The transition to clean energy in Germany is marked by the expansion of small-scale renewables and the rapid spread of decentralised equipment. Physical devices such as photovoltaic systems, heat pumps, and electric vehicle charging points have altered the role of consumers and businesses in the power grid. As the population becomes producers as well as consumers of energy, there is an increased complexity to operating medium and low voltage networks, particularly at distribution level.
France addressed its own challenges of network complexity earlier than its neighbour, deploying the Linky smart meter at a national level, thus modernising control and monitoring.
Germany’s course is marked by the make-up of its energy industry, and electricity production and consumption are decentralised, making such a nationally-dictated project less possible. However, residential and small-business power generation using renewable energy devices is popular, and it’s to this trend (and the market’s fragmentation) that country’s regulatory frameworks have been tailored.
Since 1 January 2024, the reform of Article 14a of the German Energy Act requires that certain energy devices be capable of remote control, with new hardware installed needing to be fully-compliant by 1st January 2029. This framework creates sustained demand for systems that allow regulation and remote control of low voltage networks.
Telecontrol technologies let distributors maintain grid stability under variable load conditions and manage renewable generation facilities of any scale from the single household upwards. Connecting these at the distribution level means a competitive market among vendors has grown.
According to a recent press release, LACROIX’s Smart Grids Business Unit has grown 54% between 2020 and 2025, and in 2025, revenue increased by 20% to €34 million, with the German market accounting for the majority of its growth.
In Q2 of 2025, LACROIX’s German subsidiary introduced the latest in its series5X remote management units running an updated software suite, designed to fit German legal standards. Since the launch, sales volumes have exceeded those of the previous generation between 2015 and 2020, the company states.
According to the company’s own estimates, the market for equipment for medium and low voltage substations in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) will record double-digit annual growth in the coming years.
The company is up against established native competitors in the space, such as Siemens’ SICAM telecontrol applications and devices, and the SPRECON-E portfolio from Austria’s Sprecher Automation. Similarly, WAGO’s Grid Stabilizer is a combined monitoring and support solution designed to meet Article 14a of the German Energy Act.
From further afield, Chinese and Japanese (notably, Hitachi) manufacturers are also vying for position in the market.
Germany is seen as one of the most progressive in the consumer and small-business renewable energy generation space, despite the country’s economic reliance on legacy heavy industries. Currently, Germany draws nearly 80% of its energy from non-renewables, much of it imported.
The integration of what’s termed in German legislation as “controllable consumer appliances” is a legal requirement designed to assuage congestion in the grid as demand for power increases, and is a component in the country’s plans to transition to renewable energy.
(Image source: “Wolfsburg – Volkswagen Plant (Postcard)” by roger4336 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. )
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