In late 2025, Siemens published the Siemens Infrastructure Transition Monitor 2025, a report surveying 1,400 senior executives across a wide range of industries worldwide to capture the progress, challenges, and direction of the energy transition and decarbonization. The report also puts forward strategic recommendations for the energy transition, aimed at leaders in both government and business. The survey findings highlight three key themes:
- Investment in clean energy-such as renewable energy and energy storage-continues to grow. However, regulatory uncertainty and the constraints of legacy infrastructure remain major challenges.
- Digitalization, including technologies such as AI, grid software, and smart meters, is playing an increasingly important role in driving the energy transition and strengthening the resilience of power grids. Looking ahead, technologies such as digital twins-used to create virtual simulations of power grid systems-and autonomous grids are set to play a critical role in raising the efficiency, security, and sustainability of energy systems.
- Strengthening collaboration between the public and private sectors will be essential to building an energy system that is efficient, resilient, and sustainable, and to the overall success of the energy transition.
Power Supply Security: A Pressing Global Priority
The research reveals a clear turning point: resilient energy supply has risen to become the top policy priority for governments worldwide-overtaking the expansion of renewable energy, which held the top spot in 2023-alongside growing ambitions around national energy independence.
At the same time, policies to broadly accelerate the expansion of renewable energy remain among the top priorities. According to the World Energy Investment report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), global investment in clean energy reached as much as US$2.2 trillion in 2025-double that of fossil fuels-underscoring the continued and growing importance of renewable energy development.
For Thailand, national policies aimed at advancing the digital economy and positioning the country as a regional technology hub-including efforts to promote investment in data centers-have significantly increased demand for electricity, while also requiring a high degree of grid stability.
This is compounded by the country's accelerated net-zero target, now brought forward to 2050, which has spurred growth in clean energy adoption, including the widespread installation of rooftop solar across both industrial and residential sectors. Together, these factors present a challenge for managing a power system that has traditionally been centralized and largely reliant on fossil fuel generation, as it shifts toward distributed energy-including electricity generated from renewable sources with inherently high variability.
The energy transition, therefore, is not simply a matter of increasing the share of renewable energy in the mix. It also requires addressing the challenges facing infrastructure, which must become more flexible and capable of accommodating the growing complexity of this new mode of power generation.
From Legacy Grids to Smart and Autonomous Grids: Managing Rising Complexity
One of the key challenges facing power infrastructure today is limited visibility within low-voltage distribution networks-such as those supplying homes and small businesses-which often lack systematic data collection and real-time connectivity. Compounding this is the emergence of new patterns of electricity use, such as reverse power flow from solar panels or high-volume power draw from the grid for electric vehicle charging. In effect, the complexity of today's power systems is no longer confined to generation or the main grid-it is increasingly extending to the demand side as well.
To address this challenge, Siemens has introduced the concept of “Flip the Grid,” shifting grid management toward a bottom-up approach. According to the survey, 74% of energy-sector executives agree that the smart grid-powered by software that functions as the nervous system of the entire power network, giving grid operators the ability to visualize data, run simulations, and forecast risks with precision-will be a critical driver of the energy transition.
Looking further ahead, as power systems grow too complex for humans to manage in real time, the autonomous grid-a smart network capable of analyzing situations, making decisions, and responding automatically-will help raise the efficiency, security, and sustainability of energy systems.
One example is the pilot concept of “Autonomous Zones,” or smart energy management districts, such as in industrial estates or new urban developments. When the energy management system detects that renewable generation exceeds demand, it may automatically increase electric vehicle charging to make productive use of the surplus power, or automatically reroute power distribution within the network to prevent overloading transmission lines. In the event of a fault, the system can also isolate the affected area and automatically restore power to the rest of the network (self-healing)-with on-site personnel retaining the role of reviewing and approving the system's proposed actions before they are carried out.
The survey also found that 63% of respondents in the energy sector believe the benefits of using automated systems to manage power grids are worthwhile, citing reduced operating costs and improved energy stability and efficiency, while 62% believe their region is already prepared to adopt automation within its power grid.
Unlocking Regulation to Connect Energy Systems to the Future
Even as the technologies required for next-generation energy systems become ready for deployment, the transition cannot fully materialize as long as systems, platforms, and data standards remain fragmented-compounded by various regulatory constraints, which more than 61% of executives view as a major challenge. The report notes that current regulations tend to favor investment in physical assets, such as transmission lines, over investment in software, while also limiting the extent to which stakeholders across the energy system can collaborate effectively.
Looking ahead, the survey found that 62% of executives believe energy systems should be managed as a “System of Systems”-an integrated digital energy framework that connects subsystems such as electricity, gas, hydrogen, and other energy infrastructure. Such an approach should also enable stakeholders across the energy ecosystem to exchange data and collaborate in real time.
In the Thai context, this concept could serve as an important framework for addressing two key priorities:
1. Reforming regulation to encourage investment in digital innovation and software, while adjusting market mechanisms to properly value system flexibility—alongside continued investment in generation capacity and infrastructure.
2. Integrating data by driving all relevant sectors to adopt shared data protocols and standardized APIs, enabling systems across different platforms to exchange data and interoperate smoothly, and reducing reliance on costly, hard-to-scale, purpose-built system connections.
A 3D Strategy for the Future of Thailand's Power Sector
The future of global energy systems is moving toward what can be described as “3D”: Decentralized, Democratized, and Digital. The central challenge today, therefore, is not simply developing new technology, but integrating technology, data, and stakeholders so they can work together effectively within a regulatory environment that supports the energy transition.
For Thailand, this may represent a pivotal moment to lay the foundation for a power system that is smart, flexible, and capable of meeting rising electricity demand, while also achieving long-term clean energy goals. Ultimately, power supply security is not simply about having enough electricity-it is about the ability of the entire system to adapt with resilience, speed, and sustainability.
This article is based on the report Smarter Grids, Smarter Decisions, part of the Siemens Infrastructure Transition Monitor 2025.
