The energy sector is in the midst of a fundamental transformation. Sustainability, digitalization, and growth are no longer buzzwords - they are the pillars on which the industry must reinvent itself. In our recent Voices of Ecosystem podcast, I spoke with Ben Ohlwein, Senior Manager Portfolio Management & Strategy at E.ON One, about how ecosystems can accelerate this transition and why E.ON is betting big on digital solutions.
E.ON is one of Europe’s largest energy utilities, structured around three main pillars:
Grids: ownership and operation of electricity and gas networks.
Customer solutions: energy retail, solar, e-mobility, and smart home offerings.
Energy infrastructure solutions: large B2B projects such as hydrogen and power plants.
In 2021, E.ON launched E.ON One with a clear message:
“We are driving the energy transition by digitization.”
E.ON One was designed as a separate, agile unit to build a digital ecosystem of scale-ups. Its role is to integrate innovative external solutions into E.ON’s structure - but without burying them under corporate complexity.
Ecosystem Thinking in Action
Unlike traditional innovation approaches, E.ON One’s ecosystem model focuses on acquiring majority stakes in scale-ups and integrating them into a larger portfolio. The idea is to combine their strengths to create end-to-end solutions for customers.
As Ben explained:
“If you look at the different offerings of our scale-ups, you can take several parts of the value chain for our customer. By bringing them together, this is the added value of our ecosystem.”
Examples include:
envelio: provides digital twins of electricity grids, enabling simulation and planning of renewable integration.
Lemonbeat: delivers IoT sensor technology to capture real-time data from the grid.
Together, these solutions give distribution system operators powerful new forecasting and management tools.
On the consumer side, GridX is another standout - a home energy management platform connecting EVs, rooftop solar, and heat pumps. Branded under E.ON, it empowers households to optimize energy usage and costs.
The Orchestrator Role of Portfolio Management
One of the most fascinating parts of our conversation was Ben’s description of E.ON One’s portfolio management function. It goes far beyond investment oversight:
Identifying business needs: aligning with E.ON’s units to define priorities.
Scouting the market: maintaining a pipeline of hundreds of relevant scale-ups.
Integration and protection: ensuring scale-ups benefit from E.ON’s reach while shielding them from excessive corporate demands.
As Ben put it:
“We are like the gatekeeper - protecting the scale-ups not to be overrun by requests, while still making sure they create value for the business.”
This orchestration requires a unique blend of skills - from financial analysis to project management, but also diplomacy and cultural sensitivity.
Challenges on the Journey
Bringing startups and corporates together is not without friction. Scale-ups thrive on independence and speed, while corporates operate with processes and governance. Striking the right balance is crucial:
“It’s sometimes a bit of a dance. We try to keep scale-ups independent, but still there are certain things they have to do. It’s a case-by-case process.”
Founders often remain on board, valuing E.ON as a strategic partner with scale and network advantages. In other cases, leadership transitions happen — but always with the goal of preserving the unique culture of the startup.
Why This Matters
The bigger picture is clear: ecosystems like E.ON One are essential to accelerate the energy transition. They bring together the agility of startups with the scale of corporates to deliver digital solutions that make energy systems more sustainable, efficient, and customer-centric.
Ben summed it up best:
“The real value comes when we combine internal assets with external innovation — that’s how we accelerate the rollout of solutions for the energy transition.”
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