NBB Netzgesellschaft

Robert Schmidt (age 36), head of control room / dispatching group

What exactly do you do in your company?

As control room group leader, I determine everything that is necessary from a personal and organizational point of view to ensure my colleagues' typical workday goes smoothly. My group is divided into two teams. The one team, network dispatching, monitors the Berlin and Brandenburg gas networks 365 days a year, 24/7. Those colleagues are responsible for ensuring that the gas is transported so every customer can turn their stove on at any given time. In the control room, our nerve center, we monitor, regulate, and control the gas networks. The other team, contract dispatching, takes care of the contractual framework for transporting the gas. For example, they inform our upstream network operator of the daily amounts of gas.

Moreover, I contribute to the fact that NBB conforms to statutory and regulatory requirements. That requires many coordination rounds with other NBB and GASAG departments, but also with external bodies. In addition, a colleague in my group is responsible for a variety of research projects on the EUREF campus. In these projects, NBB, together with several other companies and academic partners, is concerned with the subject of "smart grids" or intelligent networks. The aim is to equip energy networks, i.e. electricity, heating and gas networks, with intelligence to control them in a more targeted manner. We develop innovative concepts that better reconcile the consumption and production of gas and electricity.

What do you find fascinating about this job?

Quite simply, energy and especially renewable energies are of interest to me. I think switching to longer-term sustainable energies is exactly the right step. But that requires a lot of work. In my job at NBB, I have the opportunity to help shape the current energy sector as well as active projects that deal with the changeover to renewable energies. That makes me part of the energy transition. I find that fascinating. 

Why did you decide on NBB Netzgesellschaft, a Berlin-based company?

I'm originally from Brandenburg and moved to Berlin in 2000. My family and my entire circle of friends live here. I'm very attached to my home – I need and appreciate the proximity to family and friends. I also want my daughter to grow up here. That way I can pass my home onto her. GASAG also has something to do with home – as a company, it is very close to Berlin, it does a lot for the city and supports the Berlin way. At NBB (a subsidiary of GASAG), I can actively participate in the energy supply and development of my home.