Member Interview Series: OpenADR, gridoo
We recently had the opportunity to interview Wolfgang Bernhard, CEO of gridoo. Based in Austria, gridoo is one of our newest members, providing scalable, manufacturer-independent grid intelligence and energy management solutions for power grids, operators, and buildings. Below, Wolfgang shares more about gridoo’s mission and why membership in the OpenADR Alliance is strategic to their business.
Tell us a bit about yourself, your company and your solution?
I am the CEO of gridoo, an Austrian manufacturer of hardware and software products dedicated to the digitalization of lower grid levels. Our mission is to prioritize "bits instead of copper" whenever possible. The overarching goal of gridoo is to future-proof the distribution grid. We believe a key prerequisite for this is secure, real-time communication reaching all the way to grid connection points in buildings, which enables the activation of local flexibilities.
We aim to engage all stakeholders in this journey. Grid operators and energy suppliers gain new opportunities to reward system-friendly behavior and retain customers through innovative products. Simultaneously, end users can see the tangible value of their flexibilities.
What are the major challenges the energy industry is facing? How are you addressing these?
While there is a clear consensus on the need to increase renewable energy in our electricity mix, the challenges of managing a decentralized and volatile energy system are often overlooked. Addressing these challenges requires a holistic approach rather than isolated solutions.
At gridoo, we focus on the entire value chain. Our core solution, the gridoo dataHub, is a scalable server application that operates securely within an operator's IT/OT environment. It bridges the gap between existing applications, such as process control systems and customer portals, and intelligent control units like the gridoo Brain, which optimizes flexible components within buildings.
To ensure market growth and avoid the fragmented mistakes of the smart home sector, our communication is based on international OpenADR standards. This provides manufacturers with easy access and fosters a truly open market.
Our goal is to align all stakeholders—including device manufacturers, network operators, energy providers, and aggregators—while fully engaging end customers by rewarding system-friendly behavior.
What role is gridoo playing in creating a future-proof power grid?
The challenges ahead are significant, but our goals are clear: together, we can achieve meaningful progress. At gridoo, we are convinced that nearly every future grid connection point will require an intelligent unit to communicate externally and coordinate internal energy flows. Our core team brings over 25 years of experience in designing decentralized system solutions for the electrical industry.
Because of this expertise, gridoo is more than a solution provider. We are eager to contribute our experience in communication architecture design to international standardization efforts.
How is the OpenADR standard helping you drive this development forward and what does being part of the OpenADR Alliance mean to gridoo?
We appreciate the OpenADR Alliance’s straightforward and active approach to technological advancements. The inclusion of publish/subscribe functionality via MQTT in OpenADR 3.1 is a significant step toward residential sector relevance, which is crucial for architectures supporting hundreds of thousands of users with limited bandwidth. The recently announced collaboration with CSA/Matter also marks a positive direction, potentially opening new possibilities for in-building communication based on international standards.
Finally, thank you for the professional and approachable nature of the Alliance. It has been a pleasure working with your team from day one.
To learn more please visit: http://www.gridoo.com/