Silicon-based partial discharge sensing
Failure sends a signal years before it happens.
SiPulse builds miniaturized, multi-sensing microchips that catch the earliest signs of electrical fault — in transformers, switchgear, EV chargers and data centers — while there's still time to act.
Partial discharge — an early, invisible fault signature — is already responsible for an estimated €1–2 billion of grid failure costs in Europe every year.
The infrastructure gap
Europe's grid is aging faster than it can be replaced.
Transformers and switchgear carry electricity from renewable sources onto the grid — and much of that equipment is already running on borrowed time. Roughly 40% of Europe's electricity grid is over 40 years old, and three in four power transformers already operate beyond their intended design lifetime.
That fragility is a direct risk to the pace of the energy transition. Meanwhile, grid investment is accelerating fast — but detection technology hasn't kept up with either the aging fleet or the build-out.
40–60 yrs average transformer age
~50 yrs intended design lifetime
75% already past that point
Grid investment, accelerating
$54B
invested in digital grid infrastructure in 2021
+88%
growth in annual grid investment expected by 2030
$309B
needed per year by 2030 under net-zero scenarios
The root cause
What partial discharge actually is
Every piece of high-voltage equipment relies on insulation to keep electricity where it belongs. Partial discharge happens when the electric field inside that insulation locally exceeds what the material can withstand — a tiny electrical breakdown, at a single weak point, long before the equipment fails outright.
It's caused by ordinary things: a manufacturing defect, a design compromise, or simply decades of wear. And it never heals — each event erodes the insulation a little further, oxidizing liquids and eroding solids, until the equipment can no longer contain the field it was built to hold.
By the time it's visible or audible, failure is usually imminent. That's the window SiPulse is built to catch — years, not hours, before flashover.
Micro-discharge
Treeing
Flashover
What we do
One microchip, two sensing channels, one clear alert.
SiPulse enables early detection of electrical faults with a miniaturized, multi-sensing microchip — small enough to mount directly on the asset it protects, and connected to a platform that turns raw signal into a decision.
Electromagnetic sensing
A chip-scale coil captures the electromagnetic signature of a discharge event the instant it happens.
Acoustic sensing
A complementary acoustic channel confirms the event and helps localize exactly where it's happening.
AI-driven monitoring
Both signals stream into a platform that tells you what's wrong, where, and how urgently — in real time.
Plug-and-play retrofit install
Miniature — fits close to the weak spot
Consolidated fleet-wide dashboard
Built to avoid false alarms
Single point of contact for alerts
Team
A cross-disciplinary core team, backed by academic and venture-building support.
CSO
Farès Tounsi
PhD Microsystems — future micro-chip development
CTO
Simon Godfrind
Microelectronics engineer — integrated fields & data processing
MD, Technology
Thomas Walewyns
PhD Microsensors — industry relations & partnerships
MD, Business
Piet Ceuppens
Biochemical engineer — business operations
Advisory & studio support
- Academic advisors — Prof. Denis Flandre & Prof. Christophe Craeye, UCLouvain
- BXVentures studio team — corporate contacts, milestone roadmap, IP strategy, marketing, IT & accounting support
Let's talk
Join us in making the energy transition more reliable.
Detect earlier. Prevent failures.
Get in touch
© 2026 SiPulse Technologies · A UCLouvain spin-off, initiated by BXVentures