DEPsys, the Swiss smart grid technology expert, has opened its second subsidiary, DEPsys Pte Ltd in Singapore. At the helm of expansion, Jianjiang PU, an experienced sales leader in the energy sector.

In under six months, DEPsys, a Swiss company specialised in the digitalisation of electrical networks, has opened two subsidiaries. After DEPsys GmbH, founded in February 2019 in Essen (Germany), comes DEPsys Pte Ltd, which is based in Singapore to meet the needs of Distribution System Operators (DSOs) in the Asia-Pacific region. Heading up the new structure is Jianjiang PU, a sales manager with strong technical and business experience in the energy sector gained at major corporations such as Alstom and GE. With this strategic step, DEPsys gives to the region greater opportunities to learn more about GridEye certified technology, a comprehensive solution plug-and-play, cost-effective, and scalable.

DEPsys CEO Michael De Vivo intends to meet the needs of Asia-Pacific DSOs in ideally managing their energy transition risks.

The fabulous story of DEPsys in brief

Founded in 2012, and since then, an annual growth rate of more than 100%.

2019

• Number of employees tripled, reaching more than 30 people of 13 different nationalities
• 30 customers in 10 countries and on 2 continents
• A Series B financing agreement signed with BNP Paribas and SET Ventures for an €11 million investment
• Two subsidiaries opened: DEPsys GmbH [German] in Germany (Essen) and DEPsys Pte Ltd in Asia (Singapore)

Next steps

• Asia: strong expansion from Singapore hub with a presence in key regional countries
• Europe: the leading market presence heavily reinforced by key innovative projects serving as digitalization references.

The backstory of DEPsys

The story of DEPsys started in 2017 with the Free Electrons, a global energy start-up accelerator programme that connects the world’s most promising start-ups with leading utility companies to co-create the future of energy.
Within the framework of this program, DEPsys got in touch with Singapore Power, which later became their first client in the APAC region.

“This first success led us to organize an Asian tour the following year to meet DSOs in different countries like Japan and China,” says Michael De Vivo. “These various exchanges have led to ongoing engagements with other key market players such as CLP Power Hong Kong.”

Today, GridEye is being adopted by four DSOs in the region. Others are showing great interest in this complete solution, which allows the design, operation, monitoring, analysis, and automation of any power distribution grid regardless of topology.

“Given this interest and after our last round of financing, the creation of DEPsys Pte Ltd became obvious," adds Michael.

GridEye, the end-to-end grid optimizer inspired by DSOs

GridEye technology, which is certified IEC 61000-4-30:2015 Class A, has been entirely developed by the founders. Under the protection of two international patents, GridEye has been tested and industrialised with DEPsys clients, first in Switzerland, and now abroad.

DEPsys engineers are now able to adjust the GridEye solution to any local needs.

The purpose of GridEye is to offer DSO decision-makers the best digital toolbox to define and implement the most appropriate plan for an energy transition. There is no reason to delay the digital journey to meet the challenging targets of the 2050 strategy. DSOs benefit from securing their investments and opening up opportunities for the creation of new
business models in producing and exchanging power.

GridEye is composed of three elements: hardware, a fully secured IoT platform and applications.

With GridEye, one day is enough to bring intelligence to an electrical grid. In a month, a DSO can safely make the right decisions to optimize their operations, plan upgrades and renewals for the grid, and integrate the necessary volume of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs).

Meet the SPOC for APAC contacts

The SPOC – single point of contact - is Jianjiang PU’s role. His mission is to increase DEPsys’s presence and GridEye’s adoption in the APAC territory.
His experience and vision will convince regional DSOs that digitalization of a grid is not as complicated as they imagine.

It is an exciting challenge for this highly skilled sales manager. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Chongqing University and an MBA from Singapore Management University, Jianjiang has ten years' solid

experience in the energy sector with two renowned companies, Alstom and GE.

“Smart Grid technology, together with renewables and energy storage solutions, will have a significant impact on the energy landscape and are changing the role DSOs play in the grid network. For DSOs in Asia-Pacific who are keen to leapfrog to the digitalisation of grids, DEPsys is here to enable their vision.”