Introducing Amogy’s employee spotlight series.
This series will give you insight into an average day in the life of an Amogy employee. Find out what makes the Amogy team tick, what they spend their time thinking about, and what excites them about the future of clean energy.
First up is Christian Berg, Managing Director of Amogy Norway. We sat down with Christian to gather his insights on the Norwegian market, climate solutions, and what’s next in the clean energy industry.
Name: Christian Berg
Job title: Managing Director, Amogy Norway
Location: Stavanger, Norway
Christian Berg brings expertise, unwavering passion, and a profound industry understanding to his role as managing director for Amogy Norway. With a background in the maritime sector, Christian possesses deep knowledge of the past, present, and future of fuel. He’s especially enthusiastic about accelerating the production and utilization of ammonia as a fuel source, aligning with Norway’s ambitious target of carbon neutrality by 2050.
Christian grew up around fishing ports in the scenic coastal town of Egersund in Western Norway, and his career has been driven by his lifelong fascination with the sea. His professional journey has taken him across the globe, from the Middle East to Mexico, and he’s held many distinguished positions in the maritime industry. Starting his professional career as second mate on an oil tanker, Christian eventually went on to found a successful maritime electronics and software company. He has also held various leadership positions, including CEO of Viking Supply Ships. Prior to working with Amogy, Christian served as the commercial director at Yara Clean Ammonia, where he led the commercialization of ammonia as a fuel and oversaw infrastructure development in Scandinavia.
In October 2022, Christian joined Amogy to spearhead the company’s commercialization efforts in Norway and help establish it as a leader in ammonia-based fuel solutions. His dedication and strategic guidance quickly became driving forces behind the company’s success.
Q+A
What does a day in the life of your role look like?
CB: One of the exciting things about this role is you never know what exactly is going to happen next. There’s always something coming in from the left, right, and center. There’s also a lot of traveling, going to conferences, meeting with potential clients, and collaborating with our HQ in the U.S.
How did you start to build the Amogy team in Norway?
CB: When I built the team, it was important for me to have a strong focus on maritime experience. Everyone on the team is very experienced in the maritime sector. Building teams and changing or restructuring companies is something I’ve always done by creating enthusiasm and building a one-team culture.
What do you think is next for the clean energy industry?
CB: There’s a totally different atmosphere around clean energy today. Ship owners aren’t trying to get out of the regulatory drivers that are now on the scene. Now that the wish to decarbonize the industry comes from consumers and industry facilitators, I see ammonia being implemented much more quickly than before.
What do you think is next for the maritime industry in relation to clean energy?
CB: Out of all the alternative fuel options, I see ammonia as the most realistic one. The good thing about ammonia is that it’s already globally traded. Today, there are 200 ports globally with ammonia infrastructure. While ammonia itself is scalable, the production of clean ammonia must be scaled further in order to significantly reduce carbon emissions and reach carbon neutrality.
What challenges do you think the industry faces in the transition to clean energy?
CB: We must continue to scale up the infrastructure to accommodate vessels that require higher power. Over the past two years, Amogy has already scaled up from five kilowatts to 300 kilowatts, and we will continue to scale up to accommodate larger vessels that require even higher power.
Governments should also follow through on the ambitions to reduce carbon emissions. You need the carrot and the stick because you need regulations and incentives to push the industry toward decarbonization. If this is going to be realistic, we need more regulations and good incentive mechanisms to take the burden off the ship owner.
What do you find exciting about the clean energy industry?
CB: It’s exciting to be part of the big shift in shipping. You can see these shifts, like when we went from steam engines to diesel conversions, and now we’re seeing a new shift from fossil fuels to zero-emission fuels. I think this shift is as big as the previous ones, which basically changed the whole industry.
Do you feel optimistic about climate solutions?
CB: I do feel very optimistic because, given the new regulations and taxes coming into place for CO2 emissions, everyone has to do something. It’s not just regulatory drivers pushing this. The wish is also coming from the consumer, the cargo owner, and from the ship owner to actually do something to reduce emissions. I definitely believe it’s possible and am very confident that it will happen.
We’re excited about the global race to zero emissions by 2050, and the role that ammonia can play in it. Stay tuned for more insights on the future of clean energy and more updates from the Amogy team.
