Industry Leaders Outline the Future of Energy Independence for European Business in The Economist Panel Ahead of IFA 2026

Featuring EcoFlow Chief Strategy Officer Nick Chen alongside leaders from CEER, Elia Group, and Equinix, The Economist Panel "Flexible by Design: Energy Resilience for Business" explores how energy flexibility and smart technologies drive European industrial competitiveness

BERLIN, Sept. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As the explosive growth of AI data centers and electric vehicles pushes European power grids to their limit, energy resilience has rapidly shifted from a utility concern to a board-level imperative across the continent. Ahead of IFA Berlin 2026 (Sept. 4–8), The Economist Enterprise and EcoFlow today announced the broadcast release of the executive panel, "Flexible by design: energy resilience for business."

The session brings together key leaders from energy regulation, grid operations, digital infrastructure, and manufacturing to tackle Europe's most pressing commercial challenge: overcoming grid bottlenecks and unpredictable power costs.

Confronted with historic price volatility and years-long grid connection queues, EcoFlow is leveraging its footprint of over 10 million deployed devices and 5 million global users to power its expansion into the small business and enterprise sectors. By transferring its battle-tested consumer architecture—modular hardware, automated dynamic tariff optimization and AI software—EcoFlow is providing commercial operators with immediate, cost-effective energy independence.

"Small and medium businesses are facing the exact same energy volatility and high costs that residential consumers are dealing with," said Nick Chen, Chief Strategy Officer for EcoFlow. "Through powering millions of homes worldwide, we learned that mass adoption of clean energy requires three things: extreme simplicity, modular scalability, and intelligent software automation. By taking our proven consumer technology foundation and software intelligence into the commercial market, we are giving businesses the tools they need to easily manage complex energy needs, lower operational expenses and ensure power resilience."

Key Panel Insights

• Energy Market Upheaval & Strategy: How fluctuating energy prices, grid bottlenecks, and periods of negative wholesale rates are reshaping corporate investment decisions and business growth across Europe.
• Building Cost-Effective Resilience: Practical approaches for enterprises to safeguard operations against power disruptions and price spikes without incurring excessive capital expenditure.
• Overcoming Grid Bottlenecks: How connection queues threaten industrial growth, and how flexible connection agreements and demand-response mechanisms offer immediate relief.
• Distributed Assets as Infrastructure: The role of small-scale distributed storage, solar, and energy-management software in working alongside transmission systems to balance supply and demand.
• The 2030 Outlook: How current regulatory adaptations and technological deployments will shape electricity market design and European competitiveness over the next decade.

Distinguished Panel Roster

• Nick Chen – Chief of Strategy, EcoFlow
• Bram Claeys – Secretary General, Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER)
• James Matthys-Donnadieu – Chief Customers, Markets & Systems Officer, Elia Group
• Eulalia Flo – Vice President, Growth & Emerging Markets, Europe, Equinix
• Phillip Cornell (Moderator) – Senior Advisor, Energy & Sustainability, Economist Enterprise

Watch On-Demand & Meet EcoFlow at IFA 2026

• Watch the Session: Stream the complete panel discussion on-demand at The Economist Events Portal.
• Visit EcoFlow at IFA 2026: EcoFlow invites industry partners, media, and attendees to explore its latest residential and commercial energy ecosystems live at IFA Berlin 2026 from Sept. 4–8 at Messe Berlin (Hall 3.2).

About EcoFlow

Founded in 2017, EcoFlow is No. 1 in smart home energy storage solutions, empowering millions of users to take control of their energy at home and beyond. Our vision is to power a new world that is aspirational, technology-driven, and eco-friendly. Our mission from day one is to provide smart and ecofriendly energy solutions for individuals, families, and society at large. We are, were, and will continue to be a reliable and trusted energy companion for users around the world. For more information, visit https://www.ecoflow.com