Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I was the Head of business unit industrial batteries at Banner GmbH  Linz (AT) (2002 - 2024) and was mainly responsible for the following agendas in the Banner group:

• Leadership for the employees in the headquarters
• Leadership (technical) for employees in the sales subsidiary companies
• Budget- and operational results of the business unit
• Turnover of the group (central and subsidiaries)
• Development and training of the employees
• Logistics of the business unit
• Production- (assembling) and picking process
• Purchasing and strategic shipment (Cooperation)
• Development and implementation of the business unit strategy
• Promotion and marketing
• Support of OE customers and international key accounts
• Development of dealers (secondary importance)
• Development of the product and service portfolio
• Process development
• Positioning on the market (price, accomplishment, etc.)
• Salary models (for the headquarters and the subsidiaries)
• Investments in the headquarters, etc.

I was a member of the core and maintenance Group – Products in BT Industries Mjölby (SE) (2000 - 2002). The group members consisted of employees from four different organizations in Europe (UK, NL, SE, AT), BT Products, and BT Europe. I was responsible for the following activities for sales, purchasing, and materials logistics:

• Accommodation and improvement of the ERP system
• Test of system modification
• Training of local employees and key users in Europe
• Support of subsidiaries within Europe
• Analysis and preparation of updates as well as new Software installations
• Performing pilot projects, etc.

 
I also have experience in Administration, Sales, Purchasing, and stock management (trucks), as well as short-term logistics. Long-term rental at BT Österreich Marchtrenk (AT) (1992 - 2002), where I was involved in:                

• Project elaboration and calculation
• Support of the administration
• Mainly responsible for the ERP System (MOVEX)
• Responsible for the product-configuration tool (Invensys)
• Responsible for the CRM system (MEDEA)
• Training of employees (ERP and CRM System)
• Rental manager
• Responsible for statistics – for sales, long-term rental, etc. (internal and the group headquarters)
• Support of suppliers
• Responsible for the calculation and preparation of price lists
• Responsible for the stock management (new and used forklift trucks as well as demo and rental fleet)

Promotion/Marketing

• Responsible for the design, the emission, and the post-processing of direct mails (till the end of 2000).
• Web Manager – BT Austria: responsible for the relevance of the website

IT/IS

• Support of the workstations of BT Austria
• Support, service, and maintenance of the server (Windows NT)
• Analysis of the demand and design of the network
• AS400 administrator of BT Austria (creation of user and printer profiles, administration of access authority and data transfer authority, etc.)

 

Q2. What are the major segments within the innovative energy solutions market that are seeing the fastest growth and what factors are driving this growth?

• Battery Energy Storage (utility-scale & behind-the-meter)
• Distributed Solar PV (rooftop & C&I)
• EV Charging Infrastructure (fast & destination charging; some battery-swap ecosystems)
• Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs)
• Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) & Flexible Demand

 

Q3. How are policy shifts and international regulations influencing the development and deployment of green hydrogen, microgrids, and renewable energy infrastructure?

Policy and regulatory frameworks are some of the strongest determinants of how fast “next-wave” energy technologies move from pilots to scale (e.g. Standards & definitions)

 

Q4. How are advanced energy storage technologies (like next gen batteries and thermal storage) shaping priorities and strategies in sustainable energy solutions?

Advanced storage technologies are reshaping strategy from “build renewables first, figure out storage later” to “design integrated systems where storage is core.”

Short-term priority: Co-locating renewables with batteries for grid stability.

Medium-term: Scaling thermal and long-duration storage for industry and resilience.

Long-term: Building supply chains and market rules that let advanced storage displace fossil peakers, enable 24/7 clean power, and decarbonize heat-intensive sectors.

 

Q5. Who are the leading companies driving innovation in sustainable energy solutions, and what market share do they hold in AI-enabled energy management and advanced storage?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q6. How is the emergence of solid-state and sodium-ion batteries expected to reshape competitive dynamics among leading energy storage companies?

Sodium-ion will reshape stationary storage much sooner than solid-state, pushing costs down and shifting share toward Chinese cell OEMs (plus a few Western niche players), while solid-state will start as a premium EV play that gradually pressures high-end lithium chemistries rather than grid storage.

 

Q7. If you were an investor looking at companies within the space, what critical question would you pose to their senior management?

• What is your strategy to secure both technology leadership and bankable deployment at scale—specifically, how are you mitigating manufacturing risks?
• Supply-chain volatility and evolving regulatory definitions, while ensuring your solution remains cost-competitive against incumbents over the next 3–5 years?
• Is it possible to start with an production also in US - for the US market (plant, row material availibility, etc.)?
• Where do you sit on the cost curve relative to incumbent chemistries or EMS providers, and how fast can you close gaps
• How diversified are your revenue streams—are you a tech seller, a project developer, or do you capture recurring service revenue (software, optimization, O&M)?
• What are the top 1–2 risks that could prevent you from scaling, and what concrete steps are you taking to de-risk them?