It is not yet clear when exactly Lewis will start, but the order should be made promptly.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
Dusseldorf The new boss for the energy group Uniper has been chosen: Michael Lewis will become CEO of the Düsseldorf-based company. The group announced this on Wednesday morning. Lewis is an engineer by training and most recently worked for the energy supplier Eon, where he managed the UK business. His previous positions included CEO for the Climate & Renewables division. It is still unclear who will follow Lewis at Eon.
When exactly Lewis starts is not yet certain. However, the order should be made as soon as possible. The contract will be valid for a period of five years. The previous CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach had only been in office since March 2021 and therefore for two years. He announced his resignation in early January. At the beginning of the week it became known that he was leaving the company at the end of February.
When he was appointed on Wednesday, Lewis referred to Uniper employees, many of whom he still knew from their shared past at Eon. Uniper was spun off from Eon in 2016 when the group took its conventional energy business public.
Big tasks for the new Uniper boss
Lewis also said: “Uniper faces huge challenges, but above all huge opportunities when it comes to shaping the energy transition.” In fact, the tasks Lewis faces are enormous. Together with the federal government as the new Uniper owner, he must lead the group back to profitability.
Uniper slipped deep into the crisis last year because Russia no longer delivered pipeline gas to Germany. Uniper’s business model was largely based on importing cheap gas from Russia and reselling it to hundreds of municipal utilities and industrial companies in Germany at a slightly higher price. When no more gas came from Russia, Uniper had to buy expensive replacements on the world market and sell them to its own customers at the previously agreed, lower prices.
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At times, Uniper therefore assumed a loss of 40 billion euros. Due to the fall in energy prices, Uniper only posted a loss of around 20 billion euros at the end of the year. But one thing is clear: as long as the group still has to supply its own customers with gas on long-term agreed terms, it will make a loss. That should be the case until 2024.
Uniper is now looking for new business areas. There are various suggestions from advisory groups as to where the group could go. On the one hand, Uniper now operates an LNG terminal through which Germany can import liquefied natural gas. It is conceivable that Uniper will also become the central hydrogen importer in the future and thus an important player in Germany’s future energy supply.
In addition, Uniper operates various power plants in Europe. It is already clear that Uniper will have to sell its German hard coal-fired power plant Datteln 4 due to EU regulations. On the other hand, the group is sticking to its nuclear power plant in Sweden. Michael Lewis’ term of office will now show whether there will be further sales or whether Uniper will actually focus more on renewable energies.
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