Alexandra Pieton (TES-H2): "We have an unique way of converting natural elements into renewable to deliver green energy"

Leaders League: Could you introduce TES-H2?

Alexandra Pieton: TES (Tree Energy Solutions) came from a simple idea: transforming the world to make it greener using the carbon cycle. We position ourselves as a green gas company – including green hydrogen but not only – and as an energy disruptor boldly driving forward the energy transition and changing the way of thinking about energy. We have a unique method of converting natural elements into renewables to deliver green energy abundantly, affordably, using existing infrastructure as much as possible, and on an industrial scale. This last part makes a big difference.

Some key figures about TES – The project was started in 2019 by the two founders and then evolved quickly into what TES is today: more than 100 employees, spread across our six offices worldwide. The idea is not to become a major with thousands of employees but rather stay lean and agile. On the projects side, we have a couple ongoing in Germany, where we have been awarded the 5th Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) by the German government: while we are working on this FSRU connection, we are also progressing on our first downstream (regasification) terminal which will be the only one designed to import green molecules. We have also kicked off a project in the US to install one of our upstream hubs. At the same time, we are also developing in the Middle East and Australia to prepare for our future projects. 

Tell us a bit about yourself and your career up to now?

Alexandra Pieton: I’m a mechanical engineer. I always wanted to do something that was different, out of the ordinary. Building offshore platforms seemed to be unique enough… especially for a woman. That led to me becoming a welding engineer, as I quickly realized welding was the perfect entryway to building this type of infrastructure. I ended up working offshore, welding and laying pipelines at first, and eventually found my way into building offshore platforms. This is how it started, and it was very much O&G at the time. I really enjoyed it because I had this feeling, we were doing something unique – a bit out of the ordinary in the good way, while taking an active role in the energy development that the world needed at the time. It was not only the technological aspect I enjoyed but also working as a team. I discovered the true meaning of team spirit. But, after a few years, I realized that all the skills and mindset we used in O&G could certainly be applied to the energy transition where everything had to be developed and matured. That’s why, in 2017, I started looking into renewables. It was a gradual transformation for me to shift from O&G to renewables, but it involved the same skills as well as the same way of working, and probably the same pioneering spirit that the first engineers had in the early days of O&G. This intrepid spirit is what I like the most today at TES. We think everything is possible. Of course it’s challenging, but we have the skills to overcome the difficulties that arise and we understand how the industry works. 

What wisdom from the O&G industry have you been able to port over to the renewable sector?

Alexandra Pieton: Undoubtedly, the belief that nothing is impossible. Most of us are engineers. We like to engineer things and try to find innovative solutions. It’s a mix of technology, industrialization and teamwork. You need the same ingredients whether you are working with grey molecules or green molecules. Only the way they are produced is different. Our model is based on producing eNG (electrical Natural Gas): the molecule is strictly speaking identical to the methane molecule but is exclusively produced from renewable electricity. As it is the same molecule, we benefit from existing infrastructure with no need for equipment retrofitting. We bring the same spirit, the same abilities, the same way of thinking. The main difference with renewables is having a more forward-looking philosophy focused on the needs of future generations. We all have this awareness that something must change, and it is probably better for us to use our skills to try to make the world a little greener than had been done in the past. 

Conversely, what cultural and skills obstacles does the H2 domain present to people coming from O&G?

Alexandra Pieton: I think the challenge for people coming from O&G is not so much about skills to be developed or acquired. It is more about regulations and policies that are less mature than what we are familiar with in the O&G sector. Finding alignment on regulations and policies in Europe is a difficult undertaking, not to mention reaching consensus with the rest of the world. With today’s regulations, a green molecule produced in the US may not be fit for use in Europe for instance. This is one of the reasons it is taking time for the whole green energy industry to mature today. This can also lead to cultural shock for people coming from O&G, where everything is known and established. For the green energy industry, you must lobby at the same time you are developing your infrastructure, and that is a new set of skills to develop for engineers. 

Utilities VS small companies – an unfair relationship?

Alexandra Pieton: We are at an early stage of project development, and we interact with them on a regular basis as partners. There is room for everybody, for every technology and every product. We like our position – being in the vanguard – and we want to keep that advantage this affords, but it comes with a cost. You need to be super-fast! You also need to understand the ecosystem, the environment and the competition... New players come with no legacy while major companies must transform and that is a bit different. Therefore, no unfair interaction or discussion with the utilities. It’s a different way of looking at contracts, it’s a different way of approaching the market but at the end of the day it’s business.

What are your views on the talent landscape and how attractive TES-H2 is to potential recruits? 

Alexandra Pieton: Regarding recruitment for TES, this is easy and difficult at the same time. Easy because we have a nice story to tell which resonates well with people. When we tell our story, everybody is very curious and wants to know more. They really feel there is something unique about TES, about the way we do things and the way we think about them. This is why, once we identify the right person, we’ve had close to 100% success rate in hiring that person. Difficult because we must find the right person. We are a small company which has the particularity of being in competition with the majors. We need and want to stay flexible and lean and to do that everybody has to roll up their sleeves and be comfortable being uncomfortable. This is not for everybody. When you come from a big corporation or when you have been working in this type of environment for 15 or 20 years, it’s sometimes difficult to go back to a more flexible approach with no real structure. It requires the people we hire to flex a muscle they don’t think they have. In that sense, the recruitment process is not so much about hard skills but about soft skills. Will people be able to fit it, to be successful? Will people be a good addition to the team as we are building teams from scratch? Our story is powerful and it helps people take a leap of faith, but the most difficult part for us is to find the right person with the right mindset. Especially because we are growing very fast, and we need to avoid the temptation to bring in too many people at the same time. We have learned to be patient and impatient at the same time. 

What are the strategic perspectives for TES-H2?

Alexandra Pieton: The sky is the limit for us. While we are progressing with our downstream terminal in Germany – a regasification terminal – we will be multiplying upstream modules, where we produce molecules. Once we get the first module out, we will optimize the technology and the integration as we go. There is demand all over the world, so much so that we will probably need hundreds of TES modules to be able to fulfill that need. We are looking at partnerships as a key element of our business model, which is to use what already exists in terms of liquefaction capacity, in terms of infrastructure across the globe. 

We are not just searching for one type of partner however. Instead, we are targeting the whole value chain. Our purpose is to produce the cheapest molecules possible because while our product needs to be green, it also needs to be affordable. That is a driver for us, and whoever we find that wants to partner with us, must believe in our story and be able to provide us either with infrastructure or with resources.