Expertise

Karl has extensive experience in the field of energy law. He is experienced in advising on all relevant market levels, in particular in the field of German and European energy, energy regulatory and energy antitrust law. 

His expertise in these areas includes advising utilities, supply and trading companies and, in particular, energy-intensive (industrial) companies. He also advises federal and state authorities and other public institutions. His focus is on advising on the optimisation of energy costs and the decarbonisation of energy generation and of industrial companies. He regularly assists in the construction and modernisation of energy generation facilities. More recently, he has been assisting clients with the transition to the hydrogen economy and other infrastructure projects, including renewable gas as a transition technology. He also advises electromobility providers and charging station operators, as well as on GHG reduction obligations. He also has expertise in advising clients on district heating networks, industrial and renewable heat deployment.

Experience
  • Advising on 5th generation heating networks and the regulatory framework for higher temperature heat pumps for a major German energy company (2021, 2022). Support for several utilities on power plant projects, including advice on process heat integration (2018-2023)
  • Advising the German Federal Ministry of Economics on energy efficiency and new business models for the energy system transformation (2018-2020)
  • Advising a major German utility on green power purchase agreements for an onshore wind project in Sweden (2020)
  • Advising a southern German biomethane trading company on biomethane supply contracts, intra-EU import of LNG and CNG, on GHG quota credits via biofuels, UER certificates and EV electricity use, as well as on RFNBOs (2018-2023)
  • H2 projects, e.g. for an international heavy industry company on contracts for turbine operation specifics, onsite construction, esp. financing and state aid; and for a major German steel company on H2 grid access and fuel switch (2023 and 2021)
Education

Karl studied law at the University of Passau and the University of Sydney. He completed his legal traineeship in Berlin, where he inter alia worked for an international law firm and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (Renewable Energy Department). Prior to that, he completed internships with a major German energy company and an international law firm. 

He was admitted to the bar in Berlin, Germany in 2016. 

Karl started his professional career in 2016 as an associate in the energy practice of an international law firm in Berlin, Germany. During this time, he completed an in-house secondment with the largest network of municipal service providers and utilities in Germany. Together with the energy law team, he joined another international law firm as a senior associate in 2020. 

Karl joined Addleshaw Goddard in January 2024. 

Languages
  • German
  • English
Publications

Karl regularly publishes in professional journals. Recent examples include: 

  • From 2018 to 2022 he published the bimonthly article "ER-Aktuell" on current developments in the energy sector for the energy law journal “Energierecht (ER)”, e.g. Holtkamp, Dr. Scholtka, et. al, Aktuelle Entwicklungen im Energierecht (ER Aktuell), in EnergieRecht, ER, Heft 6 2022, 248 et. seq.
  • Energiewirtschaftliche Entlastungsmechanismen und ökologische Gegenleistungen, in EnergieKrise-Aktuell 2023, Heft 20, 010241
Memberships
  • Bar Association Berlin