Philipp Blechinger

Activities

• Project manager and head of the Research Unit Off-Grid Systems
• Head of the RLS Graduate School energy system transition
• Development of research ideas and projects in the fields of rural electrification and island energy systems
• Energy system modelling and international research on decentralized energy transition

Personal Information

Philipp is an international expert in island energy supply and rural electrification. He conducted a PhD in engineering about “Barriers to implementing renewable energies on Caribbean islands” at the TU Berlin. This dissertation was founded by the Reiner Lemoine-Foundation and supervised by Prof. Frank Behrendt and Prof. Ortwin Renn. Previously, he studied business and engineering at the TU Berlin and graduated with very good grades.

In 2019 Philipp was appointed Visiting Scholar in the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) of the University of California, Berkeley as part of the C-BEAR+ project and a selected member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) at the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

In 2011, he joined the Reiner Lemoine Institut and he focused on the analysis of island energy systems by conducting his PhD project. Additionally, he started to develop the Off-Grid Systems Research Unit, which he is currently heading. Within the Unit, he develops and manages projects and strategic processes. He worked in managing and team positions in many projects and strengthened his competencies for simulating and optimizing hybrid mini-grids and for electrification planning. Apart from that he continuously publishes and shares research results on conferences and in scientific journals acting as reviewer and co-editor as well.

These projects included market studies for hybrid mini-grids on small islands and in off-grid regions (e.g. with Hanwha Q.Cells and Siemens). Additionally he was involved into on-site feasibility studies for PV integration on the Southern Cook Islands and on Bequia (St. Vincent and the Grenadines). Currently, he manages one project improving the rural electrification planning for Nigeria in collaboration with Integration and the GIZ and another one supporting the rural utility JUMEME in its customer management in Tanzania.

Before joining the RLI, Philipp worked from 2009 to 2011 as research assistant at the TU Berlin and at the University of Trinidad and Tobago. There, he developed policy instruments for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in the power generation sector of Trinidad. Additionally, he gained working experience in the consulting firm Rödl & Partner GbR and in the engineering company teamfürtechnik GmbH.

He is highly motivated to support the international “Energiewende” and improve living conditions in developing countries by facilitating renewable energies and electrification projects. During his project work he visited many Caribbean countries: Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago. In addition, he worked on the Cook Islands, in Tanzania and in Nigeria.