How Uniper is using a three point guiding strategy in the energy transition

As Europe moves toward its 2050 climate‑neutrality goal, Nils Beenen Managing Director of Uniper Energy Sales GmbH, explains how the Company  is positioning itself at the heart of the energy transition by anchoring its strategy in three guiding principles: security of supply, affordability, and sustainability. 

The company frames its mission as ensuring reliable access to electricity and gas while progressively delivering more low‑carbon and climate‑neutral energy. This means balancing short- and medium‑term speed and efficiency through existing gas and LNG infrastructure and power purchase agreements (PPAs) with a long‑term view of renewables and climate‑neutral solutions.

Flexibility

The company is investing in flexible, controllable, and climate‑neutral power generation, underpinned by large-scale battery storage and power‑to‑heat solutions that enhance system stability. 

On the topic of security, Beenen stresses the important lessons learned from the recent energy crisis: “What the energy crisis has shown us is long-term planning. That is extremely important and we must be prepared for crisis scenarios. This requires sufficient gas storage facilities that can be later converted to hydrogen. 

"And it's also very important to focus on long-term gas supply contracts from various sources in order to lower the price of gas, the market volatility, and thus also the price of power, making it affordable for everyone, especially for our industry. Currently, only 50% of companies in Europe have long-term contracts, while the other 50% have to be sourced from the spot market short-term, especially from spot LNG, and this makes market volatility very unforeseeable.”

Customer centricity

At the customer level, Uniper is positioning itself as a strategic partner rather than just a commodity supplier, focusing on two primary solutions, which Beenen describes as the most promising levers to support decarbonisation and manage risk:

1. Large‑scale battery storage systems
2. PPAs

He explains why grid connection is often the real bottleneck for battery projects and how using their feasibility insights, Uniper can design flexible contract models tailored to each customer’s risk and return profile.

This combination of technical expertise, commercial innovation, and long‑term planning underpins Uniper’s claim that it can help bridge the gap between today’s energy system and tomorrow’s climate‑neutral future.

"We see ourselves as a bridge builder between today’s energy system and tomorrow’s climate‑neutral one. On the one hand, we ensure security of supply and affordable energy through gas, LNG, storage and long‑term contracts. On the other, we are preparing our infrastructure for hydrogen, investing in batteries and power‑to‑heat, and staying open to technologies like CCS.

"By combining that technical work with customer‑centric analysis and flexible commercial models, we want to give industries and energy users a credible path through the transition—one that manages risk, reduces volatility and steadily increases the share of sustainable energy."

Watch the full interview to hear how Uniper plans to balance affordability and decarbonisation in a volatile market.

More interesting insights in this series: 

Read Part 1 of this series: A flexible and balanced approach to the energy transition

Listen to Part 2: Leveraging long-term gas contracts and PPAs in a volatile market

**This interview was filmed in November 2025 at Enlit Europe in Bilbao, Spain.