Dr. Johannes Teyssen, member of E. ON's Board of Management, at the JARA-ENERGY Talks

Dr. Johannes Teyssen, Chairman of the Board of Management of E. ON SE, spoke to his audience last Thursday in a charming, approachable and pointed speech. In the context of the JARA-ENERGY Talks, the energy expert was given the framework to talk about a central theme of the energy transition. Around 120 listeners, including many citizens, scientists and representatives of industry, listened to his speech and then asked questions on the subject.

The existential question of the future
Which is probably one of the most important questions of societies worldwide? For Johannes Teyssen, it is clearly the energy question. In the past, foreign policy was strongly dominated by energy policy issues: The reliable supply of oil and gas to a country depended on whether the right countries were allies or not. Today foreign policy has changed. Electricity supply can be guaranteed by the expansion of volatile and privately operated energy sources. The dependence on the oil states has been broken down. Nevertheless, the energy transition has not yet been completed. Conventional energy sources such as coal are still the main sources for energy. In addition, surplus electricity is sold abroad at low prices.

Innovations are the central factor for success
Teyssen has clear words and demands about how the energy revolution can be achieved. Innovations are the best solutions for the E. ON CEO. However, innovations require more than just a good idea. The responsibility lies not only in the political sphere, but also in energy and technology companies and science. An innovative energy system can only be realized if they work together. Service and customer orientation are two keywords to be taken into account. The society is currently uncertain about the energy turnaround. Major investments have already been made to make electricity "green", but the failure of efforts is being propagated in the media. With these reports, confidence in the energy transformation has also diminished, as CO2 emissions have not actually fallen over the past four years. Dr. Teyssen cannot share this negative point of view, but he sees significant potential for improvement.

The transformation of energy systems - a joint project
Politicians must courageously and sustainably pursue the energy transition. Incentive for change must also be provided. This also includes the introduction of a new CO2-price and investment incentives for the smart grids of tomorrow. The focus should be on customer benefit. New business models should be developed on this basis.  Similarly, technology companies would have to separate themselves from subsidies and also take account of customer wishes. Closer cooperation with science is another important element for the new energy system. That is why Johannes Teyssen advocates closer cooperation between science and industry.

Pictures: © ISEA/RWTH Aachen University

JARA-ENERGY Talks
The "JARA-ENERGY Talks" are a joint event series of the RWTH institutions Research Campus Flexible Electrical Networks (FEN), E. ON Energy Research Center (E. ON ERC) and Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) as well as the RWTH Aachen and the Forschungszentrum Jülich as part of the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA). The aim is to provide information on the state of research and development in the field of energy system and all components. In addition, the JARA-ENERGY Talks offer a platform to meet with leading personalities from the energy industry.

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