Additive Manufacturing or 3D printing enables the production of complex designs and shapes. Initial limits of 3D printing have been pushed back, both in the size of the objects to be produced and in the materials used (stainless steel, plastic, glass, metal, concrete, eco-materials, etc.). However, despite these advancements, the technology still faces significant challenges, including high costs, low printing speed, limited part sizes, and strength. For DSOs, the primary value lies in addressing critical supply chain and asset management challenges for aging grid infrastructure.
Highlights
The European Additive Manufacturing Market was valued at USD 6.84 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 13.17 billion by 2030. The highest demand in Europe comes from small and medium-sized businesses that are in need of high-speed, reliable and low-cost prototypes. This concerns numerous sectors, particularly automotive, healthcare, aerospace and defence. For the energy sector, this market growth is crucial as it drives down the cost of industrial-grade printers and expands the range of robust, certified materials suitable for operational use in demanding grid environments.
Opportunities for DSOs
- Solving the Legacy Equipment Challenge: Additive Manufacturing enables the production of small batches of discontinued components to extend the operational life of equipment—starting with simple parts such as hinges or cabinet doors and progressing to more complex elements like medium-voltage breaker components.
- Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience & Reducing Inventory: By enabling on-demand printing, AM reduces dependence on long and often fragile supply chains. This allows DSOs to drastically cut physical inventory costs and warehousing space, while simultaneously reducing lead times for critical, hard-to-source parts from months to days.
- Improving Field Crew Safety and Efficiency: AM allows for the rapid creation of specialised, custom tools, jigs, and fixtures for field crews. These bespoke tools can make complex installation or repair tasks safer, faster, and more ergonomic, leading to direct operational efficiency gains.
- Accelerating Innovation and Prototyping: AM would allow, among other things, the creation of several prototypes of equipment prior to their mass production. This de-risks innovation by allowing engineers to physically test and refine new component designs quickly and cheaply before committing to expensive tooling for mass manufacturing.
Challenges for DSOs
- Material Qualification and Certification: The single biggest hurdle is ensuring that a printed part meets or exceeds the mechanical, thermal, and electrical specifications of the original. A rigorous testing and certification process is essential before any component can be safely deployed on the live network.
- Intellectual Property (IP) and Design Rights: Scanning and reproducing a part may infringe on the OEM’s intellectual property. DSOs must establish a clear legal framework for reverse-engineering components or work with OEMs to acquire digital designs.
- Scalability and Economics: AM is currently most cost-effective for one-off parts or very small batches. It is not a replacement for traditional mass manufacturing, and the business case must be evaluated on a part-by-part basis against the cost of sourcing or conventional fabrication.
- Advanced Applications: Advanced AM of IoT devices and embedded sensors would entail the creation of parts and products with embedded electronics. This remains a future-facing opportunity that requires significant R&D to prove its reliability and value for grid applications.
E.DSO considerations
- Adopt a Phased, Risk-Based Approach: DSOs should actively monitor advancements in Additive Manufacturing to leverage these innovations and enhance operational performance. The recommended starting point is with low-risk, non-critical applications such as custom tools, enclosures, or non-energised mechanical parts to build skills and confidence.
- Develop a Digital Inventory Strategy: The long-term value is not the physical printer but the creation of a certified library of digital part designs. DSOs should focus on building this “digital warehouse” of tested and approved components, ready for printing when needed.
- Address the Skills Gap: Key challenges include high setup costs, limited material compatibility, intellectual property concerns, and workforce skill gaps. Successful adoption requires investment in upskilling the workforce with capabilities in 3D CAD modelling, material science, and printer operation.
- Collaborate to Accelerate: Additive Manufacturing offers solutions that can support DSOs in reducing their environmental footprint by enabling repair and reuse strategies. Collaboration between DSOs to share learnings, best practices, and even digital designs for common components can significantly reduce costs and accelerate the safe adoption of the technology across the industry.
Potential use cases
Leveraging 3D printing to enhance asset management, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate grid modernisation.
Asset Management & Resilience
- Legacy Equipment Support: On-demand printing of obsolete and discontinued parts to extend the life of aging, critical infrastructure and avoid costly replacements.
- Digital Inventory: Shifting from physical warehouses to a “digital warehouse” of certified designs, cutting storage costs and eliminating supply chain delays.
- Storm Restoration: Rapidly printing custom components for emergency repairs to accelerate network recovery and improve reliability metrics (SAIDI/SAIFI).
Operational Efficiency & Safety
- Custom Tooling & Jigs: Producing specialised, ergonomic tools for field crews to make complex tasks safer, faster, and more efficient.
- Bespoke Asset Protection: Printing custom guards (e.g., for wildlife protection) to prevent outages and reduce preventative maintenance costs.
- Training & Simulation Models: Creating detailed scale models of substations and equipment for safer, more effective workforce training and planning.
Grid Modernisation & Innovation
- Rapid Prototyping: Quickly and cheaply creating and testing new component designs before
- committing to mass production.
- Custom Sensor Mounts: Printing bespoke brackets and housings to easily retrofit modern IoT
- sensors onto legacy grid assets.
Ongoing Projects
- Enedis has approximately 300 trained employees capable of manufacturing 3D printed parts and more than 100 3D printers located throughout France. The company has a collaborative library of over 400 objects, some of general interest and others more specific to our business, accessible to all employees. The library’s use is mainly divided between two use cases:
- Designing prototypes before transferring them to mass production
- Producing small batches, particularly to maintain the lifespan of devices that no longer have spare parts.
- The number of pieces manufactured is estimated at around 5,000 pieces per year.”
- This initiative by a major European DSO serves as a powerful proof-of-concept, demonstrating that a distributed, at-scale AM capability is not just theoretical but is being successfully operationalised today.
Last update: 30 September 2025