Founded two years ago by Verstraeten and Thomas Vyncke, Companion Energy was born from the realization that the energy market context is rapidly changing for many industrial companies. Procuring fixed energy prices is becoming increasingly difficult or expensive, depending on the situation. As a result, many businesses are more exposed to market fluctuations.

To effectively manage energy costs in these dynamic markets, it is essential to integrate financial and operational energy data. This enables more accurate budgeting and energy cost management. More importantly, it allows companies to leverage flexibility and use energy at the most cost-effective times, tailored to their specific financial energy situation.

Jonas Verstraeten, Co-founder of Companion Energy.Their solution: a software platform that integrates economic and operational data to pinpoint the most cost-effective times to use electricity.

"We provide the software backbone that enables companies to lower electricity costs and operate more flexibly," explains Verstraeten.

Already active in Belgium and the Netherlands, Companion Energy supports more than 15 customers across sectors, including telecom, public EV charging, and biotech, helping them shift operations away from peak-demand times when fossil fuels dominate.

Rethinking operations to unlock cost savings

“We forecast how electricity costs change every minute over the next few days,” says Verstraeten. “Then, we schedule flexible processes to run during the cheapest periods.”

One example he shares is a customer who schedules cooling and purification processes based on these forecasts. By operating flexibly, companies save money and contribute to grid balancing. Companion Energy collaborates with distribution grid operators to develop new flexibility services.

An increasing number of companies are facing dynamic energy markets, which present numerous potential benefits. “We integrate with their process control systems, like SCADA, to provide an additional energy cost signal,” Verstraeten adds. “This tells them when to run specific assets to minimize expenses.”

Smarter electrification: Beyond simple replacements

In simple terms, electrification involves replacing gas systems with electric ones. However, it also focuses on redesigning operational processes. Verstraeten shares an example: “You could replace the gas boiler one-to-one with an electric resistance heater. But an even smarter solution is to install extra thermal oil storage, so you can heat when electricity is cheap and avoid running when it’s expensive.”

Depending on the specific use case, various electrification options are available. There are efficient heat pump solutions for lower temperature needs (up to 150 °C) or direct electrification solutions such as electric resistance heating. In the latter case, installing extra thermal storage enables companies to run their installations at the most cost-effective times.

He emphasizes the role of storage and flexibility in managing electricity price volatility, noting that prices in Belgium, for example, can vary dramatically, from -450 to +600 EUR per MWh. “By combining electrification with heat storage capacity, companies can achieve smarter, more cost-efficient operations.”

Challenges to overcome

“Most industries can achieve their required temperatures perfectly with electrical installations,” Verstraeten states. Still, he identifies three main barriers to electrification: cost, grid constraints, and operational inertia.

“The cost difference between gas and electricity is still significant in many European markets, especially in Belgium,” Verstraeten notes, pointing to higher electricity taxes and lower gas taxes.

Grid capacity is another issue, particularly in the Netherlands, where many companies face delays in securing larger grid connections.

The third challenge is resistance to change. “Many plants have been running the same way for decades, so transitioning from gas systems to electric ones, like for steam production, represents a major change,” Verstraeten says. He encourages companies to start their electrification journey with a pilot project and scale up from there.

The human factor behind electrification

The real driver behind successful electrification projects isn’t just technology or regulations; it’s people.

According to Verstraeten, the real driver behind successful electrification projects isn’t just technology or regulations; it’s people. “It depends on having people who see electrification as the way forward and actively push for it within their organization,” he says.

While some companies are motivated by regulatory requirements, like reducing Scope 2 emissions or exiting the EU Emissions Trading System, Verstraeten emphasizes that leadership and vision within a company make the greatest difference.

“It’s a little bit of everything, vision, people, regulations, and technological advancements, all coming together,” he believes.

A future-forward investment

Verstraeten encourages companies to take a forward-looking approach when evaluating electrification projects. “If you think about where we’ll be in 10 or 20 years with the inevitable shift from fossil fuels to electricity, it makes no sense to invest in fossil fuel assets now,” he says.

He also stresses the importance of designing flexibility into electric systems from the start: “A flexible electric system will allow you to adapt to fluctuations in energy prices, helping you manage your asset more effectively and keep costs low.”

Hybrid setups, where companies maintain existing gas boilers as backup while installing electric boilers, are an effective way to ease the transition.

As Companion Energy works to make electrification smarter and more cost-effective, Verstraeten remains confident: “For those who understand where the industry is heading, it’s clear that electrification is the road ahead.”

Dilip Chandrasekaran, Global Business Development Manager at Kanthal.“We see a strong interest from customers in the flexibility of the heating source and in hybrid heating solutions that combine gas and electric,” says Dilip Chandrasekaran, Global Business Development Manager at Kanthal. “This gives them the option to use renewable electricity when prices are low, while at the same time reducing emissions.”

“We also see customers developing different thermal storage solutions based on resistance heating. These are not yet fully commercial or available on a large industrial scale, but they are still very interesting for customers and end users,” he adds.

“An important driver in many cases is to make the best use of the limited renewable electricity available today. Large investments in renewable energy are being made slowly or are being postponed, but smaller investments in the range of 1–5 MW are easier to implement. Customers want to take advantage of that and use renewable power most effectively.”

We are proud to highlight voices like Verstraeten’s, who are working tirelessly to make industrial electrification not just a possibility, but a powerful driver of sustainability, smarter operations, safer workplaces, and future-ready technologies.