Frédéric Crampé: “In more and more countries, large energy consumers can buy their electricity on the spot market where price varies at any point in time.”
The Beam interview series, edition 34: Frédéric Crampé
CleanTechnica keeps on publishing some of The Beam interviews and opinion pieces twice a week. The Beam magazine takes a modern perspective on the energy transition, interviewing inspirational people from around the world that shape our sustainable energy future.
This week Anne-Sophie Garrigou, journalist at The Beam, interviewed Frédéric Crampé, a former rocket scientist at NASA who became an entrepreneur and investor in the energy sector. Crampé’s last startup, BeeBryte, is at the nexus of energy management, IT and cleantech.
Hello Frédéric Crampé and thank you for taking the time to talk to The Beam. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself. Where does your commitment for the environment comes from?
In the late 90s at NASA I used satellite instruments to study the earth, especially natural disasters and climate change. It was frightening to see how fast the ice caps were melting for instance.
From then on, I decided to focus my career on serving the environment and developing cleaner energy solutions. Although I later shifted from engineering to business development and strategy then finance, I’ve remained committed to contributing to the energy transition.
As an entrepreneur, I spent about 10 years bringing renewable energy and energy efficiency to developing countries in Asia. It was exciting and rewarding yet quite challenging! I guess I love action and cannot stop!
I founded BeeBryte, my latest startup, with my business partner Patrick Leguillette in 2015. We’re based in France & Singapore and have now a team of 21. The company is intending to become a leader in energy intelligence solutions for commercial & industrial buildings. Our goal is to make buildings use less electricity and become smarter.
What do we call “energy intelligence” and what’s the role of your company in the process?
Thanks to a combination of affordable solar panels, batteries, and internet connected building automation systems, energy users can now modulate the use of controllable / flexible load (e.g HVAC), release stored energy to meet a portion of the building load, reduce/increase its consumption of grid power according to price signals and capture the rewards by optimizing electric service consumption and cost while conducting business as usual and not affecting comfort levels.
However, to capture this opportunity, one needs an energy intelligence solution using data analytics to create significant economic value. And that’s where BeeBryte comes in.
We add value at three levels by facilitating the integration of renewable energy, helping customers lower their energy costs while increasing their power supply security and making the power grid more reliable and resilient.
I’ve read that you are developing a cloud-based energy intelligence software which is expected to reduce utility bills by up to 40%. How is this possible?
Our cloud-based Software-as-a-Service controls in real-time both batteries (that we install in the buildings) and existing heating / cooling equipment (e.g HVAC) to benefit from the cheapest tariff and deliver up to 40% utility bill savings.
We temporarily shift heating/cooling loads and use batteries as energy buffers to
- Desynchronize the purchase of electricity from its consumption in a building
- Minimize energy costs without affecting occupants’ comfort
- Maximize self-consumption from onsite generation (e.g. rooftop Solar PV).
We have a solution that helps large energy consumers buy more electricity from the grid when it is cheaper and less when it is expensive.
If I understand well, people will be able to buy and sell the energy through your system?
In more and more countries, large energy consumers can buy their electricity on the spot market where price varies at any point in time. We make sure they buy at the right time.
In other places, BeeBryte is partnering with electricity retailers who are buying energy on the wholesale electricity spot market and then supplying it at flat rate (or on/off peak tariff) to their customers.
By installing BeeBryte’s solution in their clients’ buildings, electricity retailers can generate new revenues using their customers’ flexibility to buy energy at the cheapest price and to sell new grid services. It is for the electricity retailer a new hedging mechanism leading to higher margins.
Then, they can engage and retain their customers by sharing a portion of these savings through discounted rate plans. It is a win-win situation!.
Read the entire interview here.
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