The World Needs Better Power Grids. Why Smaller May Be Better.

The Swedish tech entrepreneur Jonas Birgersson remembers seeing the satellite image of Ukraine — a blackened scar on Europe’s face — after Russia attacked its power grid in 2022.The outages left millions of Ukrainians without electricity, heat and water as temperatures dropped below freezing.They also brought home with frightening clarity the vulnerability of Europe’s large electric grids.“This was the trigger,” Mr.

Birgersson said.It prompted him to embark on a novel experiment in his hometown, Lund, Sweden.

Could he develop a new system of local production, storage and sharing of electricity that would be both cheaper and more secure?The solution he came up with is grabbing attention.Mr.

Birgersson’s company, ViaEuropa, has signed a joint agreement to develop small grids with an association that represents housing companies across Sweden.Together, the companies manage one million apartments.This week, Mr.

Birgersson spoke about the project at Climate Week in New York.But experts around the world have already taken notice.

Kingsmill Bond, a director of Ember, a global energy think tank in London, called Mr.Birgersson’s project “an idea whose time has come.”...