Welcome to the latest edition of our CEO Talks. Today, we are discussing sustainability and efficiency in the energy sector, a topic of great importance as the world confronts the challenges of global warming and energy transition. To delve into this subject, TTTech CEO and co-founder Georg Kopetz is joined by Tobias Birsak, the new Managing Director of TTTech ZYNE, a joint venture with VERBUND that is offering a real-time platform that acts as a bridge between energy suppliers and their industrial customers. Tobias holds a law degree from the University of Vienna and a Master of Advanced International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna.
While traditional energy management systems have been the industry standard for years, TTTech ZYNE is pioneering a more sophisticated approach with their real-time platform. This innovative solution transcends the limitations of conventional systems by creating dynamic, bidirectional connections between energy suppliers and industrial customers in real-time. Unlike legacy systems that operate only "behind the meter," TTTech ZYNE's platform works both behind and in front of the meter, enabling new business models through secure data exchange. By transforming high-resolution energy data into actionable insights, the platform helps organizations turn energy from a mere cost factor into a strategic asset, allowing participants to capitalize on price fluctuations in volatile energy markets while reducing costs and improving operational efficiency.
Georg, could you start by explaining why TTTech decided to co-found TTTech ZYNE and what you aim to achieve with this venture?
Georg: We co-founded TTTech ZYNE in response to the urgent need for decarbonization and energy transformation. The world is heating up, and we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. TTTech ZYNE aims to provide innovative energy management solutions to help industrial customers manage their energy more efficiently and sustainably – in close cooperation with energy suppliers
Tobias, what role can the electricity sector play in supporting this transformation, and what trends do you see at the center of this change?
Tobias: First of all, thank you for having me. It's a great pleasure to be part of the TTTech family and to talk about our new venture, TTTech ZYNE. Regarding your question, the electricity sector has a crucial and central role in the energy transition because everything is becoming electric. The mobility sector, heating, and everything still based on fossil fuels are becoming electric. On the other hand, the electricity sector itself needs to decarbonize.
As you know, a lot of electricity is still generated from fossil fuels, which are very stable energy sources. The only sources almost as stable are nuclear and hydro, but even hydro depends on water flow, which might become scarce if the world heats up further.
This presents a huge challenge for the electricity sector, which also manages all the infrastructure needed to address these issues. The main challenge is volatility because renewables like solar and wind depend on the weather, and you cannot control the weather.
This inherent volatility in generation and the strain on the system, as everything becomes electric, means the old infrastructure might not hold up. But this also means the electricity sector is in a key position. If we want to change the world in terms of energy, we need to change the electricity sector first.
Georg, do you think utilities are convinced of sustainability and decarbonization, or do you see noticeable shifts in some energy companies?
Georg: The European Commission is determined to keep European companies and utilities on course for the green twin or triple transformation. Even though you can read in the press that some big players are moving back to petroleum. There's a refocus, a renaissance of the fossil industry, but in my opinion, we – and I think large parts of our European society agree - need to stick to sustainability. That's really important.
Tobias: The energy sector is diverse. On the electricity side, everyone understands the importance of sustainability, and there is also business to be made. However, on the fossil fuel side, there has been some backtracking. Traditional oil companies started investing in renewable ventures but are now partially selling them again. Despite this, the decarbonization trend is clear and will continue. So yes, we see that those two worlds seem to drift apart again. It might also be related to the gas prices, which increased over time. We are mostly addressing the electricity utilities in our business, but we think that the development is clear and the decarbonization train will not stop.
Georg: At TTTech, we are strong believers in decarbonization and sustainability. This belief existed even before we co-founded TTTech ZYNE, and it is evident in our actions. Some of you might ask, where does this conviction come from? One of the founders of this company was my father, Hermann Kopetz, and his brother, Heinz Kopetz, is a big promoter of sustainable and decarbonized energy systems. He has written many books and papers and was also the president of the European and World Biomass Foundation. One of his books, "Paris, What's Next?" was written about 10 years ago when we started our business with Vestas. At that time, we agreed on achieving a CO2-neutral economy in terms of emissions. In more detail, the signatory nations agreed that in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030. We are continuing our partnership with Vestas, one of our lead customers, in the wind energy industry. More than 10,000 Vestas wind turbines with TTTech Industrial’s scalable distributed control system have already been deployed and every year, thousands of turbines with this control system are added to Vestas’ fleet. They are generating green electricity for ten of millions of households every day.
We are also working with our TTTech Flexibilis team in the area of substation automation using HSR/PRP network protocols to help digitalize substations, another important sector for the energy transition. We are actively investing in AI at the edge, enabling machine learning and AI on our edge systems on our planet, which is also one of the foundation technologies of TTTech ZYNE. These technologies also help reduce and optimize energy consumption. Electrification is a key theme for the off-highway industry, and batteries are becoming more affordable, allowing for better energy and electricity storage. We are pushing forward, and also my uncle continues to push forward. He recently wrote a new book about Austria 2040 without oil and gas, so we should make it a reality by then.
Now, we would like to introduce VERBUND as our strategic partner for TTTech ZYNE. Why did we choose VERBUND? Because VERBUND is a very progressive company, a leader in renewable energy and hydropower, and is also developing many other projects in Spain and other parts of the world with wind and solar power. VERBUND is an optimal partner because they believe in green transformation, and both VERBUND and TTTech believe in the triple transformation: decarbonization, digitalization, and affordable energy prices, which are very important for our societies.
We are following a principle we have followed previously. Many of you know about our successful venture with Audi in the automotive sector. VERBUND is now another important partner for us as we move into a new sector: energy management systems.
Tobias, could you elaborate on the role of technology and digital innovations at TTTech in transforming the energy sector? Specifically, how do you foresee the digitalization of the energy and electricity sectors, and how does our new venture, TTTech ZYNE, in partnership with VERBUND, contribute to this transformation?
Tobias: TTTech has been using advanced technologies to make the energy sector more efficient and digital for many years. It's great to continue this tradition, and it's important to note that this is not new for TTTech. Digitalization is a key enabler for the energy transition. Everyone talks about the twin transition, where both the energy transition and the digital transition are happening simultaneously. However, these two worlds are still quite separate in practice. Batteries are perfect for flexibility. You can use them to generate, consume, and store energy whenever you want. However, to use flexibility effectively, you need accurate and timely data. The data available now, in Austria and Germany, is typically only a 15-minute average from local installations. When energy companies talk about real-time, they often mean that a second would be great, not 15 minutes.
Georg: For TTTech, this is noteworthy because historically, TTTech is a real-time company. TTTech talks about milliseconds or microseconds. Real-time data is key to using the flexibilities in the system. In the energy sector, real-time data updates every few seconds or minutes, which is fast for energy management. TTTech, however, operates in control systems with data processed in milliseconds or microseconds, crucial for industries like aerospace and automotive, where immediate responses are necessary for safety and efficiency. This distinction emphasizes TTTech's advanced capabilities in handling highly precise and rapid data processing
Tobias: What we provide as TTTech ZYNE is exactly a very secure, very robust platform based on TTTech Industrial's Edge operating system and middleware NERVE but also consisting of a strong cloud component. We use all the data from industrial installations, such as big manufacturing companies and logistics companies, to provide it to the energy sector. This real-time data can then be used to optimize the system. This involves trading and optimization within the so-called balancing groups, which are the basic units of the energy system. Data is one thing, and we also provide the option to control the flexibilities.
Tobias, how does TTTech ZYNE bridge the gap between energy-intensive industrial customers and utilities, and what makes it special in this ecosystem?
Tobias: Many companies, especially startups, have discovered that energy needs to be managed and that software and digital solutions can help. However, almost all of them focus exclusively on what we call behind the meter, such as company installations or residential areas. But their perspective ends at the transfer to the grid system. We look beyond this meter and focus a lot on front of the meter cases.
And this involves the utility, especially the supplier, and possibly the grid operator, who can help the industrial company, the energy-intensive company, by using and optimizing their flexibilities to basically save costs and make their system more efficient. That's one thing. But at the same time, because the utility doesn't only have one customer but many, it also optimizes the overall system. This, in turn, helps stabilize the grid and benefits us all.
Georg: We'd often say grid-compliant performance. The evolution of electric cars has seen a strong increase this year, providing a strain on the grid but also an opportunity for TTTech ZYNE’s solution. You could use cars to store energy or charge them in a grid-compliant way. I've heard a lot about bidirectional charging. Once deployed at scale, it will be an important accelerator.
Subscribe to our newsletterand receive CEO updates directly to your inbox
Tobias, how does the evolution of electric cars and bidirectional charging play into TTTech ZYNE's strategy?
Tobias: It's interesting to think about electric vehicles as batteries on wheels. They can serve the same function as stationary batteries in homes or companies. Bidirectional charging is a bit of a hype today and is even mentioned in the Austrian government program. We see this as a gamechanger. So, when electric vehicles scale to an extent that they really provide significant flexibility, that's the big game changer. Then we also don't need stationary batteries anymore.
Georg: Or less, because I think the more flexibility we have, the better we can optimize the system.
Tobias: The only question here is, when will we have the regulatory framework, and when will we have the business models that can really generate the money? These are big questions, and many smart people have tried to figure this out over the years. But once we do, there will be a lot of value in this. And of course, we want to capture this and not leave it to anyone else.
Georg, why did TTTech decide to co-founded TTTech ZYNE, and how does the partnership with VERBUND enhance the value proposition for your industrial customers and utilities? Additionally, can you explain the recent divestment of TTTech Auto to NXP and its impact on your strategic focus?
Georg: Because we believe in the transformation of this industry. The industry needs digital solutions to help in this transformation. And I think the combination of TTTech and VERBUND offers a very strong value proposition for our industrial customers and other utilities that can adopt the solution. We want to do this in a very open and very ecosystem- friendly way.
Earlier this year, we announced that we would divest our stake in TTTech Auto to NXP, a strong European semiconductor company. This is part of our portfolio optimization, but we might return to automotive with bidirectional charging.
NXP is an optimal partner to scale these solutions, and TTTech continues to pioneer new innovations. TTTech ZYNE is a new solution for the industry, and we are excited to collaborate with VERBUND and other partners.
Tobias. For our customers, it would be interesting to know when they can buy the TTTech ZYNE product and how to get it. When is the launch, and whom can they contact?
Tobias: We will launch our first product in May at the INTERSOLAR fair in Munich, a major trade fair in the energy sector. The product will be called Industrial Cloud and Supplier Cloud, bringing these two sides together. If you want to buy or subscribe to the product, it’s a SaaS – Software as a Service solution. You will be addressed by our marketing, so you won’t miss it. If you are already a TTTech customer and interested in the product, please visit our website, click on the email provided, or reach out to us personally or through your key account manager. They will give you the contacts you need.
As a final question, Tobias and Georg, what is your vision for the future of energy management and how TTTech ZYNE is pioneering this transformation?
Tobias: The future of energy management lies in integrating advanced technologies and digital solutions. TTTech ZYNE is at the forefront of this transformation, helping industrial customers and utilities optimize their energy use, reduce costs, and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Georg: TTTech ZYNE will play a significant role in transforming the energy sector by providing innovative and sustainable solutions. Our partnership with VERBUND allows us to leverage their expertise in renewable energy and our technological capabilities. We are committed to driving decarbonization, digitalization, and affordable energy prices
Thank you, Georg and Tobias, for this insightful discussion and for sharing your bold vision on how TTTech ZYNE is transforming the relationship between the energy sector and industry. We are excited to witness how your real-time platform creates new pathways for collaboration, orchestrates flexibility, and unlocks new economic potential for both energy suppliers and industrial customers.
