Solarplaza Summit | Energy Storage Germany

As Team Leader for Flexibility Marketing, Harald Ott is responsible at VERBUND Energy4Business GmbH for the marketing of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as battery storage systems or small and medium size industrial flexibilities over VERBUND’s virtual power system, the VERBUND Power Pool on all short-term energy markets. The products range from the optimization of stand-alone and collocated battery storage systems to the optimization of power flexibility from consumption-sides, switched electrical loads, and/or decentralised generation units. Before working as Product Manager, Harald was working as Controller in VERBUND’s power trading subsidiary and at VERBUND Hydro Power. Education: University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Wiener Neustadt, Austria. Studies in Mechatronics /Microsystem Engineering. Master Graduation in 2011. University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien, Vienna, Austria. Studies in International Business and Engineering. Master Graduation in 2012.

Amanda has 9 years of experience as an energy consultant, energy analyst and economist with expertise in power markets and trading strategies for new energy types in Australia, Europe and the US. Amanda provided power market and energy risk management training to over 100 energy stakeholders throughout Europe, Australia and Asia. Amanda recently joined BKW to build the PPA business across Europe. Prior to joining BKW, Amanda worked for Pexapark as a Senior consultant specialised in commercial energy risk management. BKW is an integrated Swiss utility company: power producer, supplier, grid operator and energy services provider. It is one of the largest electricity producers in Europe providing more than one million customers with power and delivering approximately 30TWh of electricity annually across Europe. BKW Energie AG is actively offering renewable PPAs across Europe with key activities in Germany, France, Italy and the Nordics.

Dr.-Ing. Christian Folke (born 1 st July 1971), is an innovation manager at Uniper Energy Storage GmbH. He has a PhD in energy supply technologies and energy economics from the University of Essen, Germany, and has extensive experience in various fields of energy engineering, such as CHP (combined heat and power), CCS (carbon capture and storage), renewables, and energy storage. He has worked for different E.ON subsidiaries since 1999, holding various positions such as team leader, portfolio manager, technical officer, and technical coordinator. He has been involved in several European and international research projects and initiatives. He has also published numerous papers and reports on topics such as CHP, CO2 emissions avoidance, advanced cycle technologies, and power-to-gas. Christian lead battery storage projects that support renewable energy integration. Since May 2023 he is Head of Technology & Innovation at Uniper Renewables GmbH. He is fluent in German and English, and has elementary knowledge of French and Dutch. Christian lives in Germany, is married and has three daughters.

Anna von Bremen is Head of Energy Innovation at Osborne Clarke. She advises companies in the energy industry on regulatory and energy law issues and aspects of digitalisation in the energy sector. She also conducts complex regulatory litigation. Her clients include energy producers, energy trading houses, industrial offtakers and utilities.

J. Badeda was working as research associate for the Institute of power electronics and electrical drives (ISEA) from 2012 to 2017. During the last two years she headed the department of grid integration and storage systems analysis within the chair of Prof. Dirk Uwe Sauer. This research section is focusing on the possibility to integrate renewable energies in the future electricity grid through energy storage options. She has furthermore gained experiences with diverse testing of batteries in stationary and automotive applications. From May 2017 until December 2019 Ms. Julia Badeda lead the business development for stationary storage systems within the BatterieIngenieure GmbH and was general manager within the company. Since 2019 she heads the department for hybrid and battery storage systems within ABO Wind AG, where she develops technical and economic solutions for off-grid as wells as grid-tied renewable energy generation coupled with storage systems.

After completing his doctorate at the Chair of Theoretical Physics I at the University of Bayreuth in 2011, Mr. Bammert worked at the transmission system operator TenneT TSO GmbH in system management in the area of ​​international congestion management. After moving to TransnetBW GmbH at the beginning of 2015, he was responsible for cross-border redispatch in the network industry, among other things, before taking over management of the Non-Standardized Markets team in January 2020.

Right after passing exams as electrical engineer at RWTH Aachen University 1995 Heiner Breuer cofounded abakus solar AG and helped to develop the company from startup to an internationally acknowledged EPC and O&M service provider with a clear focus on high-quality solar PV assets. On the management board Heiner always had a focus on technology-related responsibilities like system development, engineering, quality control and asset management added with entrepreneurial aspects like sales, contract negotiations and stakeholder communication. In 2016 ENcome Energy Performance acquired abakus where he acted as CTO. From 2019 Heiner supported Edify Energy in Australia, focusing on utility-scale solar plus storage plants, as Technical Director. As of 2021 he is engaged as Senior Technical Expert as Obton, where he is leading the efforts to design future-proof “Solar+” power stations.

Florian Mayr, partner at Apricum, is an expert on strategy, business development and transaction advisory in the global renewable energy markets, including energy storage. Florian leads Apricum’s energy storage, green hydrogen and digital energy activities. In particular, he supports Apricum’s clients in successfully accessing new markets and seizing attractive business opportunities. He is also active in advising cleantech companies on corporate and project financing, including M&A, fund raising and due diligence. In addition, he is a regular contributor to external publications and a frequently booked speaker on the topic of energy storage. Prior to Apricum, Florian spent a decade in senior positions at McKinsey & Company and RWE, where he was mainly involved in strategy development projects both in the conventional and renewable energy sectors. Florian holds a master’s degree in engineering from the Technical University of Berlin, and an MBA from the Technical University of Berlin and the University of Mannheim.

Kilian Leykam is leading Aquila Capital’s battery storage investments in the EMEA region. Prior to that he was responsible for setting up the power markets and hedging activities at Aquila’s Merchant Market Desk. He has worked in the renewable energy sector since 2009. Before joining Aquila Capital in 2020, Kilian held various positions at Vattenfall Energy Trading, most recently he was heading the business development in the trading division, where he was responsible for strategy development, partnership management and corporate PPAs. Kilian holds a bachelor's degree in international affairs and a master's degree in economics from the University of St. Gallen.

Philipp Kalt holds an M.Sc. degree in Engineering and Economics from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, specializing in energy economics and technology. His academic focus included the integration of large-scale energy storage systems within electrical grids. At Kyon Energy, Philipp is part of the Business Development and Regulatory Affairs team, where he is responsible for grid economics, site analyses for future projects, and grid connection planning. He focuses on nationwide greenfield development in Germany, with a particular emphasis on grid topology considerations and optimizing energy storage site selection.

Jan Willem has over 20 years of experience in the energy market and worked for some of the larger utilities. Early 2020, Jan Willem sold his previous companies Greenspread and Greencrowd to private equity concern NPM Capital. Since his departure in October 2020, Jan Willem works as an independent consultant at Stratergy. Stratergy advises funds, banks, utilities, and large consumers and producers of energy and specializes in maximizing asset value and minimizing financial risk.

Corentin graduated in engineering at an engineering school in Paris (Ponts et Chaussées) and studied his master in sustainable energies at the Imperial College in London. Corentin has joined Clean Horizon in 2016 and is now partner, he is heading market analysis activities. As such, he acts as project manager on key market analysis projects as well as price forecasts efforts of the company. Additionally, Corentin is the commercial director of Clean Horizon.

Sam Wilkinson is a Research Manager for the Solar and Energy Storage Research group at IHS Markit (now part of S&P Global). During his time working within the group, Sam has been responsible for researching the PV inverter market and the PV module and poly-silicon supply chain working closely with leading global suppliers to develop detailed analysis on these markets. Sam has also been responsible for establishing primary research reports focusing on solar demand and policy, complementing IHS extensive research of the complete PV supply chain. Building on his experience in the solar research team, Sam established and now leads IHS Technology’s coverage of energy storage, covering a wide range of topics within this fast developing sector. Sam’s analysis and commentary is regularly published by leading PV and energy industry media and also the global press. He has also presented at many leading industry events and conferences. Before beginning his career at IHS Markit (now part of S&P Global), Sam worked as a Structural Engineer for one of Europe’s leading engineering firms. He graduated from The University of Nottingham with a degree in Engineering.

George is a Manager in JLL’s Energy & Infrastructure Advisory team specialising in M&A and capital raising across EMEA. Primarily focused within the UK & Ireland and Germany, he has advised on over 2GW of transactions across the asset lifecycle including BlackRock's maiden investment into a battery storage platform and the largest operational BESS disposal in Europe. This has led to the opportunity to work with clients such as Shell, Gresham House, SUSI Partners, Omers, Railpen, and Total Energies.

Oliver Schmidt is a clean energy expert with a particular focus on energy storage. He published the book Monetizing Energy Storage and launched the online analysis platform http://www.energystorage.ninja/ in 2023. He has previous experience as a project manager at the strategy and financial transaction advisory firm Apricum, where he supported top management with strategic advice in the energy storage, solar PV, and hydrogen industries. Oliver also worked as an energy analyst at the IEA and as a management consultant at E.ON. He has a PhD on the future cost and value of energy storage from Imperial College London.

Christoph Gardlo is the Co-Founder and COO of ESFORIN (Energy Services for Industry). The company’s core business is algorithm trading in intraday markets with clients’ flexibilities – helping companies to optimize energy costs and reduce significant amounts of CO2. Before becoming an independent energy entrepreneur, Christoph gained profound experience in the energy markets in various companies. In the 2000s he joined E.ON with focus on Marketing, later becoming Account Manager Power Station Sales. In 2010 he was Head of Gas Sales Germany at Cargill, then Head of Key Accounts Portfolioservices & International Sales at natGAS AG, before he became COO and Co-Founder of ESFORIN.

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Philipp is an Associate at Aurora Energy Research, where he is responsible for the analyses of the German flexibility and battery markets. He worked as a market advisor on numerous strategic studies for developers, investors, utilities, grid operators, and policymakers and played a crucial role in developing Aurora’s flexibility product for Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium Before joining Aurora, Philipp worked in power market analytics. He holds an MSc degree in Industrial Engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, with a focus on energy economics.

Michiel Lensink is the CEO of ETPA, a Power Exchange contributing to the energy transition with innovative energy trading solutions. Since assuming this role in May 2023, Michiel has been leading ETPA’s efforts to become a key player in the power sector. With over two decades of entrepreneurial experience, Michiel has successfully founded and led multiple companies in the technology and cleantech sectors. He is also a dedicated advisor and board member, mentoring startups on strategy, funding, and growth.

Laurent Talbot is Head of Energy Storage Germany at Statkraft, based in Düsseldorf. He led the feasibility study for Statkraft’s first co-located PV-BESS project in Germany, which was awarded a CfD at the Bundesnetzagentur “Innovation Auction”. Laurent joined Statkraft in 2017 to set up the market access and PPA business for French PV & Wind project developers. Prior to Statkraft, he held business development, sales and origination roles in market access, PV modules manufacturing and sustainability strategy, in Germany, the UK and Spain. He is passionate about accelerating the energy transition through innovation, and is a member of the Steering Committee of the German-French Office for the Energy Transition (DFBEW/OFATE). Laurent studied international business in France and in the US, and holds an MBA from the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin.

Mihaela has a strong background in managing high-stakes projects within a highly structured and regulated environment. Her responsibilities included coordinating interdisciplinary teams, ensuring the successful delivery of objectives under tight deadlines, and overseeing complex operational workflows. Driven by her passion for working in innovative and complex fields, she joined the Monsson Group, taking on the role of Head of Asset Management for Energy Storage Systems. In this role, she played a pivotal role in shaping and implementing optimal strategies for the operation of Monsson’s new energy storage assets, contributing to the company’s growing success in the energy storage sector.

Bryn Foulkes-Jones, Business Development Director at RelyEZ, has 17 years of extensive experience in the Renewable Energy Sector, with a proven track record across the entire value chain, including project development, quality assurance and control (QA/QC), and component supply. In his current role, Bryn oversees business development across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for RelyEZ. Throughout his career, Bryn has had the privilege of working in Europe, Asia, and Africa, bringing a wealth of international experience and strategic insight with him.

Since joining DKB in 2020, Thomas Osburg has specialized in project finance in the field of renewable energies. As Sales Manager, his focus is on structuring financing solutions for battery storage, photovoltaic and wind projects and building new customer relationships in the German market. He has a significant share in DKB's current BESS portfolio, which consists of over 25 transactions and around 590 MWh of capacity. Prior to joining DKB, he graduated from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with an MSc in Management.

Lars is the CCO of Entrix. He leads strategic partnerships and international growth at Entrix, contributing his experience to support Europe’s transition to sustainable energy. He is a seasoned economist whose career spans high-tech sectors, from automotive corporations to innovative scale-ups in Solar and Battery industries. Entrix is the leading provider and pioneer of multi-market optimisation for battery storage systems in Germany. The Munich-based company has been delivering market-leading performance for its clients since 2022 through its AI-powered trading platform, which dynamically markets battery storage across various energy markets. As an innovative full-service provider, Entrix offers not only automated trading but also comprehensive support in project implementation, technical integration, maintenance optimisation, and adaptation to new market opportunities to ensure the best long-term performance of an asset.

After graduation in Electronic Engineering in Italy at Bologna University, Lorenzo Paumgardhen starts his career in the telecom industry as pre-sales engineer for micro-wave systems, then moved to energy efficiency market as sales manager for power quality system manufacturer. Since 2018 is actively working in renewable sector, covering sales positions in multinational manufacturing companies with strong focus on power conversion and storage technologies.

André has been active in the energy sector since 2005, when he joined Delta Energy as a quantitative analyst on the trade floor. He also headed the analysis department and was instrumental in setting up optimization strategies for PZEM’s assets. After a period of a year at DNWG, the network operations company of Delta, where he optimized resource planning, he returned to the trade floor to manage the Asset Optimization team and later became manager of Trading and Asset Optimization. André has represented PZEM in various roles for PZEM's assets, including a nuclear power plant, CCGT, CHP, biomass power plant and an offshore wind farm. In his different roles, André built up a wealth of knowledge on trading, portfolio management, and energy operations, as well as Remit, market rules and best practices.

Having worked in various technological domains such as Cyber Security, Telecom, and Renewable Energy, Ariel's expertise extends across a spectrum of technologies, with a particular emphasis on Software as a Service (SaaS). At enSights, Ariel envisions revolutionizing how Owners and Managers oversee their renewable assets. Through innovative automation, enSights empowers its customers to significantly reduce operational expenses while enhancing operational efficiency by an impressive 7.8%. With the power of artificial intelligence, enSights and Ariel are committed to propel the clean energy industry into a sustainable future.

Oscar joined Centrica in 2017 in Antwerp at the former REstore as a data scientist, focusing on price prediction and steering algorithms for flexible assets and batteries. Over time, he shifted his focus towards trading, optimizing the collaboration between traders and algorithms. ​ Currently, he leads the Trading Analytics team within Short-Term Asset Trading. He relocated to Denmark last year to work more closely with the trading team and expand his scope to include renewable trading activities across Continental Europe and UK.​ ​Before joining Centrica, Oscar worked as an algorithm researcher for demand response applications. He holds a master in Energy Engineering and Artificial Intelligence from the KU Leuven in Belgium

Nicola is the Director of Portfolio and Transactions at Vattenfall, where she oversees the Solar & Battery portfolio. This includes both co-located hybrid and stand-alone systems across several key markets such as the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Her department serves the interface between the renewables development unit, Vattenfall’s trading house, and external M&A partners. In this collaboration, they drive the value optimization for Vattenfall’s solar and battery projects by staying ahead of market trends and adapting to ever-evolving regulatory frameworks. Together with her team, Nicola navigates complex market risks, secures revenues, and drives the portfolio strategy to ensure the long-term profitability of these critical renewable energy assets. Through close collaboration with both internal teams and external stakeholders, they ensure that Vattenfall remains at the forefront of solar and battery value creation, contributing significantly to the company’s transition towards fossil freedom.

Smart energy and grid-scale battery storage are at the core of Leandra’s professional journey. As Director of Asset Management at green flexibility, she manages assets throughout their lifecycle. This includes optimising financial and technical operations, ensuring assets' profitability, and extending operational lifespans. By closely managing partnerships with optimisers, Leandra oversees efficient trading, driving the success of green flexibility's grid-scale energy storage systems. She previously advanced AI-driven trading platforms for battery storage at Entrix, developing strategies and exploring innovative markets. Earlier, Leandra contributed to pioneering energy projects and companies at sonnen and green fortress. Her research at the University of Münster on algorithms for optimising grid-scale battery storage for intraday markets laid the groundwork for her professional career. With a background in Information Systems and Sustainable Energy, Leandra blends academic knowledge and practical expertise to propel the energy transition.

Dee Yon Chng (pronounced Dion) is a project manager for Solarplaza spearheading the following events in chronological order: Agri-PV 2023, Floating-PV 2023, Energy Storage Spain 2023, Romania 2024, France 2024. Prior to Solarplaza she helped co-found a "floating" coaching company, and worked as sustainability consultant. She is a strong believer in knowledge sharing around sustainability topics, with 10 years of chairman experience in facilitating a collaborative and fruitful discussion.