The Control Room of the Future Implementation Council, led by 50Hertz (Germany) through the Global Power System Transformation Consortium (G-PST), is dedicated to improving control room operations and accelerating energy system transformation. By connecting system operators, researchers, and industry experts, the council ensures that new research is rapidly applied to real-world challenges in managing complex power systems.

Control rooms play a critical role in maintaining grid stability and integrating renewable energy sources, but traditional research methods often result in lengthy projects that do not keep pace with industry demands. The council aims to change this by fostering collaboration and streamlining research efforts to support low-cost and reliable power systems.

To accelerate this process, the council launched the Research Challenge for Innovation in Power Systems, an initiative that provides researchers with access to real-world projects and essential data to deliver results within a year. This challenge bridges the gap between academic research and industry needs by focusing on practical, scalable solutions that can be implemented quickly in control room operations.

To explore additional resources on control room design, visit the G-PST Resource Library.

The Control Room of the Future Council unites transmission system operators (TSOs), academic leaders, research institutions and software project developers from around the globe. Key participants include TSOs such as 50 Hertz and TransnetBW (Germany), academic institutions like Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University, research institutions like EPRI (the Electric Power Research Institute) and NREL, and software project developers like GE Vernova Digital and CRESYM (Collaborative Research for Energy System Modeling). They all contribute expertise and collaborate to explore and develop innovative solutions. The council is co-chaired by Mirko Pracht, product director at Elia Group/50Hertz.

The Control Room of the Future Implementation Council, led by 50Hertz and Energinet, held its kickoff meeting in Copenhagen in June. The meeting brought together transmission system operators, academic researchers, software developers, and industry leaders to discuss ways to accelerate research and innovation in control room operations. The goal is to move findings more quickly from research to real-world application, helping to advance the energy transition.

During the meeting, Mirko Pracht, product director at Elia Group/50Hertz, chaired discussions on industry challenges, while Adrian Kelly of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) presented G-PST’s 17 key research questions on the future of control rooms. Participants agreed that while these challenges are well understood, traditional research processes do not align with the urgency of the energy transition. Research projects are often too large and complex, leading to multi-year timelines that slow implementation. Additionally, the industry does not always provide researchers with the necessary resources—such as data, real-world projects, and test environments—to develop and test solutions efficiently.

To address these barriers, 50Hertz launched the Research Challenge for Innovation in Power Systems. This initiative provides researchers with clearly defined tasks and direct access to industry resources, ensuring results that are both practical and applicable within control rooms in just one year. By streamlining collaboration between research and industry, the challenge aims to deliver faster, more effective solutions to support grid reliability and the integration of renewable energy.