AFRY Powers Global Energy Transition using FICO Optimization

STOCKHOLM – 21 January 2026 (NYSE: FICO)

Highlights:

• AFRY helps European governments and grid operators develop energy transition plans using FICO® Xpress Optimization Suite
• AFRY’s BID3 platform enables policymakers, grid operators and others to simulate and plan for a secure, cost-effective transition to net-zero
• BID3 influences billion-dollar energy investments across major European grid operators including UK, Norway, Germany and Denmark
• In 2025, AFRY saw a 25% increase in BID3’s global user base, driven by enhanced modeling capabilities
• AFRY has won the 2026 FICO® Decision Award for ESG Champion

AFRY, a leading global engineering, design, and advisory firm, is transforming how the world plans its energy future through its groundbreaking BID3 power market modeling platform. Powered by FICO® Xpress Optimization, BID3 enables policymakers, utilities, grid operators and investors to design cost-effective pathways to net-zero emissions while maintaining energy security and affordability.

More information: https://www.fico.com/en/products/fico-xpress-optimization 

With 18,000 employees operating across 40+ countries and 2024 revenues of 27 billion Swedish Krona (USD $2.5 billion), AFRY has positioned itself at the forefront of the global energy transition. 
The company's BID3 platform integrates large datasets from weather, demand forecasts, plant characteristics, and fuel prices through FICO® Xpress Optimization engine to determine system-wide least-cost solutions while respecting reliability and policy goals. BID3 now serves 30 organizations worldwide and experienced a 25% increase in users in 2025 as demand for sophisticated energy modeling capabilities continues to surge.

“Traditional modeling approaches are no longer adequate for the complexity of modern energy systems,” said Zeid Munir, principal – Modeling Solutions at AFRY. “BID3’s powerful architecture has made it central to major national studies, such as the UK’s 2038 to 2043 Carbon Budget. In 2025, we saw a 25% increase in BID3’s global user base, driven by its enhanced modeling capabilities.”

Meeting the Demands of a Changing Power World

“Power systems around the world are undergoing an unprecedented transformation,” said Munir. “Decarbonization, electrification, affordability and energy-security are reshaping the energy markets. Nations are racing to meet net-zero targets, driving rapid deployment of renewable generation, mass electrification of transport and industry, coupled with the evolution of market structures. Long-term investment planning is becoming increasingly complex.”

AFRY's clients were increasingly seeking sophisticated tools to test policy impacts, validate infrastructure plans, and understand investment risks across future scenarios. New renewable technologies and market mechanisms such as battery storage, hydrogen electrolysis, and flexible demand are playing a much bigger role in the market. The existing models lacked the flexibility to model these technologies accurately or at scale.

“To meet these challenges, we turned to FICO Xpress Optimization to help develop a scalable, high-fidelity simulation and decisioning platform that could bridge the gap between modeling and reality,” said Munir. “We chose FICO’s optimization solution for its industrial-grade linear and mixed-integer programming capabilities and scalability across complex, multi-dimensional problems. No other solution on the market provided the tools we need.”

BID3 simulates wholesale electricity markets in high resolution, optimizing production and investment decisions across multiple time horizons and geographies. The platform supports unit commitment modeling down to one-minute resolution, stochastic optimization for hydropower operations, and energy sector coupling for hydrogen, heat, and water systems. 

BID3 integrates large datasets from across the energy sector, including weather, demand forecasts, plant characteristics, fuel prices, and market mechanisms. The FICO® Xpress Optimization engine then determines the system-wide least-cost solutions to meet energy demand over time, respecting system reliability and policy goals. Results are presented via intuitive outputs for investment and policy decision-making. Clients use BID3 to identify cost-optimized, low-emissions pathways and stress-test market designs under future conditions.

Supporting Major Infrastructure Decisions Across Europe

BID3's real-world applications demonstrate its ability to influence billion-dollar investment decisions and national energy policy. The platform supports major transmission system operators across Europe, including analysis for the UK's Department of Energy Security and Net-Zero, Norway's Statnett annual market analysis, German grid development planning for TransnetBW and Amprion, and Denmark's Energinet electricity supply security assessments.

The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Europe (ENTSO-E) used BID3 for its critical Bidding Zone Review, assessing electricity bidding zone configurations across Europe to ensure efficient market functioning and renewable energy integration.

“AFRY’s range of use cases demonstrate BID3’s ability to influence billion-dollar investment decisions and national energy policy using robust optimization powered by FICO technology,” said Nikhil Behl president, software at FICO. “That's the kind of impact that keeps me excited about what's possible when smart algorithms meet urgent global challenges.”

For its achievements, AFRY won the 2026 FICO® Decision Award for ESG Champion.
“AFRY have essentially created the 'GPS for net-zero'—a platform that navigates millions of variables to find optimal paths to clean energy,” said Déborah Oliveira, founder and editor-in-chief at IT Forum and one of the FICO Decision Awards judges. “The mathematics are reshaping energy policy at continental scale.”

About AFRY

AFRY is a leading global engineering, design, and advisory firm with around 18,000 employees operating in more than 40 countries. Headquartered in Sweden, AFRY works across Energy, Industry, and Infrastructure sectors, delivering advanced solutions to help clients transition to a sustainable, net-zero future. In 2024, AFRY reported net sales of 27 billion Swedish Krona (approximately USD 2.5 billion), with most revenue coming from private-sector clients in the Nordic region. Learn more at https://afry.com/en. 

About the FICO® Decision Awards

The FICO Decision Awards recognize organizations that are achieving remarkable success using FICO solutions. A panel of independent judges with deep industry expertise evaluates nominations based upon measurable improvement in key metrics; demonstrated use of best practices; project scale, depth and breadth; and innovative uses of technology. The 2026 judges are:

• Sam Abadir, research director, risk & compliance, IDC Financial Insights
• Shrimanth Adla, senior director, credit risk strategy and analytics, Comcast
• Manoj Agrawal, group editor, Banking Frontiers
• Courtney Haan, strategic payments experience manager, Velera (Previous Winner)
• Shelly Kramer, principal analyst at Kramer & Company and theCube Research
• Andy Lawrie, credit risk tech lead at Nationwide Building Society (Previous Winner)
• Lisa Morgan, technology journalist and contributor at InformationWeek
• Déborah Oliveira, founder and editor-in-chief at IT Forum

The winners of the FICO Decision Awards will be spotlighted at and win tickets to FICO® World 2026, May 19-22, 2026, at the Signia By Hilton hotel, Orlando, Florida.

About FICO

FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 200 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, insurance, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 80 countries do everything from protecting 4 billion payment cards from fraud, to improving financial inclusion, to increasing supply chain resiliency. The FICO® Score, used by 90% of top US lenders, is the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the US and has been made available in over 40 other countries, improving risk management, credit access and transparency.

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