GridEye, a software platform for real-time monitoring, control, and optimization of electrical distribution networks. They specialize in making power grids smarter — from state estimation and fault detection to flexibility management and peer-to-peer energy trading. The company systematically uses Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) fellowships to host researchers who advance specific GridEye capabilities, effectively building an R&D pipeline through EU-funded talent. Their work sits at the intersection of power systems engineering, machine learning, and distributed optimization.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

DEPsys started (2017-2019) with foundational grid intelligence — state estimation, phasor measurement units, and measurement error correlation — essentially teaching their GridEye platform to understand what's happening in distribution networks. From 2020 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward action and optimization: P2P energy trading, flexibility management, home energy management, and multi-energy systems. The most recent project (GridTIMES, 2022) moved into grid topology identification using complex network theory and AI, suggesting a push toward autonomous grid self-awareness.

DEPsys is moving from passive grid monitoring toward active, AI-driven grid management — making them increasingly relevant for projects involving decentralized energy markets and autonomous distribution systems.

How they like to work

DEPsys overwhelmingly leads its projects — 8 of 10 as coordinator — which is unusual for an SME and reflects a company that drives its own R&D agenda rather than joining others' consortia. Their dominant use of MSCA Individual Fellowships (6 projects) reveals a deliberate strategy: they host post-doctoral researchers to tackle specific GridEye development challenges, effectively using EU mobility funding as an R&D pipeline. With 19 partners across 9 countries, they maintain a moderately broad network but are clearly the hub, not a spoke.

DEPsys has collaborated with 19 unique partners across 9 countries, primarily through MSCA fellowship hosting arrangements where international researchers bring their home institution connections. Their network is European in scope but structured around bilateral researcher exchanges rather than large multi-partner consortia.

What sets them apart

DEPsys is rare among SMEs: a product company (GridEye) that systematically uses MSCA fellowships to fund its R&D, with each fellowship advancing a specific product capability. This means they combine commercial focus with deep academic collaboration — a partner who can both publish papers and deploy software on real grids. For consortium builders, they bring a proven smart grid platform that has been validated across 10 EU projects covering monitoring, optimization, and energy trading.

Highlights from their portfolio

• GiSTDS
  Highest-funded project (EUR 203,149) tackling scalable P2P energy trading with real-time decision making — the most commercially forward-looking of their portfolio.
• GridTIMES
  Their most recent project (2022-2024) combining complex network theory with GIS and smart meter data for automated grid topology identification — signals their next strategic direction.
• ARMOUR
  Applied machine learning and signal processing to power quality monitoring, demonstrating DEPsys's expansion from grid state estimation into predictive condition monitoring.