E-World 2026 – Our personal review

E-World 2026 in Essen – the industry meeting place for the European energy sector – was bigger than ever this year: with 1,100 exhibitors and over 35,000 visitors, the trade fair broke records once again. And right in the middle of this strong environment, COMAN Software was there for the first time with its own booth in Hall 4, the “Innovation Hall.”

For us, it was our first major appearance in the energy sector – and the excitement within the team was correspondingly high. But on the very first day of the trade fair, it became clear to us that this premiere was a complete success.

“COMAN? Exciting, tell us more!”: our surprising market appearance

Since COMAN was hardly known in the energy sector until now, we went to E-World without too many expectations. Many visitors to our booth openly admitted that they were hearing our name for the first time. But that's exactly what made many of them curious.

As soon as we shared our references from other industries, we immediately noticed how powerful these examples were.

“We don't have anything like this in the energy sector yet.”

“This is the first time we've heard of it – tell us more!”

...we heard again and again. Municipal utilities, network operators, and infrastructure projects showed particular interest. For us, this was a clear sign: professional, digital project management fills a noticeable gap in the energy market – and COMAN can fill this gap.

Market observation: Between digital strategy and paper folders

In our numerous conversations, we noticed time and again that:

• Analog work is still commonplace and widespread in the energy sector.
• Digital strategies exist on paper, but everyday project work often looks very different.
• Media breaks, isolated applications, and a lack of real-time transparency are among the biggest challenges across the industry.

At the same time, the energy industry is heavily driven by politics: EU regulations, energy transition requirements, and increasing documentation pressure are increasing the need for efficient and audit-proof solutions.

With our trade fair motto “Digital project management with COMAN for a better transformation of the energy industry,” we were able to clearly demonstrate the positive impact that a professional, collaborative tool has on construction, renovation, and infrastructure projects undertaken by municipal utilities and energy suppliers—and thus struck a chord with the industry.

The presentation by Timur Ripke - a crowd favorite

One of our highlights was undoubtedly the presentation given by our CEO Timur Ripke on 11 February 2026 on the Change Forum stage.

Almost 250 attendees—more than we had expected—registered and followed his presentation on “Driving Innovation in Energy Projects. Real-Time Digital Project Management for Utilities.”

The feedback afterwards was overwhelmingly positive—and we got the impression that COMAN was much more visible in the market after the presentation.

Strong discussions and growing demand for cooperation

Over the three days of the trade fair, our team – Philipp Grempler, Dirk Böning, Tarik Anthes, Timur Ripke, and Mats Milan Müller – held many intensive discussions. Municipal utilities, network operators, engineering service providers, technology networks, and associations in particular actively sought dialogue with us.

Many of them signaled serious interest in cooperation – a strong sign of the growing need for digital solutions.

Our conclusion: A start with a signal effect

E World 2026 was an important milestone for COMAN. At our premiere in a new industry, we met a clearly recognizable need with our solution for digital project management – and exactly the right target group.

We started with a low level of awareness – and returned home with a lot of momentum, visibility, and new contacts.