E.ON Group Innovation

Driving change and scaling impact with Free Electrons!   This month we've wrapped up an incredible finale to this year's Free Electrons Program, hosted by E.ON in #Hamburg, where the energy sector’s most innovative #startups showcased their solutions.   With this year’s edition of #FreeElectrons behind us, I want to highlight that at E.ON we are focused on innovation with a purpose. Our goal is to identify real-world solutions that address the most pressing challenges. The true value of innovation lies in its impact: only when it reaches our operations, our networks and our customers can we say we've succeeded. In today's connected world, collaboration with partners that share the same mission is essential to a successful energy transition. #FreeElectrons is an important starting point for forging strong, long-term partnerships with start-ups whose solutions bring real value to our customers and align with our mission to drive the energy transition.   A big thank you to the Free Electrons community, the entire E.ON Group Innovation team and all the amazing startups who participated. And last but not least, congrats to this year's Startup of the Year: reLi Energy.   Watch the video below with Thomas Birr, Christof Kortz & me to learn more about how Free Electrons fuels our innovation journey and E.ON's unique role in this collaborative ecosystem! 👇   #Innovation #CleanEnergy #EON #EnergyTransition #Sustainability #Collaboration  

📢 Calling students from RWTH Aachen University! Are you about to complete your studies and eager to explore exciting career opportunities in a rapidly evolving field? Look no further! Join us at the E.ON career event this Wednesday, October 30th, at E.ON Energy Research Center Get to know different E.ON units, like E.ON Group Innovation, Westenergie and E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions among others, find out what we do and what you could do by joining the team! Discover the diverse career paths that await you at E.ON and explore positions that align with your unique skills and interests. 💡 📅 When? October 30th, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 📍 Location: E.ON Energy Research Center @ RWTH Aachen, Mathieustr. 10, 52074 Aachen Our colleagues Katharina Tünnerhoff from #EONGroupInnovation, Nicola Schippers, Leander Kolb, Daniel Oberheide from #EONSE, Dr. Lukas Spitalny from #EONEnergyNetworksGermany and Maike Seelhöfer and Sina Erben from #Westenergie are looking forward to meeting you in #Aachen! #EON #CareerOpportunities #EnergyIndustry #RWTHAachen #EONResearchCenter

Every year the E.ON Strategy Summit brings together E.ON's strategy community from across Europe. After Essen and Malmö, this year’s edition took place in #Munich at the #Werkviertel. Have a look at the video to catch up on all the highlights of this year's summit! Thank you to all the participants, speakers Thomas Birr, Mark Ritzmann, Dr. Egon Leo Westphal, Max Zeumer, Nadja Bodziony, all breakout session holders & everyone who worked behind the scenes - see you at #EONStrategySummit 2025!

Free Electrons 2024 was an incredible journey of innovation, collaboration, and business transformation. Here is a recap of how startups, utilities, and experts from more than 15 countries worked together to explore groundbreaking solutions pushing the boundaries of clean energy, sustainability, and technology. Thanks to all participants for setting a new standard in the industry and paving the way for a greener tomorrow! Apply Now for the 9th edition: https://lnkd.in/grGa-zz4 CLP, EDP, E.ON, ESB, Hydro Québec, JERA Co., Inc., Origin Energy Advanced Infrastructure, Allye, Axle Energy, Energy Robotics, enjoyelec, GridWrap, Inc., Kestrix, Mixergy Ltd, MOOST, Over Easy Solar, Pix Force, QEA Tech, REBLADE, reLi Energy, tepeo #FreeElectrons #GrandFinale #EnergyTransition

Milestone in the field of bidirectional charging: On Wednesday, we presented the German Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck with proposals for regulatory adjustments that we developed together with 150 industrial companies from 9 countries. Part of this Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz funded "Coalition of the Willing" were companies along the entire value chain of #bidirectionalcharging, including BMW Group Mercedes-Benz USA KOSTAL Group The Mobility House and TenneT. We are all united by one goal: we want to use the millions of electric cars to store green energy in their large batteries and release it again as required. This will enable us to compensate for fluctuations in energy consumption and the volatile electricity feed-in from solar systems, for example. An important step on the way to the energy transition. Our Head of eMobility Dr. Lioudmila Simon led the ‘Energy/Grids’ working group, which aimed to identify specific barriers and develop solutions from the perspective of the energy market and grids. A particular success: we agreed on the data list, which is shared openly and without discrimination by the players along the entire value chain through standardised communication in order to enable the scaling of the technology in a technology-open manner. A special thanks to Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz for the initiative and to Leo Birnbaum for his support. At E.ON, we continue to work in the Coalition of the Willing to accompany the implementation of the measures. #energytransition #mobilitytransition #itsonus

Seit letztem Dezember haben wir intensiv gearbeitet – gestern durfte ich das Ergebnis dieser Arbeit an Bundeswirtschaftsminister Robert Habeck überreichen: Hier sind unsere Vorschläge für den regulatorischen Rahmen beim direktionalen Laden in Deutschland und in Europa. Das Papier, das ich zusammen mit vielen anderen unterzeichnenden Unternehmen überreicht habe, kann die Energiewende entscheidend vorantreiben. Unsere Chance: Wenn wir es schaffen, dass Millionen von E-Autos grüne Energie in ihren großen Batterien speichern und je nach Bedarf wieder abgeben, können wir Schwankungen im Energieverbrauch und die volatile Stromeinspeisung, etwa durch Solaranlagen, ausgleichen. Auch dem Kunden bringt bidirektionales Laden viele Vorteile.   Wir haben uns bei E.ON deshalb gerne in die vom Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz ins Leben gerufene „Coalition of the Willing bidirektionales Laden“ aktiv eingebracht, in der 150 europäische Industrieunternehmen aus neun Ländern beteiligt waren. Für E.ON Group Innovation durfte ich als eine der drei Co-Chairs die Arbeitsgruppe „Energy/Grids“ leiten, die das Ziel hatte, aus der Perspektive Energiemarkt und Netze konkrete Barrieren zu identifizieren und Lösungen zu entwickeln.   Unsere Vorschläge, etwa die Befreiung von Steuern, Abgaben und Umlagen bei zwischengespeichertem Strom um die Wirtschaftlichkeit des bidirektionalen Ladens zu ermöglichen, Standardisierung der Technik und branchenübergreifender Datenaustausch sowie Gewährleistung der Netzdienlichkeit. Umso mehr würden wir uns wünschen, dass konkrete Umsetzungsschritte noch in dieser Legislaturperiode vorangebracht werden.   Herzlichen Dank an all unsere Partner in der Coalition of the Willing, insbesondere an Alexander Gaytandjiev, Christian Adelhardt, Christoffer Enggaard, Wolfgang Duschl, Dr. Egon Leo Westphal, Nolting, Lea von Guttenberg, Alexander Funke, Serge Subiron, Eric Scheuerle, Joe Matta, Claas Bracklo, Marcus Fendt, Frank Spennemann, Thomas Moskal und besonders Michael Blohm, Birgit Hofmann und Doris Johnsen.   Wir werden unsere Arbeit in der Coalition fortsetzen, um die Implementierung der Vorschläge zu begleiten. 

🔌 Embracing the Future of Energy Reporting 🔌 The EU's new #CSRD Directive is changing the game for how companies report their electricity consumption. Beyond the traditional "green electricity" method (market-based), businesses now need to account for the actual energy mix at each location (location-based). This shift brings new challenges—but also exciting opportunities for innovation. For a recent episode of #Birchtalks, our Senior Innovation Manager 💡 Torsten Dahmen joined the conversation to dive into the game-changing CSRD Directive, its impact on energy reporting and how E.ON is tackling and overcoming it. Join Torsten, Stephan Noller, CEO of UBIRCH GmbH and Dr. Mathias Schindl as they explore how businesses can adapt to the new dual-reporting requirements and what it means for sustainability. 💡🌱   Watch the full conversation now 🎥👇 #EnergyInnovation #Sustainability #GreenEnergy #DigitalTransformation https://lnkd.in/g3kfU4xU

With the Open Day last Thursday, we concluded the 8th edition of the Free Electrons Program. I truly enjoyed the spirit of #collaboration, meeting so many of our partners and friends, and celebrating the successes of the program. E.ON alone has already signed deals with seven startups from this year´s program. In total, with our Free Electrons partners, we have reached around 40 signed POC agreements in 2024. This is an outstanding result! Now, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation 🙏 1. To all the startups from this year’s program: Thank you for your passion, great ideas, and persistence. 2. To our Free Electrons Partners (Hydro Québec, EDP, JERA Co., Inc., ESB, CLP, Origin Energy): Thank you for the great collaboration, your open minds, and for being our allies in the energy transition. 3. To the Beta-i • collaborative innovation team: Thank you for your support throughout the year and for taking care of the many details in the background. 4. To the team of inspiranten GbR: Thank you for organizing an amazing Grand Finale and Open Day. 5. To all speakers and panelists from the Grand Finale and Open Day: Thank you for sharing your views and for inspiring us. 6. And last, but not least, to the entire E.ON Group Innovation team and all E.ON colleagues & business units: Thank you for jointly exploring new solutions, opportunities and POC projects and your support during the whole program. Your work and collaborative spirit help driving the #energytransition forward. I am excited to continue our journey and look forward to the Free Electrons Program in 2025. #Applications are already open! 👉 Check the link in the comments.

❓𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐀𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡? At E.ON's recent #StrategySummit in Munich, I had the pleasure to host a breakout session together with Ulli. It was a great opportunity to discuss the transformative potentials of #GenAI for (and beyond) our industry and for the role of strategists. We tackled 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬: 🤯 The 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐀𝐈 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐦 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭: GenAI can help strategists see what they may be missing ("unknown unknowns" etc.) thanks to its "outside-in" perspective, but it comes with limitations - it’s great for surfacing challenges, but it’s still tied to the past through historical data. 🚀 E.ON Group Innovation's 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐀𝐈 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦: With 9 pilots already launched, we're working Group-wide with business units and our global #innovation ecosystem to drive meaningful AI solutions across the organization. These aren’t abstract ideas; they’re real, impactful use cases. It made me proud to share the #learnings from our ongoing program. 🛠️ 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬-𝐨𝐧 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬: We took a practical deep dive into how GenAI can augment strategic thinking. From Strategic Planning to Business Model Innovation and Competitive Intelligence, we ran live prompting exercises to showcase how this #tech can accelerate strategic decision-making cycles. 🎯 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲: GenAI tools like #ChatGPT augment, but don’t replace, your strategic thinking. "𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 = 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭" - applying the right prompting techniques brings desired results (for which we also brought handy cheat sheets...) This #event was another steppingstone in our larger endeavor of driving organizational #change towards GenAI readiness. I’m excited for the follow-ups that will turn these insights into real outcomes with my colleagues. Radek Adamec Harry Moser Artur Stawiarski Marie Fuchs Branislav Susila Pietro Giuseppe Stamati Andreas Richter Mark Ritzmann Christof Kortz Thomas Birr & more!

These are exciting times in the #energy industry and many challenges lie ahead. The Free Electrons Program is another successful example of a format where we find promising #solutions to implement innovative technologies in the E.ON Group. At the Open Day last week, E.ON's COO Digital and Innovation Victoria Ossadnik, ESB's Deputy Executive Marguerite Sayers and EDP's CEO Innovation António Coutinho discussed how best to use the benefits of the #FreeElectrons programme to tackle the #Scaling Challenge. Check out their thoughts! Thanks to all the Free Electrons startups for sharing their views on our challenges! #FreeElectrons2024 #energyinnovation