Her Royal Highness (H.R.H.) Princess Abze Djigma is a Mossi Princess from Burkina Faso and a direct descendant of Princess Yennenga, mother of the Mossi people and a famous warrior in the 12th century.

She is:

• Chair of the H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma Foundation;
• Special Envoy of the President of Burkina Faso, Resource Mobilisation for SDG's and Climate Change;
• Ambassador for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of Burkina Faso;
• Deputy head of delegation of the COP23 delegation of Burkina Faso;
• Former Board Member of UNISDR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies;
• President Senior Advisor External relations and Gender for the Center Region Council of Burkina Faso;
• Founder and CEO AbzeSolar S.A.;
• Initiator and leader of the ‘MAMA-LIGHT^® Initiative for Sustainable Energy”, a Worldwide program that provides access to affordable energy for women, small business and children. It empowers the informal sector, it drives the generation of new jobs and it creates a sound basis for gender equality and women empowerment. The program is selected by the United Nations as one of the 14 global breakthrough solutions for achieving the new Sustainable Development Goals;
• Initiator of the Global Expertise Hub for the Informal Sector. The Hub works with and on behalf of the informal sector and facilitates their empowerment. It brings together the Bottom Up needs and challenges with the Top Down actions in a structured and integrated manner.

Adel El Gammal is the Secretary General of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA).

EERA is the strategic pillar of the EU Strategic Energy Technology Plan and coordinates Research activities between 250 Research Organisations and Universities across 30 countries in Europe. Adel El Gammal is a recognized expert and a senior EU Affairs professional in the fields of low carbon technologies, energy transition, and climate change.

Before joining EERA as Secretary General, Adel was active for the last 10 years in the EU climate energy debate, notably as Director of the Becquerel Institute, a consultancy providing advanced research and intelligence on the role of PV in the energy transition, Executive Director of LowCarbonFacts (an ECF funded programme) and Secretary General of the EU Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA, now SolarPower Europe), where he launched the SET-Plan Solar Europe Industry Initiative (SEII), and conducted several major studies on the future of PV and renewables in Europe and Worldwide.

He also worked on several urban planning projects, notably the Sustainability Master Plans for the city of Rome and the Principality of Monaco, as member of Jeremy Rifkin’s Third Industrial revolution CEO roundtable.

Before focusing his activities on renewable energy and the energy transition, Adel held various international executive positions in blue chip companies active in the field of IT and Management Consulting.

Adel is civil engineer from Ecole Polytechnique of Brussels, holds degrees in Business Administration from Solvay Business School (Belgium) and Insead (France) and later specialized in Environment Management (IGEAT, Belgium).

Adnan Z. Amin is the Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), currently serving his second term. He has more than 25 years of experience and recognised accomplishments in the international arena, primarily in the fields of sustainable development. Full Biography

Andreas Kuhlmann was appointed Chief Executive of the German Energy Agency in July 2015. In this position he has increased dena’s profile as a driver and pioneer of the energy transition. Exemplary projects include the international innovation initiative “Start Up Energy Transition”, which now brings together around a thousand start-ups from all over the world, as well as the “Integrated Energy Transition” pilot study, whereby dena, together with more than 60 partners from business and science, is developing strategies for the future.  Among others, the graduate physicist has held positions at the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), the German Embassy in Stockholm and the European Parliament, the German Parliament and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Auke Lont has been CEO of the Norwegian national grid company Statnett since 2009. Statnett owns and operates the transmission system for electricity, including the interconnections with neighbouring countries, and has the responsibility for security of supply. Statnett is currently constructing interconnectors to Germany and the UK and upgrading the Norwegian grid to be able to handle increasing amounts of renewable electricity.

Auke Lont worked for Statoil with natural gas during the build up of the Troll gas sales (1984-94). He worked also with gas fired power production in Norway and energy consulting.

He holds degrees in Mathematics and Econometrics from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.

He is Board member of Bane NOR, the norwegian railway company. Auke Lont was also Board member of Gasunie (2006-2013) and chairman of the Board of the Institute of Energy Technology in Halden (2012-2016). In 2016 he became member of the Energy Transitions Commission, a group of energy experts focusing on what is needed to bring the global energy system on a track compatible with the 2C target.

Chen Guoping, Chief Engineer of State Grid Corporation China and the director of NPDCC(National Power Dispatching & Control Centre), is a professor level senior engineer. He graduated from Tsinghua University, China, in 1987, and received a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from St. Petersburg state University of Technology, Russia, in 1994.

Prof. Chen has a long career in bulk power system dispatching and control management. Before the current job, Prof. Chen used to be the deputy director of NPDCC, the deputy general manager of State Grid Operation Company, and the Party Secretary of State Grid International Development Co. Ltd. And now he also holds the positions of the executive director Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering Council and the vice-chairman of Chinese National Grid Operation and Control Standards Committee.

Prof. Chen’s main research domain includes bulk power system dispatching and control, new energy generation and consumption control and etc. As NPDCC’s director, Prof. Chen has been leading SGCC’s power system dispatching team in building the advanced dispatching and control system through constantly technology innovation, enlarging clean energy consumption by the system operation optimization, promoting system stability and power supply reliability by management enhancement and power market reform. With the efforts of Prof. Chen and his team, China’s state grid has been operating stably and has never experienced main grid’s stability damage faults since 1997, in contrast to the common blackout accidents in many other nations around the world.

As Director of the IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre in Bonn since 2011, Dolf Gielen oversees the agency’s work on advising member countries in the area of technology status and roadmaps, energy planning, cost and markets and innovation policy frameworks.

Born in 1971, graduated in Business Economics at Bocconi University in Milan, magna cum laude, after many years of consultancy, he joined Enel on October 2014 as Chief Innnovability Officer. Founder of Ars et Inventio (2003), a consulting firm focused only on innovation and creativity, he has supported many companies at designing and launching innovative products and services that have become popular worldwide. Nokia, Telecom Italia, Vodafone, Poste Italiane, Eni, GDF, Edison, the P&G Fater and Fameccanica joint-ventures, Unilever, RCS, Sole24Ore, BNP, Unicredit and American Express are some of the firms he cooperated with. Lecturer of Innovation Management in Italian and Spanish universities and business schools (director of the “Programa Avanzado de Gestión de la Innovación” at Instituto de Empresa de Madrid, professor and member of the Scientific Committee of the “Master in Innovazione Strategica” at Cà Foscari),  he has also authored three collections of verses and a theatrical play acted in several theatres in Italy (in Milan, Bologna, Taormina and Siracusa). Professors Henry Chesbrough of Berkeley and Mark Kramer of Harvard have written two business cases regarding his activity as Chief Innovability Officer at Enel. The two business cases are available on www.hrb.org and are used in several courses at Berkeley and Harvard.

Konstantin Staschus is from Berlin, Germany and holds a PhD in Operations Research from Virginia Tech, USA. After 9 years at PG&E, USA, he held management positions in German utility associations, including 6 years as Managing Director of the association of grid operators, VDN. In 2009 he became the 1st Secretary-General of ENTSO-E in Brussels, with legal mandates for EU network plans and codes. Since 2017 he is a Director focusing on utility clients in the Berlin office of Ecofys – a Navigant Company. He also consults part-time as Chief Innovation Officer for ENTSO-E, chairs CIGRE SC C1 “System Development & Economics”, and was founding Chair of the European Technology & Innovation Platform “Smart Networks for Energy Transition”.

Kristian Ruby is a widely recognised expert with a strong communication profile and extensive experience in political affairs. He joined EURELECTRIC from Wind Europe, where he served as Chief Policy Officer and was in charge of development and implementation of the political strategy.

Prior to this, Ruby worked as a journalist and served seven years as a public servant in the Danish Ministries of Environment, and Climate and Energy and in the European Commission in the cabinet of the former Climate Action chief, Connie Hedegaard.

Kristian holds a Master Degree in History and International Development.

Martin Frick oversees as Senior Director UNFCCC work supporting the implementation of the Paris Agreement and climate action. He previously served as director for climate change at UNFAO. He was the German representative for human rights and humanitarian affairs at the UN General Assembly and served as the European Union lead negotiator in the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council. As Ambassador to the international organizations based in Germany, he helped building up the UN sustainability hub in Bonn. He holds a PhD in law and was a guest lecturer at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.

Martin Keller became the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) director on November 30, 2015.  NREL is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC (Alliance).  Martin also serves as the President of Alliance.

Martin joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in July 2006 and was appointed to the role of Associate Laboratory Director in July 2009.  In November 2010, he was asked to lead the newly-formed Energy and Environmental Sciences directorate. In this role he was responsible for the energy, biological, and environmental research programs supported by DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institutes of Health. Martin served as the Founding Director of the DOE BioEnergy Science Center and also served as the Director of the Biosciences Division.

Martin held a series of research management positions within Diversa Corporation, a publicly-traded biotechnology company. Martin joined Diversa Corporation in 1994 as a consultant to build and develop their microbiology expertise before joining Diversa Corporation full time in 1996.

Martin received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Regensburg, Germany.

Mr. Michael Ahimbisibwe is the Executive Director for East African Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EACREEE). Prior to becoming director, Mr. Ahimbisibwe was a Principal Energy Officer in the Renewable Energy Department, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Government of Uganda. Mr. Ahimbisibwe was the national focal point officer for national and regional policy matters. He has gained deep understanding of energy issues in the EAC region as a member of the energy working group of the EAC Secretariat. Some of his previous assignments include formulating regional strategy for scaling up access to modern energy services, developing an energy security policy framework for the region, Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP) coordination, focal point for IRENA activities in Uganda. He was also focal point for gender at the Energy Resources Directorate (MEMD), among others.

Patrick CHILD is Deputy Director General in DG RTD Research and Innovation at the European Commission. He leads the policy for management and the implementation of the EU's €77bn research and innovation programme by the Commission services, executive agencies and other implementing bodies including legal aspects, IT systems, audit and business processes. He has specific responsibility for research and innovation in climate action and clean energy technologies, and is the Commission representative in Mission Innovation (a coalition of 23 countries and the European Union, committed to doubling research in clean energy by 2020).

Until April 2016, Patrick Child was Managing Director of the European External Service with responsibility for administration and finance, covering human resources policy, security and the budget. Before he took up this post in 2011, he was director in the External Relations Directorate General in the European Commission responsible for the management of the network of Commission delegations. He has previously served as head of cabinet for External Relations Commissioners Benita Ferrero-Waldner and before that Chris Patten from 1999-2004.

With a background in the UK Finance Ministry, he joined the European Commission in 1994, where he started in the Economic and Monetary affairs Directorate General before becoming Commission press spokesman for economic and monetary union from 1995-2004. Mr Child studied mathematics at Cambridge University. He is married with two children.

Philippe Dauphin was named Director General of CanmetMATERIALS (CMAT) in Hamilton, Ontario, effective July 29, 2013.

Philippe joined NRCan in 1992 as the Business Development Coordinator at the CanmetMINING (CMIN) laboratory.  Over the next 25 years, he has played diverse roles in research management, technology transfer, business development and policy, before joining the Energy Sector.  Most recently, Philippe was acting Director General of the CanmetENERGY where he managed a large clean energy research laboratory.

Philippe graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mining Engineering from Laval University and has experience in policy, management and marketing of R&D and research.

Ruud Kempener is a policy officer in the renewables unit of DG Energy since 2016, where he works on Europe's international cooperation activities, the industrial competitiveness of renewables, and long-term strategies. Before that, Ruud worked at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Before joining IRENA in 2011, Ruud spend two years as a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex, UK. Ruud received his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Sydney, Australia and an MSc in Technology & Society from Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands.

Simon Perraud holds a M.Sc. from ESPCI Paris (2004), a Ph.D. in Physics from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (2007), and a Habilitation degree from the Université Grenoble Alpes (2013). From 2004 to 2007, he was a doctoral researcher at the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (Atsugi, Japan), investigating electronic properties of semiconductor hetero-structures. He was a recipient of the Award of the Japan Society of Applied Physics in 2008. Simon joined CEA (Grenoble, France) in 2008. He is currently deputy director in charge of research funding programmes at Liten, an institute of CEA with about 1,000 staff focused on the development of innovative technologies for the energy transition. He is also vice chairman at EMIRI (Energy Materials Industrial Research Initiative), an industry-driven association which represents more than 60 European organizations active in the field of materials for clean energy and clean mobility technologies. He coordinates NAMEC, a cluster set up by the European Commission to gather EU funded research projects on materials for renewable energy, energy storage and energy efficiency technologies. Simon is author or co-author of more than 40 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, and has filed more than 30 patents.

Stephen Woodhouse is Pöyry’s Chief Digital Officer, responsible for the consultancy’s digital transformation business.  He has considerable experience in the energy industry, specializing in the changing energy markets and until recently led Pöyry's global practice in energy market design. 

Stephen contributes to the global and EU debates on appropriate market designs for de-carbonization, flexibility, capacity, and network access as well as working on electricity market reforms in over 30 countries. In earlier roles, he worked for the UK’s electricity regulator Ofgem, and previously as a consultant on global aviation emissions and high-speed rail.

Stephen has an MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge and has published numerous papers on electricity market design.

Mr. Matsuyama has been Director-General of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) since July 2018. He has worked for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI; then MITI) since 1992. He has worked as Director of Policy Planning and Coordination Division, Director of Grid Reform and the cooperation with in Russia, and Director of New and Renewable Energy Division. He also served as Executive Secretary to the Minister and Director of Petroleum and Natural Gas Division of ANRE after working as Industrial Researcher at JETRO London and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretariat.

Adam Sims is the Flexibility Manager for the Electricity System Operator in Great Britain, responsible for driving a fundamental redesign of balancing services and markets.  He has 20 years of experience in the energy industry, previously working in technical, commercial and regulatory areas on both gas and electricity.  He was responsible for the Enhanced Frequency Response tender in 2016 in which 201MW of new battery assets were successful contracted to provide fast frequency response to the GB system.

Mr. Aiyoshi Hashimoto is the Director General at the Commerce, Industry & Labour Department of Fukushima Prefectural Government. He was born in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, in 1959 and he graduated from the Tohoku University School of Law. After that, he joined Fukushima Prefectural Government in April 1983. During his career he has held the following positions: Director, Personnel Affairs Division, General Administration Department (April 2009), Policy Administrator of Personnel Affairs, General Administration Department (April 2012), Director General, Ken-chu Development Bureau (April 2014), Director General, Tourism Promotion Bureau (April 2015) and his most recent one: Director General, Commerce, Industry & Labour Department.

Born half Persian, half Dutch and raised in Niger, West Africa, Arash (1977) was educated as a  jazz musician and then pursued careers in music and tech, until he became director of a Dutch energy utility in 2006. In 2010 he founded the world’s first energy company that earns more as it sells less energy. Arash is now founder of Kamangir, an R&D agency creating solutions for the digitalizing energy landscape. His main objective is to contribute to an “Internet of Energy”, enabling users world-wide to “download as well as upload” energy from abundant renewable resources. Besides his work for Kamangir Arash is a faculty member at Singularity University. He also is a mentor of social entrepreneurship at INSEAD Business School in Paris and he advises governments and companies on long term strategies for energy and digitalization. Arash lives by the motto “Dream, Develop, Do”.

Mr. Brenmiller has founded Brenmiller Energy in 2012, an innovation oriented company with vast experience in developing groundbreaking technologies. Brenmiller Energy has developed a new way to handle energy storage in a cost efficient and environmentally friendly way.

Mr. Brenmiller studied at the Technikum, Israel and earned a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University.  He directed key projects in engineering and operational departments at Luz Industries from 1988 and later became the CEO of its predecessor, Solel solar systems. In 2009 Solel was acquired by Siemens and Avi was appointed to head Siemens STE business unit, where he remained until 2011.

Ayu Abdullah is Regional Director for Southeast Asia at Energy Action Partners, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding individual opportunity and strengthening communities through collaborative sustainable energy programs and services. Ayu has over eight years of experience working as a researcher and practitioner in sustainable energy and community development. She was previously at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi conducting research on energy access, policy and sustainable development.

Mrs. Sultana holds a Bachelor and Master in Science in Geology and Mining from Rajshahi University, and later on added Master in Business Administration with a major on marketing from BRAC University, Bangladesh. Prior to joining SOLshare she was part of the management team of BRAC-Aarong for over a decade, one of the most successful social enterprises in the world. She earned a gold medalist at Rajshahi University and was announced the BRAC values award winner. Fluent in Bengali and English, Mrs. Sultana has mastered a range of extra training programs on leadership, gender awareness and analysis, strategic decision making, as well as M&E. Mrs. Sultana co-developed the smart entrepreneurship approach at SOLshare with an emphasis on women empowerment.

Bart Biebuyck is the Executive Director of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), a publicprivate partnership aiming at facilitating the deployment of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies in Europe. Before the FCH JU, Bart Biebuyck was at the Fuel Cell department of Toyota Motor Europe where he held the position of Technical Senior Manager. His expertise in the automotive industry includes extensive knowledge related to the deployment of new technologies in the European market. It is as part of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) programme in Berlin that Bart worked at reinforcing European trials for the Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle. He also had the opportunity to develop and expand his know- how in Japan, where for two years he worked on the PSA-Toyota Small Vehicle Development Project which resulted in the launch of the Toyota AYGO in 2006. In addition to his industrial experience, Bart has been politically active in his local town since 2006. In 2013 he became the vice president of the City Council, responsible, among others, for the local economy and education. Bart joined the FCH JU as the new Executive Director on the 16 May 2016.

Benjamin Schott, born 1983. Benjamin graduated in business and chemistry at the University of Ulm in 2007. Ph.D. in Economics in 2016 based on analysis on policy driven market entry strategies of electric vehicles in Germany. During his professional career he had several positions in business development, consulting and research, e.g. as New Business Development Manager in the chemical industry or as Project Manager at the battery research and consulting institute Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung in Ulm. Since 2014 he is leading the Business Innovation Team at sonnen GmbH, being with its product range one of the pioneers in the battery storage market and new energy services, like the sonnenCommunity as first of ist kind decentralized energy sharing community.

Bubacar Diallo is the Founder and CEO at Benoo Energies, a start-up company that develops, installs and operates modular energy access points in West Africa. These points offer a range of services for off-grid rural areas through solar power generation, wi-fi and contactless payment technology. He brings to Benoo a knowledge of international financing techniques, a knowledge of risks in emerging countries and an expertise in economic evaluation of projects. He has been a specialist in Trade Finance for over 10 years with a career at Société Générale and HSBC in their international businesses. Mr. Diallo graduated from Sciences Po Bordeaux and holds a MBA from Audencia Ecole de Management in France.

Cajeme Villarreal is the Director General for Electricity Market Analysis and Monitoring at the Ministry of Energy in Mexico. In this role, he oversees the implementation of regulation for the new wholesale market and coordinates with the market’s regulator and operator to improve the design of the new industry.

Previous appointments include Deputy Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance, Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary of Transportation and Adviser to the Minister and to the Undersecretary of Finance.

Cajeme Villarreal holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from The University of Chicago, and specializes in public sector economics and applied microeconomics.

Chen Guoping, Chief Engineer of State Grid Corporation China and the director of NPDCC(National Power Dispatching & Control Centre), is a professor level senior engineer. He graduated from Tsinghua University, China, in 1987, and received a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from St. Petersburg state University of Technology, Russia, in 1994.

Prof. Chen has a long career in bulk power system dispatching and control management. Before the current job, Prof. Chen used to be the deputy director of NPDCC, the deputy general manager of State Grid Operation Company, and the Party Secretary of State Grid International Development Co. Ltd. And now he also holds the positions of the executive director Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering Council and the vice-chairman of Chinese National Grid Operation and Control Standards Committee.

Prof. Chen’s main research domain includes bulk power system dispatching and control, new energy generation and consumption control and etc. As NPDCC’s director, Prof. Chen has been leading SGCC’s power system dispatching team in building the advanced dispatching and control system through constantly technology innovation, enlarging clean energy consumption by the system operation optimization, promoting system stability and power supply reliability by management enhancement and power market reform. With the efforts of Prof. Chen and his team, China’s state grid has been operating stably and has never experienced main grid’s stability damage faults since 1997, in contrast to the common blackout accidents in many other nations around the world.

Charlotte is a serial entrepreneur and established EQuota Energy in 2014, devoting to provide energy management AI big data solution with world-leading data analytics, energy optimization, predictive maintenance and carbon management.

EQuota’s projects are widely used in China in the fields of national high-tech industrial parks, steel manufacturing, commercial buildings and utility groups, partners with GE, Siemens, Honeywell, Engie, China Resources Power and China Power. The founding team members are all MIT alum.

Charlotte is an advocate of big data-driven energy management and she has rich experience in clean power technology industry in China, USA, Germany, Russia and many other countries. Her leading energy projects and a number of research results have been applied to Washington State government, Moscow government, China National Development Bank, National Development and Reform Commission, Ningbo Hi-tech Industrial Park and other domestic and foreign government agencies.

In 2018, Charlotte became one of the Asian Development Bank New Energy Leaders; in the same year, Charlotte led EQuota in Free Electrons bootcamp, and became one of the 15 start-up companies finalists to cooperate with the world's nine largest power companies. In 2016, Charlotte was elected as one of Echoing Green (Global non-profit commonwealth organization, founded in 1987) Global Climate Change Scholar. Only 11 scholars and entrepreneurs have been selected in this project worldwide. In the same year, Charlotte was speaker at Davos Economic Forum for the future of energy, who was chosen into Shanghai Thousand Talents Program, which is committed to the introduction of overseas high-level scientific and technological innovation talents. In 2012, Charlotte gained senior fellowship of SEED at Harvard University. This organization brings the world’s best Chinese research scholars, charitable leaders, and young entrepreneurs together to cultivate and shape a group of young leaders of Chinese society. Also Charlotte won the championship at the Global Challenge Contest in 2016. In 2010, Charlotte received the US National Science Foundation Scholarship, the Grace Hopper Award and the Jack Tang Fellowship.

Claas Matrose received his diploma degree in 2009 from RWTH Aachen University in Electrical Engineering. He has been a research assistant at the Institute for High Voltage Technology (Aachen, Germany) from 2009 until 2016. He has led the research department “Sustainable Distribution Systems” and has participated in national and international projects regarding renewable integration and electric mobility. He has been a member of the Asset Strategy department of Westnetz GmbH (Dortmund, Germany) since 2016 and received his doctoral degree from RWTH Aachen University in 2017. Claas is currently working on the DESIGNETZ research project and on the electrification of the fleet for Westnetz service technicians.

Colleen Metelitsa is a Grid Edge Analyst with GTM Research specializing in microgrids and blockchain applications for the grid edge. Prior to GTM, Colleen earned her MPA in Energy Finance and Policy from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. During her Master's program, she worked with the NY Green Bank, GE Ventures, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) on topics including renewable energy project finance, blockchain and the optimization of energy storage for demand charge management. She was previously a Consultant in DNV GL's energy practice where she worked with utilities and the U.S. Department of Energy on impact evaluations of demand response, energy efficiency, and renewable energy programs. Colleen holds an AB in Environmental Policy from Princeton University.

A chartered Engineer with 20 years industry experience.  Dan started on British Gas’s graduate training program progressing to project manager for high pressure gas pipelines and pressure reduction stations.  In 2008 he joined Rhead Group, a professional services consultancy, in the role of as Divisional Director for Energy (UK).  Dan joined Northern Gas Networks (NGN) in 2012 as ‘Head of Investment Planning and Major Projects’ following supporting the network in their RIIO-GD1 regulatory submission.  After undertaking several highly strategic roles within NGN Dan was seconded throughout 2016 to the UK governments Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) advising across policy teams on all gas industry and wider energy related topics. This secondment also included the design of the governments Hy4Heat programme.

Dan was the originator and Project Manager of the high profile H21 Leeds City gate project. Since returning to NGN in 2017 he has taken up the role of H21 Programme Director working on projects which are designed to delivery critical and strategic evidence for a hydrogen gas grid conversion.  These include the collaborative UK Gas Industry £10.3m Hydrogen Safety (H21 NIC) project and the ‘H21 North of England’ project. The ambition of these projects is to support and influence UK government and global energy policy.

David Nelson is Executive Director of Climate Policy Initiative - Energy Finance, and is based in London. CPI’s energy finance program works with national and state governments, public and private firms, investors, and asset managers across the world to identify and put into practice the market designs, business models, and new financial instruments needed to implement at scale renewable energy deployment, flexibility services, and efficient system change.

From its inception, David managed CPI’s research globally and helped establish CPI’s programs in the U.S., India, and more recently the Energy Finance programme globally. Before joining CPI, David worked for over 20 years as an investor - leading the energy and commodities investment team at Alliance Bernstein - and a strategic advisor to energy and utilities companies and regulators at Boston Consulting Group and Arthur D Little.

Deger Saygin works as the director of the SHURA Energy Transition Center. In his former role at the International Renewable Energy Agency, Deger developed and led the global renewable energy roadmap programme between 2013 and 2017. This programme has assisted the world’s 70 largest energy using countries in accelerating the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies to operationalise the goals of the seventh Sustainable Development Goal and the Paris Agreement. Prior to joining IRENA, Deger worked as a researcher at Utrecht University carrying out projects for intergovernmental organisations, countries and the private sector about more sustainable uses of energy and resources in the manufacturing industry. It is also where he received his PhD. He received his undergraduate degree in environmental engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara.

Dong Hui works as the principal expert of China electric power research institute. He received PhD's degree from the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1998. Over the past decade, Dr Hui has been engaged in large-scale energy storage research and engineering applications, mainly focus on research such as: Research on battery testing and detection, large scale energy system integration, battery management system, power management, energy storage safety characteristic evaluation technology, and energy storage application in renewable energy generation. Dr. Hui presided over the completion of China’s first demonstration project of 10MWh battery energy storage power station in the year 2011 and take charge of China’s first demonstration project of 100MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage power station since 2016. Besides, he is serving as a Committee member of the IEC/TC120 Committee and the secretary of China Electric Power Storage Standardization Technical Committee since 2013.

Dongxia Zhang works as the Senior Specialist of China Electric Power Research Institute ( CEPRI) .Since 2014, she has been working on big data and AI application in power system stability analysis. She and her team present one data driven method for power system transient stability assessment and emergency control strategy decision-making by combining Random Matrix Theory and Deep Reinforcement Learning. From 1999 to 2014, she worked as senior engineer in CEPRI, carrying out some projects on bulk power system reliability assessment, stability analysis , power load modeling for transient syability calculation, funded by Chinese government and SGCC ; participating in IEC  standardization activities in smart grid, smart cities and smart energy. Dongxia received her PhD. in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University in 1999; She got her Master degree and Bachelor degree from Taiyuan University of Technology in 1992 and 1985.

Donna Peng is an associate at Aurora Energy Research. Before joining Aurora, she worked with the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies as a research fellow, specialising in the analysis of extended gas-to-power value chains under different institutional and political contexts (UK, China, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Bangladesh).  Donna holds degrees in engineering, policy analysis, and economics from Delft University of Technology, Comillas Pontifical University, University of Waterloo, and McGill University.

Doris Gemeinhardt-Brenk is head of section of Digitization/Interconnectivity and Internet Platforms at the German Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railways since autumn 2015. Prior to that she was working on fundamental issues of the Internet economy at the agency. In 2001, she started her work at the Federal Network Agency in the section on basic economic issues in the regulation of postal markets. Prior to joining the public service, Ms. Gemeinhardt-Brenk worked for a number of years primarily as a market analyst for management consultancies. The entry into her professional career was in trade associations (IHK/Chamber of Crafts), where she dealt with competition economics and economic analysis issues. She studied economics at the University of Mainz.

Doug is the Market Development and Regulatory Affairs Manager of the Energy Web Origin decentralized application (dApp) for renewable energy markets. He informs EW Origin’s technical architecture, organizes market demonstrations, and engages key market participants to support its global deployment. Previously at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), he developed resources for residential and commercial building investors, cities, government agencies, popular media, and industry groups to scale clean energy investments. He received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and MSc from Imperial College London with top academic honors and awards for his research on applying behavioral science to pioneer clean energy solutions.

Emma Gibson joined Highview in April 2010 after completing an MSc in Environmental Management at Cranfield University. As Director of Operations, Emma’s responsibilities include programme management, grant funding and intellectual property, and the implementation of business processes and systems across all areas of Highview’s operations.

A Mechanical Engineering graduate from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Emma has over 25 years’ experience in the energy sector, having previously worked for ALSTOM Power in manufacturing and project management. This included seven years managing multi-million-pound projects for the supply of steam turbines, generators and auxiliary systems, to power stations around the world, including nuclear power plant in China and fossil-fired plant in Malaysia, Canada and Europe.

Felicia Jackson is a writer, entrepreneur and consultant on climate and energy finance and policy, clean technology and sustainable business. She co-founded New Energy Finance and digital company Netimperative. Her work focuses on the impact of the low carbon revolution on policy, economics, investment and industry.

Former editor-at-large of Cleantech Investor her work appears in The Times and she is a European Contributor to Forbes.com. Author of Conquering Carbon, an exploration of changes in the economic and industrial framework driven by climate change and the carbon markets, she also teaches in Global Energy and Climate Policy and Finance, Sustainability and Climate Change at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. She is a member of UNEP’s Technical Expert Group on Environmentally Sound Technologies.

Studied law at the University of Cologne and studied economics at the University of Wuppertal.

Career entry at Kienbaum Consulting in Dusseldorf with a focus on media and telecommunications. From 1999 as Principal responsible for this area.

Then change to the Dr. Mortsiefer Management Consulting in Cologne as Partner and Member of the Executive Board. New consulting focuses - in addition to telecommunications and media - steel industry and mission statement development. During this time, amongst others, Founder of the Content Commerce Initiative NRW and Director of the State Initiative Media NRW.

2005 change to Toyota Deutschland GmbH in Cologne as Manager Dealer Network Development. After stations as Sales Director Lexus and General Manager Dealer Development, taking over overall responsibility for Lexus Germany.

Since January 1st 2017 Director of Toyota Motor Europe Group Representative Office in Berlin, focusing on sustainable and innovative mobility (hydrogen & electric mobility, including coordinating function for France and UK), associations and politics.

Gauthier has over 20 years of international experience in the fields of power systems, renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainability, with firms from Belgium, Germany and the UAE. Throughout his career he has worked with decision makers in industry and governments on the highest level, sharing his expertise and vision. Gauthier joined NGK Europe GmbH as Director of Power Business Batteries end of 2017, with the goal of developing NAS® battery system in Europe and beyond, thereby actively contributing to the transition toward a Smart Grid with 100% renewable energy.

Dr. Ing. Geert Tjarks is Head of Division International Cooperation at the NOW GmbH National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology since September 2018. He joined the company in April 2017 as Program Manager Power-Based Fuels. He finalized his PhD at the RWTH Aachen in January 2017. The thesis was prepared in the Institute of Electrochemical Process Engineering at Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and has a focus on water electrolysis for hydrogen production. Until 2013 he studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University Braunschweig. For his diploma he worked with TU Chemnitz on fuel cell vehicles at the Volkswagen AG.

Ir. Guy Vekemans , since 1991 active at VITO (the Flemish Institute for Technological Research), is currently Strategy Manager Sustainable energy & Smart Cities for the Energy Division of VITO and for EnergyVille – a collaboration between the University of Leuven, VITO and IMEC. In this context he is involved in setting up large scale living lab projects on smart grids/cities and coordinating strategic co-operation on European and international level. As strategy officer for the KIC InnoEnergy, he contributed to the development of sustainable energy roadmaps. He represents the Belgian Energy Research Alliance in the steering committee of the EERA joint programme on smart cities. Finally Guy is active in the operational management of several platforms with the industry and other stakeholders e.g. Flux50, the Flemish Energy Cluster.

Habiba Ali is the Founder and CEO of Sosai Renewable Energies Company, one of the largest distributors of renewable energy in Nigeria. The company provides renewable energy products like solar lamps, water purifiers and solar panels, as well as energy consulting services to help bring clean, renewable energy solutions o the people of the rural and peri-urban communities of Northern Nigeria. She is the vice president of the Renewable Energies Association of Nigeria and is a member of the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air, the Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves, and the Nigerian Energy Network. Habiba holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting, a master’s degree in banking and finance, and is currently a dissertation-level PhD student in management (finance).

Ina Lehto has a MSc (tech.) in Electrical Engineering. She works with electric networks, customer relationship management, procedures in the electricity retail market, energy metering, terms of contract, microgeneration, network connections.

Finnish Energy represents companies that produce, acquire, transmit and sell electricity, district heat and district cooling and offer related services in Finland. Finnish Energy follows a code of conduct for sustainable lobbying.

James Watson is the CEO of SolarPower Europe, the European association representing more than 200 companies and organizations active along the Solar value chain. He joined SolarPower Europe in 2014 after 7 years of working in the energy sector in Brussels with the consultancy Weber Shandwick, holding the position of Director for Public Affairs. Prior to this he worked for the European Commission, posted for 2 years as an expert in Africa working on trade and sustainable development. Earlier in his career James worked for various UK government bodies in London and worked as a lecturer in Environmental Law at the University of Manchester. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law in the Vrije Universiteit Brussels.

Jan Aengenvoort studied humanities (M.A. in history) in Cologne, Bonn, Kabul, and Paris. He joined Next Kraftwerke in 2011. Since then, he helped to grow the then small startup to one of Europe's largest Virtual Power Plants with more than 130 employees. The Virtual Power Plant Next Pool networks decentralized energy producers as well as large-scale power consumers with an aggregated portfolio of 3,200 megawatts.

Today, Jan Aengenvoort heads the Communications & Market Research Department for Next Kraftwerke as CCO. His objective is to furnish information about the integration of renewable energies into existing grid structures and energy markets through Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and short-term trading. He is an expert on the German VPP market with a keen interest to broaden his knowledge to cover overseas energy markets as well.

Jan is a renewable energy and rural electrification expert. He holds a Master's degree in Renewable Energy and International Development from the University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands with more than 15 years of experience in Africa, the Pacific Region and Europe. He has specific knowledge on energy policy, PV, wind, biofuels and hydro power, remote monitoring and management models of sustainable rural electrification. Prior to his engagement with the EU Energy Initiative PDF, he worked as a renewable energy engineer at Fundo de Energia (FUNAE) in Mozambique; as renewable energy expert at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC/SPC); the Energy Research Foundation (ECN) in the Netherlands; and at UNDP HQ (Energy & Environment).

Jan Vorrink is the manager of the National Control and Regional Control Centers of TenneT TSO BV which is the Dutch Transmission System Operator. Mr. Vorrink has graduated as a Master in Business Administration and is an Engineer. He is working for TenneT since 2002 as a Manager in several departments. The activities of his department include the operational Planning processes, Realtime processes and the balancing and settlement processes

Engineer in Energy Technology (1973, ETSEIB). Master's degree in biomedical engineering (1973) and environmental engineering (1979). PhD engineer (1982)

1st. Green Councillor at Barcelona City Council. Elected member of Barcelona City Council (May 1995), served as Sustainable City Councillor until 1999, leading the process to adopt the Barcelona Local Agenda21 and the Barcelona Solar Ordinance, that later became National Law.

Professor, UAB (1979-2012)

Co-founder of Ecotècnia S.C.C.L. (1981) and Ecoserveis (1992)

Vice-president of EUROSOLAR - European Association for Renewable Energy

Leader of Living from the air of Sky’s project (the first citizen’s owned wind generator in Southern Europe)

As a program manager at GOGLA, a not-for-profit association created to promote lighting solutions that benefit society and businesses in developing and emerging markets, Julie Cammell focuses on building an enabling regulatory environment for the off-grid solar sector by demonstrating to national governments, development partners, international organizations and other key stakeholders the many benefits of off-grid solar and market-based solutions. Prior to joining GOGLA, Julie worked with the Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies Program at the International Energy Agency. Julie holds a PhD in Geography and International Relations, as well as Bachelor degrees in Geography, Political Science and Land and Water Management from the University of Western Australia.

Junyan Liu, who received a Master Degree of Computer Science from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, is the chief of Power Finance and e-Commerce Laboratory and the R&D Department of State Grid e-Commerce Corporation.

She has rich research and development experience in blockchain and also successfully led many research and technology projects as “the research and application of blockchain in the internet finance service system of State Grid E-Commerce”, “the molding of forecast user access of the user points platform built on the blockchain technology by ARMA and LSTM”, etc.

She also charged the editing of “the report on the blockchain technology and the application in the energy trading and the blockchain development in the worldwise”, which made a great contribution of set the route for the enterprise technology development.

In the meantime, she sponsors and manages the State Grid E-Commerce BlockChain Platform, which was brought into operation in March, 2017. This platform was designed to support 6 application scenarios, such as supply chain finance, user points redemption and exchange, payment clearing and settlement, credit checking, commodity trace, and digital bill, which helps blockchain technology adopt fast and integration of application system easily. So far there are two application system built on the platform. Based on the decentralized and unalterable consensus mechanism of distributed ledger technology of blockchain, the credit system supports the finance credit granting service in the supply chain management; using the distributed ledgers technology to solve the trust and safety problems between the trade subjects, the User Points e+ system provides a points redemption and exchange service between electric industry and 6 other industries, 22 enterprises.

All her research and practice on the blockchain expand the electric marketing methods and riches fintech application in the energy interconnection

Kátrin began her career in the European Parliament as political research assistant. She joined BEUC, the European Consumers Association in 1995, Head of Economic Section, representing the consumers interest in areas such as the introduction of the Euro, financial and public services. Her study on the national transposition of the voice telephony directive led her way into the telecoms sector. In 1999, Kátrin joined Swisscom holding different positions in the field of regulatory, strategy and public affairs. Having worked as Swissgrid's Head of Regulation, she joined Swisscom Energy Solutions as a consultant in 2012 to become its Head of Regulatory and Public Affairs since 2017. Kátrin has studied in Barcelona and Fribourg and holds a PhD in Economics from Fribourg (CH). Kátrin holds German and Swiss nationality.

Luiz was the CEO of EPE, the Brazilian Energy Research Company, that carries out planning studies on the Brazilian energy industry from July 2016 to April 2018 and is an Associate Researcher of the Institute for Technology Research (IIT) at Comillas University in Madrid, Spain. Previously he was a Technical Director of PSR, where he worked for 18 years and coordinated studies in over 30 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia in the following areas: (i) energy economics and project valuation; (ii) risk management and physical/financial optimization in the power sector; (iii) integrated electricity-gas planning studies; (iv) energy auctions; (v) electricity and gas market design; and (vi) market studies and regulatory assessment for investors, investment banks and lenders. He has actively participated in market design studies for renewable energy integration, including energetic studies and market design.

Luiz Barroso has a BSc in Mathematics and a MSc and DSc degrees in Operations Research (optimization) with emphasis on power systems economics

Maher joined General Electric as Senior Executive SVP, Chief Commercial Officer Globally for Power Digital Solutions in May 2017 based in Paris, France. He led the Power Digital Transformation P&L Business within Power transforming GE Industrial Customers to become full Industrial Digital, leveraging his 30 years of Digital experience in the market. Maher Headed a Digital Cloud IOT Business of 2 B$. Currently 20% of the current GE Power installed business has adopted Digital based on Financial, Value and Return on Investment justification.

Since January 2018, Maher is leading GE Global Digital Energy Solutions as Senior Executive SVP, Chief Business Innovation Officer, covering Power Generation, Grids, Storage, Renewables & Energy Efficiency Services.

Manon Dirand (Head of Sales); graduated with a MSc. & Meng. from ENSTA ParisTech and a MEc. from La Sorbonne university. Before joining BeeBryte, she worked in a leading energy consulting firm and later as a business developer and market analyst at CEA, a top French research institute, bringing smart grids and smart building innovations from the lab to the market, in France and in the US. She has a keen understanding of energy storage business models and energy markets.

Marc Peters is driving the digital transformation of organisations in the energy, environment and utilities industry and bridging between business and technology challenges and changes.

Mark is the COO of Strategen, and oversees the company’s strategy and day-to-day operations. Mark’s broad energy sector experience prior to Strategen includes serving as the Director of Utility West at SunEdison, where he led a portfolio of more than a gigawatt of renewable energy development assets in California. Mark also held the role of Vice President of Finance of Hu Honua Bioenergy, a 21.5 MW biomass power redevelopment project in Hawaii. In addition, Mark led Pacific Gas & Electric Company's work in key policy areas including interconnection and transmission planning, and dealt with technologies ranging from distributed energy storage and demand response to large scale renewables developments. Mark has a strong private equity, venture capital and investment banking background, including placing more than $125 million in equity for publicly traded companies and managing the launch of a $70 million Pacific-rim venture fund investing in the agricultural biotech and medical devices sectors. Mark holds a Master of Pacific International Affairs from UC-San Diego, and a Bachelor of Arts in government from the University of Notre Dame.

Mark McGranaghan is vice president of Integrated Grid for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). This research area is leading the development of the next generation integrated electric grid while developing innovations for optimal design, maintenance, and improvement of the existing grid.

He is an IEEE Fellow and in 2014 received the Charles Proteus Steinmetz Award for his expertise and dedication to power engineering standards development. He is a member of the executive committee of the CIGRE U.S. National Committee, vice chairman of the CIRED U.S. National Committee and a member of the IEC Advisory Committee on Electricity Transmission and Distribution (ACTAD). From 2003 to 2010, McGranaghan was director of research in EPRI’s distribution and smart grid practices. During this period, he led restructuring of distribution system related research and coordinated EPRI research efforts in the smart grid area with government and industry. From 1978 to 1988 McGranaghan was a manager at McGraw-Edison/Cooper Power in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He led studies for both the utility industry and for internal McGraw-Edison applications. McGranaghan led studies using the Transient Network Analyzer (TNA) resulting in basic designs for high voltage power systems worldwide.

McGranaghan has Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Toledo. He has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mark van Stiphout is currently Deputy Head of Unit in DG Energy in the unit that is responsible for research and innovation, including Horizon 2020 and the Strategic Energy Technology Plan.

Until the 1^st of November 2014 he was a member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Energy, Günther H. Oettinger, who he advised on nuclear energy and energy research, as well as smart grids, retail markets and the relations with Russia. This included for example the Commission's work on nuclear safety and the trilateral negotiations with Russia and Ukraine on gas supply.

Previously he was assistant to the Director-General for Energy, and from 2006 to 2010 he he was responsible for the liberalisation of the internal market for natural gas as Policy Officer in DG Energy in the Electricity and Gas Unit.

Previous roles include consultancy on renewable energy projects, at Ecofys, with a focus on generating energy from biomass, and market analyst at Cogas Energie.

Since March 2018 Markus is Regional Manager of the Electric Power Research Institute based in Switzerland. EPRI conducts research, development, and demonstration projects on electricity generation, delivery, and use in the United States and internationally.

A physical chemist by training, Markus conducted post-doctoral research in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, having earned a PhD in physical chemistry from the Ruprecht-Karls Universität in Heidelberg, Germany.

2002 Markus joined the Alstom Power Technology Center where in 2008 he became a Principal Engineer for chemical technologies in 2008, working on projects related to CCS, membranes, PV and energy storage.

From 2013-2016 he served as Technology Watch Manager in Alstom Open Innovation, responsible for technology scouting in the field of energy and thereby, representing Alstom in the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Program, the EU Zero-Emission Platform and other national and international R&D programs.

From 2016 to 2018 he led Innovation & Roadmapping in GE Power Service, following market and technology trends, analyzing future product needs and organizing multi-year product and technology roadmaps.

Martin Frick oversees as Senior Director UNFCCC work supporting the implementation of the Paris Agreement and climate action. He previously served as director for climate change at UNFAO. He was the German representative for human rights and humanitarian affairs at the UN General Assembly and served as the European Union lead negotiator in the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council. As Ambassador to the international organizations based in Germany, he helped building up the UN sustainability hub in Bonn. He holds a PhD in law and was a guest lecturer at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.

Since 2011 Martin Haagen is responsible for the Business Development of Industrial Solar in the MENA region and has accompanied the implementation of the first two solar process steam generation systems in Jordan. In his work Martin Haagen focuses on multi-dimensional solutions to accelerate the uptake of sustainable heating solutions in the industry. Martin Haagen is also the Managing Director of Carbon Free Industry, a company providing energy contracting for industrial companies based on renewable energies.

Martin Healy works at the intersection of renewable energy and U.S. foreign policy. A member of the U.S. Foreign Service, he focuses on Iraq domestic power issues and serves as the U.S. alternate representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Martin’s varied foreign service career began in Latin America, with tours in Mexico City, Honduras, and Panama, with additional assignments in Erbil, Iraq, and Belgium. In Washington Martin helped oversee the Colombia counter-narcotics program, and served as a foreign affairs analyst for U.S. Senator Marco Rubio. Prior to the foreign service Martin spent over ten years in the telecommunications industry, where he helped lead start-up companies in the telecommunications and internet sectors.

Martin Keller became the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) director on November 30, 2015.  NREL is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC (Alliance).  Martin also serves as the President of Alliance.

Martin joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in July 2006 and was appointed to the role of Associate Laboratory Director in July 2009.  In November 2010, he was asked to lead the newly-formed Energy and Environmental Sciences directorate. In this role he was responsible for the energy, biological, and environmental research programs supported by DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institutes of Health. Martin served as the Founding Director of the DOE BioEnergy Science Center and also served as the Director of the Biosciences Division.

Martin held a series of research management positions within Diversa Corporation, a publicly-traded biotechnology company. Martin joined Diversa Corporation in 1994 as a consultant to build and develop their microbiology expertise before joining Diversa Corporation full time in 1996.

Martin received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Regensburg, Germany.

Matthieu Mounier is responsible for Prosumer activity at Schneider Electric, including Smart Grid for demand side activities. Previously, he led the tertiary electrical switch board offers in the group's Spanish subsidiary. He then joined corporate team focusing on development of secured power solutions (Critical Power), healthcare buildings as well as industry sector and infrastructures. He is chairman of the Smart Grid project group within CAPIEL, the European Manufacturers Association of low voltage electrical equipment. Matthew Mounier graduated as an Engineer from Supelec.

Mr. Michael Ahimbisibwe is the Executive Director for East African Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EACREEE). Prior to becoming director, Mr. Ahimbisibwe was a Principal Energy Officer in the Renewable Energy Department, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Government of Uganda. Mr. Ahimbisibwe was the national focal point officer for national and regional policy matters. He has gained deep understanding of energy issues in the EAC region as a member of the energy working group of the EAC Secretariat. Some of his previous assignments include formulating regional strategy for scaling up access to modern energy services, developing an energy security policy framework for the region, Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP) coordination, focal point for IRENA activities in Uganda. He was also focal point for gender at the Energy Resources Directorate (MEMD), among others.

Michele Governatori, 46, is Director of Public and Regulatory Affairs for Axpo Italia S.p.A.. Before joining the Axpo group in 2004, he has been working for Eni, Edison, and for the Italian state-owned Single Buyer of electricity.

After his BA cum laude in Economics at Bocconi University in 1996, he completed the Master in Management of the Energy and Environment Industry of Eni Corporate University.

Since 2009 he is author of Derrick, a blog and radio broadcast on Energy and Environment for Radio Radicale

From 2013 to 2017 he has been President of the Italian Energy Traders and Wholesalers Association (AIGET) and since 2018 he is President of European Energy Retailers (http://europeanenergyretailers.eu/) a network of associations of non-incumbent energy operators.

Dr. Takada spearheads DESA’s efforts in reviewing, following up and implementing SDG7 on energy, in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Prior to this position, Dr. Takada was the Team Leader for Sustainable Energy for All at the Executive Office of the Secretary-General at UN. Previously, he was Head of the Sustainable Energy Programme at UNDP, and worked in Africa as a community organizer for several years. He holds a PhD in renewable energy applications from the University of Mie in Japan, and a Masters in nuclear engineering from the University of Hokkaido, Japan.

Monica Araya is an advocate, adviser and communicator who has incubated several initiatives in Latin America. She founded Costa Rica Limpia to bring people closer to clean, smarter technologies that improve their everyday life. Her work focuses on consumer and citizen engagement in the shift toward renewable energy and zero emissions electric mobility. Her group pioneered Movilidad Electrica, the first electric mobility platforms in Latin America devoted to the education of consumers about electric vehicles. She also co-founded the Electric Mobility Association in Costa Rica and is Vice President of the Board. Her TED talk fossil-free Costa Rica that has over one million views and has been translated into 30 languages.

Dr. Monica Axell has more than 25 years’ experience of R&D in the field of heating and cooling of buildings, building as a system, energy system integration and smart cities. Furthermore she has worked with standardization and quality labelling schemes for buildings and building components. She is Manager for IEA Heat Pump Centre with 16 member countries and 10 ongoing international projects at the moment. She is Head of Energy and Circular Economy at RISE.

Morwesi is an impact entrepreneur with a passion for advancing access-to-energy as a solution to the energy poverty problem. She has extensive experience in Renewable Energy as a developer of solar energy projects and solar solutions. She is the Chief Commercial Officer of the Sun Exchange, an award winning Blockchain platform that provides specialist Solar Energy Crowdfunding platform. Through her social impact project called Watt-A-Woman, she aspires to realise the inclusion of women in the renewable energy eco-system.

Before devoting her life to Access-to-Energy, she practiced professionally in various business sectors including Transportation, Information & Communications Technology, and Management Consulting.

Mr. Nelson Mojarro is the Representative in Europe of the Sustainable Energy Fund and the Hydrocarbons Fund. He was elected in 2018 as Vice-Chair of the Committee of Energy Research and Technology of the International Energy Agency (IEA). His work focuses on innovation and energy topics.

He is Mexico's main contact point for Mission Innovation (MI), an initiative launched at COP21 together with the Breakthrough Energy Coalition (BEC), led by Bill Gates.

He is the co-lead of Business and Investor Engagement of Mission Innovation and coordinates the collaboration between Mission Innovation and the World Economic Forum.

With respect to bilateral cooperation in innovation, he led the first ever Joint Call on Energy R&D between the European Commission and Mexico under Horizon 2020 and the Energy Sustainability Fund, an agreement worth 20 million Euros.

Mr. Mojarro is a former OIES Saudi Aramco Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, of the University of Oxford.

He did his doctorate studies in SPRU and holds an MA in Industry and Innovation Analysis from this institution.

Paul Massara is the CEO of Electron and a member of the Committee on Fuel Poverty advising the Secretary of State for Energy on energy strategy.

Paul has over two decades experience in the energy sector. He started at Centrica plc, Direct Energy North America, in Toronto where he held a variety of positions with increasing responsibility culminating in his role as President of Canadian Operations and serving as a Member of the North American Board and the North America Executive Committee. His leadership enhanced the Company’s growth from $700,000MM to $2.7Bn, and from 600 to 3,000 employees.

He was CEO of RWE npower EO of RWE npower and served on the Executive Committee of RWE AG as well as being the Country Chair for RWE in the UK responsible for all Government and policy issues. As member of the RWE Retail Board, he was responsible for coordinating 23 million B2C customers and led the digitalization of RWE in the UK and Europe. He left RWE to head Northstar Solar, which was looking at the disruption off the energy market by battery storage , solar and demand side management.

He is Chair of Medicinema, a charity focused on enhancing patient wellbeing by building cinemas in hospitals. He was voted Top 40 Under 40 in Canada in 2004 and was Chair of the Toronto Board of Trade.

Since August 2013, Mrs Abreu Marques is the Head of Unit for “Renewables and CCS policy” in the European Commission, DG Energy. She is responsible for the EU renewable energy policy, including the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive and the definition of the regulatory policy framework for Post-2020, as well as for the enabling policies and measures designed to make the EU world number one in renewable energy. She is also in charge of developing the Commission strategy on Carbon Capture and Storage. Previously, Mrs Abreu Marques was the Head of Unit for “International Energy Relations and Enlargement” in the European Commission, where she defined and steered the general approach in the area of international energy relations. This included inter alia the negotiation and coordination of the EU position vis-à-vis third countries or groups of countries and international organisations, energy cooperation agreements and platforms, alongside the management of procedures aiming at the conclusion of accession, association or cooperation agreements with third countries, including energy trade related issues. She joined the European Commission in 1994.

Peter Stratmann is a physicist and an engineer. He has been working as an engineer in the private sector before joining the German Energy Regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, almost 10 years ago.

At the regulator, he spent over 5 years dealing with the liberalization of the German gas market. As Head of the President Office, he has then been in charge of establishing a new department within the Regulatory Authority, responsible for the implementation of the national grid expansion acceleration Act. Since September 2013, he is leading the renewables unit at the Bundesnetzagentur.

Dr. Rene Peters is responsible for innovation in gas at TNO, the largest knowledge institute in The Netherlands on Energy. He is also responsible for the national innovation program on geo energie, i.e. the use of the subsurface for energy activities such as gas production and storage, geothermal energy and large scale energy storage. He has initiated the national innovation program on system integration in offshore energy, which studies added value of integration of offshore wind production with offshore oil and gas infrastructure, in particular for transport and storage of offshore wind energy in the form of molecules, preferably hydrogen.

Rudolf Zauner studied process engineering at the Technical University of Graz, Austria and obtained a PhD in chemical engineering from University College London, UK.

He subsequently worked in technical process development and scale-up at BASF AG in Ludwigshafen, Germany, followed by a placement at the Center for Innovative Sintered Products in State College, Pennsylvania, US (2001-2003). From 2003 to 2008 he worked for Austrian Research Centers, developing a powder technology business unit and managing both industry and EU-funded projects.

Since 2008 he has been working at VERBUND. He has formerly been responsible for operation of the 420 MW VERBUND wind fleet in Austria, Germany, Romania and Bulgaria, for renewables R&D and for plant optimization before becoming Head of Hydrogen Center at Verbund Solutions GmbH.

She has been working during more than a decade to witness the environmental problems of the fossil and nuclear based energy model and to propose alternatives to reach a fair, renewable, efficient, smart energy model in people’s hands. First from the scientific research about new materials for photovoltaic energy and then from activism in spaces such as Greenpeace, Mar Blava Alliance or Renewables Foundation.

Especially focused on initiatives that holistically address three of the major flaws in our political-economic systems: climate change, extreme inequality and corruption.

At Greenpeace we seek solutions and promote an open and informed debate about the environmental options of society.

Sergey Kiselev co-leads eMotorWerks’ (Enel X) European business and is in charge of company's operations and hardware.
Sergey joined the company after 10 years at McKinsey, where he led strategic projects for clients in renewable energy, storage and emobility. He led the opening of a new McKinsey office in Kazakhstan and helped scale its operations.

Prior to his career in strategy consulting, Sergey worked at Hitachi Global Storage Technology group located in Silicon Valley, performing R&D in nanomagnetics.
His R&D work continued his PhD and postdoctoral work in experimental physics at Cornell University.

Shelmith is an Investment Officer with SunFunder, a solar finance business based in Nairobi, Kenya. SunFunder provides debt facilities to solar businesses and projects in emerging markets and is currently active in East, West and Southern parts of Africa, India and the Pacific Islands. Shelmith is responsible for leading deals and relationships with solar companies in East and Southern Africa and has extensive experience in financing these businesses in the region. Prior to joining SunFunder, Shelmith spent eight years in the banking sector in Kenya, financing Small and Micro Enterprises across various sectors.

Stephen Woodhouse is Pöyry’s Chief Digital Officer, responsible for the consultancy’s digital transformation business.  He has considerable experience in the energy industry, specializing in the changing energy markets and until recently led Pöyry's global practice in energy market design. 

Stephen contributes to the global and EU debates on appropriate market designs for de-carbonization, flexibility, capacity, and network access as well as working on electricity market reforms in over 30 countries. In earlier roles, he worked for the UK’s electricity regulator Ofgem, and previously as a consultant on global aviation emissions and high-speed rail.

Stephen has an MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge and has published numerous papers on electricity market design.

Stephen is a director and acting VP for Innovation at National Grid Ventures. He has had experience in technology and innovation management, corporate strategy, finance and regulation, project management and commercial roles. He specialised in scenario planning, technology scouting, and innovation. Stephen has been with National Grid since 2001 and had several roles in Gas Distribution, GB System Operator (power and gas) and Corporate Development teams. Stephen has a Ph.D. and Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham (UK), is an Associate Member of the IChemE, member of the Institute of Directors, and has an MBA from Warwick Business School (UK).

Mr. YANO is the Deputy General Manager of Energy Systems Div. in Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. He is engaged in the Smart Energy Solutions business incl. Redox Flow Battery Systems, CPV, Virtual Power Plant, etc. Prior to his current role, he was the R&D manager for Sumitomo Electric’s Network Systems products, where he led the development of Connected-home products and Home Energy Management Services for telecom carriers. His primary interest is optimization of distribution systems under high penetration environment of renewables. He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees from Kyoto University and joined Sumitomo Electric in 1985.

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Thomas Samuel is the founder of Sunna Design, a world-leading company specialized in the design and manufacturing of smart solar street lighting solutions based in France. Since the company creation in 2011, Sunna has installed over 14 000 products in over 40 countries worldwide, primarily in emerging markets, lighting up more than a million people. Most recently, Sunna won the 2018 Zayed Future Energy Prize. Thomas’s technical background, acute business acumen and passion for making a difference through renewable energy solutions has led him to take Sunna Design from an innovative start-up to an ambitious 'scale-up' of 65 people globally.

Thomas is a long term (renewable) energy aficionado. Apart from closely following the energy transition both in the electricity and heating sectors, he is the owner of a heat pump, a PV power plant and a building in which both peacefully cooperate.

In his professional live, Thomas represents the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) as Secretary General in Brussels. His main responsibilities are the representation of the industry at the European institutions, networking with other stakeholders in the field of heating and cooling as well as the management of the association and its future development.

Thomas has published several articles on heat pump technology and the integration of heat pumps in the energy system and has spoken on this topic in European and international conferences.

He has also been contributing to scientific publications including the IEA energy technology perspectives and the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report.

Before working for the EHPA, he has worked in several projects on the economic and social benefits of renewable energy.

Thomas holds a university degree in business administration and economics.

Tim Karlsson is Executive Director of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE), an inter-governmental partnership of 18 countries and the European Commission, working to help facilitate the transition to clean and efficient energy and mobility systems using fuel cells and hydrogen technologies.

Previously, Mr. Karlsson held various positions including Director of Emerging Technologies, and, Director of Environmental and Clean Energy Industries in the government of Canada’s Department of Industry.

He has worked on numerous policy issues related to energy and the environment including domestic and international climate change as a member of Canada’s delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Tomás Baeza Jeria is the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Manager of the Chilean Solar Committee of CORFO.

Tomás is Engineer in Renewable Resources from University of Chile; Master of Science in Sustainable Energy from University of Glasgow, and Master in Entrepreneurship and Technology Management, from University Adolfo Ibañez. With 10 years of experience, Tomás has worked with incredible people from different countries and cultures, and leading ideas, dreams and projects to contribute to the energy transition and sustainable energy innovations. Today Tomás is working to increase the awareness in the Chilean industries to take advantage of the exceptional solar resource of the Desert of Atacama to create new wealth for Chile, in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, and quality infrastructure. Important part of the work, leaded by Tomás, has been to help startups and companies seeking to innovate in the energy industry, to achieve financing and to cooperate within the innovation ecosystem.

Since Torben joined Danfoss in 1995, he has held several management positions within development of manufacturing processes, materials, and product development of components. With these deep technical insights, he is at the forefront of technology development that helps implement, e.g. the Montreal Protocol or develop better cold chains.

Torben continues to drive innovation by applying existing technologies to new challenges, as he is the author of numerous white papers and patents. He holds a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).

Ulf Schulte is an urban mobility planner by profession. He has worked in the field of Emobility since 2009 focussing on the implementation of charging infrastructure. He worked for a large utility as an innovation manager before he started in 2014 at Allego becoming Chief Operations Officer. He is responsible for the realisation and operation of the charging infrastructure. Allego’s mission is to create unlimited electric mobility by providing the best charging experience for cities, companies and consumers by realizing the right charging solutions at the right place at the right capacity.

Vimal Mahendru is the President of Legrand-India, a subsidiary of the French multi-national Legrand. In his present role, he guides strategic initiatives of the company, especially forays into new and emerging markets.

Besides this, Vimal is presently the IEC Ambassador, representing IEC in various government and stakeholder fora relevant to the electrotechnical community. He is the IEC Standardization Management Board (SMB) member from India and Chair of the IEC Systems Committee on Low Voltage Direct Current and Low Voltage Direct Current for Electricity Access (SyC-LVDC). Specifically, on Electricity Access, Vimal is representing IEC in various UN, multi-government and international fora, to drive electricity access initiatives through standardization.

He is also a member of the governing council of Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), the apex industry body in India. Besides this, he is also the Chair of the Bureau of Standards, Sectional Committee 39, for standardization of fuses and fuse accessories.

Vlad Duboviks background is related to energy storage solutions. As a part of GE Energy Consulting he supports transformation of electric power systems through power production cost modelling and grid integration studies. The key themes of his recent projects are optimising potential revenue streams for innovative grid solutions, such as battery storage, and assessing the most efficient pathways for decreasing CO₂ emissions.

Wei Lingxiao was born in June 1974 and he is the Vice director of the Ministry of science and technology of State Grid Beijing Electric Power Company. He has long been engaged in power grid automation, power transmission and transformation equipment operation management and power grid construction work. He certainly has experience in the management of electric power enterprises. At present, he is responsible for the science and technology innovation and the smart grid management in the company.

Wolfram Sparber is heading the Institute for Renewable Energy at Eurac Research since it’s foundation in 2005. Eurac Research is an applied research centre located in Bolzano-Northern Italy. The Institute focuses on renewable energy applications and energy efficiency in buildings and cities and counts around 100 collaborators. From 2011 till 2017 Wolfram Sparber served as vice president of the European Technology and Innovation Platform for Renewable Heating and Cooling (ETIP RHC). Since 2016 he is chairman of the board of directors of the North Italian energy utility Alperia. Alperia is one of the largest renewable energy producers in Italy, and has a special focus on sustainable energy solutions. Wolfram Sparber studied applied physics at Graz University of Technology and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.

Zheng Haiyan, Professor-level senior engineer, the current deputy chief engineer of Jiangsu Frontier Electric Technology co., LTD, has engaged in research of computer technology and grid automation for 18 years, with rich experience in management. He has presided over many technology projects, such as "Research on key technologies of big data to improve power marketing service ", "Development and application of power grid automatic centralized operation monitoring system". Currently, Zheng is presiding the project “Demonstration application integrating driverless electric vehicles with a road with solar energy technology and wireless charging/supply technology”, which combines the photovoltaic road technology, wireless charging technology and driverless technology.