Tiefenthal, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
I believe meaningful progress starts with asking better questions. Throughout my career, I’ve noticed that the problems reaching my desk were rarely the problems that actually needed solving. More often, they were symptoms of decisions, assumptions or processes made much earlier. I see recurring problems as signals, not tasks. Rather than asking how to solve them where they appear, I try to understand why they appear in the first place. I don’t wait for problems to reach me in finished form. I go looking for where they start. This way of thinking has influenced every role I’ve held, regardless of my formal responsibilities. While my experience spans grid connection, utility-scale renewables and battery energy storage systems (BESS), most of the value I’ve created didn’t come from solving problems well - it came from working upstream, before they became problems at all. I don’t believe every problem needs another process. But I do believe recurring problems deserve better questions. Sometimes the best solution isn’t improving the task itself - it’s understanding why that task keeps existing. If there’s one thing I hope people remember after working with me, it isn’t a project or a job title. It’s that together, we stopped asking who owns a problem, and started asking why it exists in the first place.
Joined Elgin during the launch of its German business, where grid connection was meant to be my core responsibility but quickly became the smallest part of what the role actually required. Most of my contribution happened upstream, supporting acquisition and project development before sites entered the pipeline. Rather than treating grid as a downstream approval step, I helped reposition it as the starting point for strategic decision-making: developing grid-first screening approaches, working with GIS specialists to improve location intelligence, and ensuring technical constraints were considered before land was secured. As the technical gate for grid viability, I screened several hundred potential sites and worked through an acquisition backlog of roughly 300 pre-projects, discontinuing around 80% that had no viable grid-connection route and passing qualified areas to the site-search team. My work supported utility-scale BESS projects from 50 MW to 500 MW within a German development pipeline approaching 2 GW. I led the grid-related workstreams within technical due diligence for project acquisitions, assessing grid compliance, certification readiness, infrastructure concepts and technical viability. I also contributed to project maturity criteria and supported quarterly board presentations on grid strategy and regulatory developments, including upcoming energy legislation. Beyond individual projects, I worked directly with TSOs, DSOs, engineering consultants and technology providers to strengthen technical decision-making and market understanding: including direct technical dialogue with organisations such as Amprion, product feedback to dvlp and Glint Solar, and initiating cross-country knowledge sharing between teams in Germany, Ireland and Italy. Looking back, the greatest value I created wasn't processing grid connection requests: it was helping improve the decisions that shaped them long before they reached my desk.
Joined GAIA to support its expansion from residential rooftop PV into commercial and industrial (C&I) renewable energy, bringing technical expertise in grid connection, certification and project delivery. Working across engineering, commercial and project execution, I helped establish technical standards, improve commercial processes and deliver larger renewable energy projects. Key responsibilities & achievements: • Supported the establishment of GAIA's C&I PV business, developing technical concepts and electrical designs for larger photovoltaic projects. • Rebuilt the internal EPC cost-and-quotation model from scratch, replacing an opaque legacy spreadsheet with transparent, traceable calculation logic. On the company's first major rooftop PV project (1.25 MWp) I identified a pricing lever that roughly tripled the originally planned margin: having tracked market price development over months, I made the case to the commercial Managing Director against internal resistance, and the pricing was accepted by the client without negotiation. • Developed PV and battery storage concepts, including protection schemes, certification requirements and grid connection strategies. • Resolved a critical interoperability issue between inverter control systems and utility communication requirements by coordinating the manufacturer, external software specialists and the network operator, enabling successful grid compliance testing and commissioning. • Coordinated certification activities and worked with suppliers, contractors, customers and engineering partners throughout project execution. • Onboarded and mentored two engineers who joined after me, taking them end-to-end from project layout and structuring through to commissioning, within a seven-person team. • Identified a critical construction-logistics risk during the permitting phase of a utility-scale PV project, preventing major execution constraints before final approval.
Joined Wircon to transition into utility-scale renewable energy, contributing to the technical development and execution of utility-scale photovoltaic projects across multiple European markets. My responsibilities evolved from technical engineering into project execution and stakeholder coordination, taking ownership of project development from early technical concepts through on-site construction support while working closely with engineering teams, utilities, contractors and external stakeholders. Key Responsibilities & Achievements • Supported the technical development of utility-scale photovoltaic projects across Germany, France, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands, contributing to plant layouts, technical concepts and engineering feasibility. • Developed preliminary plant layouts, electrical concepts and capacity assessments for greenfield solar developments. • Performed energy yield simulations using PVsyst following specialised training to support reliable project assessments. • Prepared, reviewed and optimised single-line diagrams, technical concepts and engineering documentation for utility-scale PV projects. • Provided on-site engineering and construction support for utility-scale PV projects in Germany and France, coordinating contractors, monitoring workmanship and ensuring technical quality. • Supported early-stage grid integration studies and technical discussions with transmission and distribution system operators to assess feasible grid connection concepts. • Supported the technical assessment of a large-scale commercial rooftop PV portfolio (~2,000 sites), including site screening, technical evaluations, document management and preliminary grid connection assessments. • Coordinated with engineering, finance, equipment suppliers, utilities and external stakeholders throughout project development and execution. • Contributed to technical component selection, engineering standardisation and design optimisation.
Over more than six years at EWA Elektrotechnik, I progressed from electrical manufacturing into commissioning, engineering and technical process improvement, building a strong foundation in electrical power systems, grid protection and critical energy infrastructure. By consistently taking ownership beyond my initial responsibilities, I drove higher engineering quality, standardisation and operational efficiency across multiple departments. Key responsibilities & achievements: • Started in electrical manufacturing, assembling switchgear and control systems for CHP plants and emergency power systems. • Performed FAT, commissioning, parameterisation and testing of switchgear, control systems and protection relays, including commissioning of systems in Germany, Austria, Canada and Russia. • Conducted grid protection testing in accordance with utility requirements and applicable grid codes. • Took on quality and testing-field responsibility assigned by management, coordinating testing activities, training new testing-field staff and apprentices, maintaining testing procedures and supporting delivery schedules. • Proactively identified engineering issues, corrected electrical schematics and reduced design iterations between engineering and manufacturing. • Introduced modular engineering principles, improving standardisation, engineering efficiency and design consistency. • Transitioned into engineering, developing electrical concepts and technical specifications in close coordination with CAD designers. • Conducted internal process audits across multiple departments and contributed to continuous improvement of company procedures and quality standards. • Developed a data-driven KPI and quality reporting system, enabling structured defect analysis and continuous process improvement.