Janina Hippler-Nettlau, Director of Project Execution at Malta Inc. “We need energy storage if we want to optimize our renewable energy generation, avoid wasting curtailed energy, and ensure we have a reliable grid and energy supply on demand.”
Janina Hippler-Nettlau agreed to sit down with Kurt Geiger, Senior Director of Human Resources, at Malta Inc. to discuss her career and what makes the work Malta Inc. is doing so important. Janina has had the opportunity to move around within Malta Inc., which has provided her with a unique opportunity to learn and grow within the organization. We wanted to learn more about Janina and her perspectives on our business and energy storage as key to the global energy transition.
Janina joined Malta Inc. in 2019. She began her professional journey with a master's degree equivalent in mechanical engineering from the University of Stuttgart. During her studies, Janina already focused her attention towards the solar industry, conducting research projects in Germany and Spain. After graduating in 2008, Janina began her professional career in the USA.
Before joining Malta Inc., Janina Hippler-Nettlau specialized in the concentrated solar power industry. Janina worked with Abengoa in the US, where she advanced from an R&D Engineer to various roles involving testing, commercialization, construction supervision, and operation and maintenance of solar thermal power plants. At Abengoa, Janina led significant projects and supervised engineering and construction activities for both the Solana Generating Station (280 MW, 6 hours of molten salt storage) in Arizona and the Mojave Solar Project (280 MW) in California. With a robust background in the renewables industry, Janina has built a career marked by progressive roles and impactful contributions.
Janina Hippler-Nettlau
KG: Were climate and environmental issues always important to you?
JHN: I grew up in a very environmentally friendly household where we avoided plastic wherever possible, bought almost all food locally produced from the farmers' market, and spent much time appreciating nature. With my constant thoughts on saving electricity and water at home, I can say that climate and environmental issues have always been important to me. I became especially interested in renewable energy generation early on, and when I was 18, I decided to build concentrated solar thermal power plants, which I did ten years later.
KG: What skills or insights have you gained by working internationally?
JHN: Both in my previous work with Abengoa and now with Malta Inc., I found myself often in a middle position between working groups of different countries. There are various customs and working and communication styles in other countries, and I have seen a lot of misunderstandings, sometimes causing resentment, which hinders collaboration and productivity. I learned that it is important to understand both sides and adapt to the customs of the various groups. Then, it is much easier to introduce new thoughts instead of forcing them in a different, uncustomed way right from the beginning.
KG: After a long time with Abengoa, you must have been selective for your next career move. What drew you to Malta Inc.?
JHN: With Abengoa, I fulfilled my dream of building concentrated solar power plants, and towards the end, I was stationed at an operating power plant for over four years. This was a good time to start my family, but then I was ready to look for a new career path/area that would interest me as much as solar power and wasn't limited to remote desert areas. Of course, I wanted to stay in the energy field, which had to be renewable and support the environment. Energy storage appeared as the next challenge to overcome to enable the buildout of more renewable generation. It helped that I was already familiar with molten salt storage through the Solana Generating Station and knew of Malta Inc. from a colleague, who I previously worked for at Abengoa and who was then a consultant for Malta Inc. Knowing that both a colleague and Michael Geyer, who I had never worked with but have always heard many good things about throughout my solar career, supported Malta and its technology convinced me that that was the right next step. Malta Inc. as a startup gave me the chance to be there early on to see the development of a company and technology almost from the beginning. The size and stage of Malta allowed everyone to expand their experience and learning and thus created opportunities to contribute into many aspects of the company outside of my official role.
KG: You initially joined Malta Inc. in the US. How did the opportunity in Germany come about?
JHN: I relocated my family from southern California to Massachusetts in July 2019 to start working in Malta Inc. In my first position, we were looking at pilot projects, and among other locations, there was one at Brainergy Park in Germany, which seemed very promising. Malta set up a company, and we submitted a funding application for this pilot project. We were just over half a year in Massachusetts when COVID-19 started. The travel ban continued for a long time, and we felt isolated, and there was no sight of when this would end. With everyone working at home and a company in Germany already set up, I started to think of returning with my family to Germany, where I am from originally and where the rest of my family lives and can provide support. Malta provided the flexibility to make that happen, so about one year after starting at Malta Inc. in the US, I relocated to Germany and began to work for Malta Hochtemperatur Stromspeicher GmbH.
KG: How has your experience differed in working for Malta Inc. in the US and Germany?
JHN: I still worked remotely and with the same people , so at the beginning, the difference mainly was that I had to set up my working day differently to have meetings late in the evening, especially since we had 9 hours of time difference with the person I then worked with most. Initially, we had no other person in Europe except for Michael. Now it is much more distributed and so are the meetings. One benefit of working in Germany is my ability to become involved in the European and German storage associations on behalf of Malta. Over the years I have received speaking opportunities to promote Malta Inc. at various conferences in Germany and Europe. We have established a strong European presence, which I believe it is very important to develop and build projects here.
KG: In what ways have the responsibilities and tasks in your current role helped shape or advance your professional aspirations and career objectives?
JHN: In my current role as Director of Project Execution, I actively structure and advance projects, always to get things accomplished. In this function, I can be involved with a project from conceptualization to project development and later from NTP (Notice to Proceed) to COD (Commercial Operation Date) and actively shape its success. I want to continue to do this, learn and improve, and then take on even greater responsibilities in the future.
KG: What are you most proud of in your career?
JHN: There are two concentrated solar power plants that I contributed to being built and operated; I am very proud of this achievement. I am looking forward to adding some Malta Inc. storage plants to this list.
KG: What would you like the average person to understand about the need for the energy transition?
JHN: We can't wait and must act fast to stop climate change and an increase in costly climate catastrophes. We need energy storage if we want to optimize our renewable energy generation, avoid wasting curtailed energy, and ensure we have a reliable grid and energy supply on demand.
KG: What are your favorite things to do when you are not working?
JHN: I like traveling, hiking, cooking, and playing golf, for which I haven't had much time in the last years, but I hope to someday get back into regularly and play tournaments again.
Janina has accomplished so much already in her career, as the work she is doing with Malta Inc. is essential in improving the health of our planet and ensuring sustainability for future generations. Janina's work is instrumental in accelerating the process to get there.
As we close, we are happy to report that Janina is always on the move and earned a promotion to Director of Project Execution at Malta Inc. In her current role, Janina is the Project Manager responsible for sequencing engineering, business development, and financial workstreams to completion. I am sure we all wish her well and thank her for agreeing to share her Malta Inc. journey.
About Malta Inc.
Malta Inc. is a leader in long-duration energy storage solutions. Committed to sustainability, Malta’s technology ensures a stable and reliable power supply, providing both flexible and cost-effective long-duration electricity storage, as well as essential grid reliability services (such as synchronous inertia, short circuit current, reactive power, black start ability & frequency support). Malta’s product lines of highly efficient thermal storage plants provide these services at grid scale (hundreds of megawatts each), offering solutions for the wide range of replacement needs of utility scale fossil gas and coal plants. A like-for-like replacement for natural gas-fired power plants, a utility-scale 100 MWe Malta plant stores up to 1 GWhe of solar and wind electricity, converting variable renewable energy into on-demand, around-the-clock, reliable power and enabling the deployment of vastly more renewable generation.
MALTA Inc. Corporate Communications
media@maltainc.com
Phone: +1 617-586-2786
For further information, visit https://maltainc.com/