PONTON BLOG

PONTON Conference 2025 on September 18/19, 2025

Dear colleagues in the energy industry,

we are excited to announce the upcoming edition of our PONTON Conference, once again in the dynamic Open Space format as we believe that each of our clients, partners, and stakeholders has unique insights worth sharing. So, we look forward to discussing the latest developments and innovative ideas in the energy industry.

To kick off the conference, we’ll have an inspiring keynote from Herbert Saurugg, an internationally recognized expert in blackout and crisis preparedness based in Vienna. As President of the Society for Crisis Preparedness (GfKV), he is dedicated to preparing for large-scale power outages and the failure of critical infrastructures.

 In the afternoon, we’ll hold Open Space sessions, allowing you and your colleagues to shape the program. Last year, we saw spontaneous collaboration between grid operators, traders, and energy suppliers, leading to significant results.

Following the conference, we’ll enjoy dinner and a social event by the scenic Alster lake in the heart of Hamburg. The next day, September 19th, we will host break-out workshops for different expert groups.

This invitation is for clients, partners, and friends. We are looking forward to seeing you on September 18/19 2025. Should you have any questions, please contacts us at events@ponton.de.

Agenda for the PONTON Conference 2025 on September 18, 2025

Venue: PONTON, Dorotheenstraße 64, Hamburg-Winterhude, conference centre on 2nd floor

Public transport: U-Bahnhof Sierichstraße (subway, yellow line U3 + 10 min walk), or take the bus line no. 6 from the central station. Dress code: “business casual”.

Time Topic
12:00 – 13:00 Light Lunch
13:00 – 13:45 Paul van Son, Dii and ZETA: “Climate neutral energy around the globe –
a view outside the German box”
13:45 – 14:00 Tilo Zimmermann: Introduction, explaining the Open Space format
14:00 – 14:30 All: Writing up proposals for discussion, voting, assigning to slots
14:30 – 15:30 Open Space conference, three tracks in parallel with the following themes:
Track 1:
New market design – Grid congestion, security of supply, IncDec: is it time to aim at 2035 for a new market design?		  Track 2:
Taming the PPA beast

Renewables, PPAs and risk – how to close the gap between long-term financing and short-term trading?

 Track 3:
Future of storage –
Do we move towards self-supply or grid-supportive provision of flex? How will this impact trading?
15:30 – 16:00 Presentation of results from first set of three tracks, discussion
16:00 – 16:30 Networking break
16:30 – 17:30 Open Space conference, second set of three tracks in parallel, continue themes as above or topics proposed by you!
17:30 – 18:00 Presentation of results from second set of three tracks, discussion
18:00 Michael Merz: Closing Remarks, end of first conference day

Agenda for the PONTON Conference 2025 on September 18, 2025 (Social Event)

The venue for the social event on Thursday, October 10 is Rowing Club Alemannia 1866,
An der Alster 47a, 20099, Hamburg-St. Georg. Dress code: “business casual”.

Public transport: Hamburg Hauptbahnhof or U-Bahnhof Lohmühlenstraße (blue line U1).

Time Dinner reception and party at Rowing Club Alemannia 1866
19:00 – 20:00 Sunset Reception, welcoming address
20:00 – 21:30 Dinner Buffet
21:30 – 00:00 Party with open bar and dance floor

Agenda for the PONTON Conference 2025 on September 19, 2025 (Focus Workshops 1)

Venue: PONTON GmbH, Dorotheenstraße 64, 22301 Hamburg

PPAs have been an enabler in European energy markets for many years, increasingly replacing traditional instruments in forward trading. Today, we observe a growing trend toward the simplification, standardization, and potential future automation of PPAs. These developments are poised to reduce costs and make PPAs viable for low-volume products as well.

In this workshop, we aim to bring together experts from various fields — trading, back-office operations, legal, IT, and risk management — to collaborate and generate ideas on how to automate PPAs in the future.

Your insights and expertise are crucial to shaping the future of PPA standardization. We look forward to your participation.

Time Topic
10:00 – 10:15 Introduction by Tilo Zimmermann
10:15 – 12:00 Jan Haizmann, Corregio Consulting: Developing an “ETE Framework Agreement” for PPAs

Jule Martin, Osborne Clark: PPA standardization potential – the legal perspective

Xavier Bou, Electra Caldense: Using Micro PPAs for Energy Communities

Geert van Wijngaarden, EWE: PPA standardization potential – the post-deal perspective

Amani Joas, FlexPower: Short-term PPAs with PowerMatch – the market maker perspective

Tilo Zimmermann, PONTON: PPA landscape – the IT perspective
12:00 – 12:30 Discussion on the potential of PPA standardization
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 14:30 Discussion: How can we proceed towards automated PPAs?
Collecting wishes and priorities for development – tour de table, next steps

Agenda for the PONTON Conference 2025 on September 19, 2025 (Focus Workshops 2)

Venue: PONTON GmbH, Dorotheenstraße 64, 22301 Hamburg

This workshop is intended for current and prospective users of PONTON integration products:

  • Ponton E/A, an integration tool connecting ETRM systems to processes like eCM, eRR (REMIT and EMIR) and eSM
  • Ponton X/D, a mapping tool for mapping XML documents to and from databases
  • Ponton fCM, a tool for confirmation matching with counterparties not electronically matching

    • We will cover new developments and business functionality. Apart from sharing our roadmap, we
    look forward to collecting your wishes and input for the PONTON integration products.

    Time Topic
    10:00 – 10:30 Thomas Sonnenberg: Welcome, introductions, goals for the workshop
    10:30 – 12:00 Holm Hinrichs, Alex Kartashov:
    Ponton E/A: recap of the last year, outlook
    Stefan Meewes:
    Ponton X/D news
    12:00 – 12:30 Thomas Sonnenberg: first outlook on REMIT II
    12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
    13:30 – 14:30 Collecting wishes and priorities for development