Rethinking Energy – A Look Behind the Strategy of ALTEN
Interview with Michael Rickers, Senior Manager Sales Development
Michael Rickers is responsible for projects along the entire value chain of the energy market at ALTEN Germany. Together with our teams, he supports customers in mastering complex challenges, using innovative technologies and making energy infrastructures more sustainable.
He sat down with us to talk about ALTEN’s strategic direction in the energy sector, future opportunities, and synergies within the ALTEN Group.
How would you describe the ALTEN’s current strategy in the energy industry?
ALTEN is already very well established in the energy market internationally. In Germany, we began to systematically expand our activities from 2018 onwards. Since then, we have been able to successfully implement our projects in the field of grid and wired infrastructure. Now it’s a matter of positioning ourselves more broadly and becoming active in all relevant segments of the industry in the long term.
What is ALTEN’s long-term goal?
Our goal is to cover the entire spectrum of the energy market: from infrastructure to specialized solutions. Together with our sister companies Energy4You and Worldgrid, we can offer our customers a comprehensive portfolio along the entire value chain.
How did you go about developing the strategy?
We have oriented ourselves towards the classic value chain of the energy market; from source to consumption. We have defined six segments that represent the market in a structured way:
- Primary energy: e.g. sun, wind or fossil sources
- Conversion: e.g. the generation of electricity or, in the future, increasing hydrogen
- Transportation: transmission over long distances
- Distribution: supplying end users
- Usage: industrial, commercial, and residential use
- Billing: metering and management
Along with these topics, we identify suitable customer needs and services, which we gradually develop and expand.
Which topic area do you personally see as having the greatest potential for the future in Germany?
I see the greatest potential in the area of distribution grids. In Germany, end users are evolving from purely consuming energy to becoming prosumers. We are increasingly producing electricity ourselves, feeding it into the grid and at the same time consuming more energy through heat pumps or electromobility. This challenges the grids and opens new possibilities, such as virtual power plants, intelligent control systems, and innovative district solutions. The topic of smart metering also remains a central building block, as it enables transparency, efficiency, and new business models.
Where do you still see a need for development with our current competencies?
We have strong capabilities in areas such as infrastructure planning, construction, realization, client communication, and IT/OT for the networks. The next step is to dovetail these competencies even more closely.
Can you give an example where we have successfully used synergies within the ALTEN Group?
In some projects, we have noticed during implementation that additional capacity is needed. Here we were able to quickly fall back on colleagues for examples from Poland or Morocco, to complete the project on time and in the desired quality.
That’s exactly what we stand for: delivering the right expertise at the right time with the right quality and quantity.
