The headlines were big in 2021 when Jochen Schwill and his business partner Hendrik Sämisch sold “their baby” to the oil company Shell. Together, they had founded Next Kraftwerke in 2009 and built it into one of the largest virtual power plants in Europe. Now, in 2023, Schwill has founded SpotmyEnergy, a new start-up that aims to shake up the market in the areas of energy management, smart metering and dynamic electricity tariffs.

What significance do offers like SpotmyEnergy's have for the energy transition? What motivated him to start all over again? And what appeals to him about the smart meter market, SpotmyEnergy's field of activity? He reveals this and more in the latest episode.

Timeline:

• 05:33 Next Kraftwerke was sold to Shell in 2021, and you finally left the company at the beginning of 2023. Do you often look back and follow the further development?
• 07:20 Every end is a beginning, as the saying goes. What prompted you to leave Next Kraftwerke and found your second start-up, SpotmyEnergy, just a few months later? What has changed since then, has it become easier or more difficult to found a start-up?
• 09:35 SpotmyEnergy has the German smart meter market as its business area. Why is that? And what exactly do you offer there?
• 18:41 Why do you think the smart meter rollout in Germany is progressing so slowly? How can this be changed?
• 16:15 The prices that metering point operators in Germany are allowed to charge their customers have so far been capped by law. How can competition be created and money earned in this way?

About The smarter E Podcast

The smarter E podcast is all about the current trends and developments in a renewable, decentralized and digital energy industry. Our moderators Tobias Bücklein and Zackes Brustik welcome and interview personalities who shape our industry and drive developments forward. A new episode is published every Thursday.

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About Jochen Schwill and SpotmyEnergy

Jochen Schwill is an energy enthusiast with a clear goal: 100% renewable energy. He was co-founder and managing director of Next Kraftwerke, one of the most successful German cleantech start-ups since the beginning of the energy transition. With the vision of greater market integration of renewables in mind, he built one of the largest virtual power plants in Europe. Now, with his new start-up SpotmyEnergy, he is focusing on the market integration of prosumers.

As a metering point operator and electricity trader, Spot my Energy forms a network of flexible electricity consumers and PV power producers. The start-up develops and implements smart meters and a system for optimizing energy consumption, energy generation and energy trading, which its customers can use themselves easily and profitably. This gives them full control over their energy: simply, accurately, promptly and profitably. Spot my Energy replaces outdated analog infrastructures with intelligent and digital tools for optimal control of energy consumption and generation.

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