A Swiss trader-investor, two sides of one transaction
`[CLIENT-OK NEEDED FROM LUCA]`
A Swiss gas-and-power trader that also invests in storage and PV assets engaged GridSphere because the BESS opportunities they were screening required two competences in one counterparty: pre-investment technical and financial due diligence, and a forward path to flexibility-access revenue once the assets are built. (fact-base §5; positioning brief §3, §5)
The client
Established in the wholesale energy market - gas and power on the trading side; a growing portfolio of generation and storage assets on the ownership side. The hybrid trader/IPP profile is the bridge between two GridSphere audiences: a market operator that handles bid-side dispatch every day, and an asset investor that needs the same rigour at pre-FID as a pension fund. (anonymised per client-references-policy.md)
The client engaged GridSphere because no single counterparty in the European market handles both ends of the journey. Sizing tools stop at the business case. Aggregators and trading desks start at operation. The gap is the bit in the middle - the bit where the asset moves from uncertain to bankable to profitable.
The brief
A portfolio-level view across candidate Swiss sites, on the same engine, with consistent assumptions. A sensitivity-tested business case for each. A structured view on the path from bankability to operating revenue once each asset is online. Public-safe envelope on size and stage; specific MW totals and CHF figures stay off this page. (client-references-policy.md)
The work
Step 1 - Portfolio screening on SIMULA
Each candidate site ran on SIMULA: BTM, FTM and hybrid scenarios in a single flow, 15-minute dispatch over a year, NPV, IRR, payback and sensitivity. Same engine, same assumptions, comparable across sites. The output is a portfolio view the trader-investor can defend internally without re-running the analysis on a second platform. (platform-terms.md; fact-base §2.1)
Step 2 - Bid-side scoping for ec-storage
For each bankable site, GridSphere scoped the dispatch services accessible through ec-storage - aFRR, mFRR, wholesale arbitrage - and the share of revenue the trader would access as the operator-of-choice on assets they helped originate. ec-storage is the marketplace surface of the GridSphere Platform; the marketplace MVP is targeted for 2027 Q1+. The scoping here is forward-looking, not a live booking. (platform-terms.md)
Step 3 - Independent technical review
GridSphere does not represent any battery manufacturer. The OEM short-list, the integration approach and the EMS compatibility were reviewed without vendor bias - the analysis served the asset owner, not a hardware line-up. (positioning brief §6 point 3)
Step 4 - Forward path to operation
Each bankable site has a defined route to ec-storage at COD: same data model, same business case, same counterparty. The asset arrives on the operating layer carrying the assumptions the investment decision was made on, so the post-COD reporting reads against the original sensitivity range. (platform-terms.md; fact-base §4.1)
The outcome
A portfolio of pre-FID-ready Swiss BTM and FTM site assessments, on a single methodology, with a defined operating path. The trader-investor reached a defendable internal decision basis without re-running the analysis on a second platform - and without bringing a second counterparty in for the operating side.
What we built for this engagement - pre-investment screening, asset-owner due diligence, and a forward path to flexibility access through ec-storage - is the template any Swiss trader-investor can use.
How the case fits the funnel
SIMULA takes BESS projects from uncertain to bankable. ec-storage takes them from bankable to profitable. (platform-terms.md)
This case is the first launch case on the site that picks up both halves of the funnel in a single engagement. The trader-investor profile is structurally close to it - the same counterparty handles the bid-side dispatch in the market and the asset-owner perspective on the balance sheet. The platform was designed for that overlap.
Read about the platform → - Read about ec-storage → - Read about Advisory →
Quote
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