929: How Kraken Is Turning Grid Chaos Into Coordination | Devrim Celal

About this episode

Nico Johnson interviews Devrim Celal about how Kraken is transforming grid management through software and the challenges of a decentralized energy system.

The grid is getting more crowded. EVs. Heat pumps. Batteries. Rooftop solar. Flexible demand. What used to be a system built around a few thousand centralized assets is rapidly becoming a network of millions of connected devices interacting with the grid in real time. That changes everything. In this episode, Nico sits down with Devrim Celal, Chief Flexibility Officer at Kraken, to unpack why the future grid is becoming a software coordination problem, and how Kraken is helping utilities orchestrate distributed energy at massive scale. But this conversation goes far beyond software. Devrim shares the entrepreneurial journey that led him from software engineering and consulting to ultra-distance running, real estate, reinsurance, and eventually Upside Energy, the company that evolved into Kraken through its acquisition by Octopus Energy. Expect to learn: 🔹Why visibility into the low-voltage grid is one of electrification’s biggest hidden challenges 🔹How utilities are turning EVs and batteries into flexible grid assets 🔹Why consumer participation is defining feature of our future energy system 🔹What entrepreneurs can learn from Upside Energy’s evolution into Kraken This is a…

People in this episode

Host: Nico Johnson

Guest: Devrim Celal

Topics covered

• grid coordination
• distributed energy
• entrepreneurship
• clean energy transition
• software in energy

Keywords

• grid chaos
• EVs
• batteries
• flexible demand
• software coordination
• energy system
• entrepreneurial journey

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kraken, Octopus Energy, Upside Energy

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