Speakers

Dr Fatih Birol

Executive Director

IEA

Tudor Constantinescu

Principal Advisor To The Director General For Energy

European Commission

Dr Tudor Constantinescu is Principal Adviser to the Director General for Energy in the European Commission since March 2011. He is an engineer and economist by education. Before joining the Commission, he set up as Executive Director the Buildings Performance Institute Europe. He was the president of the Romanian Agency for Energy Conservation and for the period 2008-2009 he ensured the presidency of the EnR network of European Energy Agencies. Between 1996-2007, he coordinated the energy efficiency and related environmental activities of the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels.

Noe Van Hulst

Hydrogen Envoy

Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Policy, Netherlands

Noé van Hulst is Hydrogen Envoy at the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Policy in the Netherlands. Prior to that, Mr van Hulst was the Dutch Ambassador to the OECD from September 2013 to September 2018 and Chairman of the IEA Governing Board.

From 2003 to 2007, he worked at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris as Director of Long-Term Co-operation and Policy Analysis. He then became Secretary-General of the International Energy Forum (IEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2008 to 2011. He was Director of the Energy Academy Europe in 2012-2013.

Before that, Mr van Hulst worked at the Ministry of Economic Affairs from 1988, lastly as Director-General for Energy. Mr van Hulst has a PhD in economics from the VU Amsterdam.

Iuchi Setsuo

Senior Vice President, Executive Assistant to President

Chiyoda Corporation

Jürgen Streitner

Director for Energy Policy & Energy Intensive Industries

Federal Ministry for Sustainability & Tourism, Austria

Since 2018      Director for Energy Policy and Energy Intensive Industries, Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism

2014-2018      Director for Sustainable Economic Development and Climate Change Policy, Federal Ministry for Science, Research and Economy

Since 2013      Lecturer, University of Applied Science Burgenland

2012-2014      Head of Climate Change Task Force, Federal Ministry for Science, Research and Economy

2011-2012      Advisor for Energy and Climate Policies at Brussels Office, Federation of Austrian Industries

2010-2011       Trainee, Federation of Austrian Industries

2009                Masters degree in Business Administration, University of Graz

Study visits and internships in Poland, Thailand, USA

Giuseppe Ricci

Chief Refining & Marketing Officer

Eni

Anita Sengupta

Co-Founder, Airspace Experience Technologies

Aerospace

Boyana Achovski

Secretary General

Gas Infrastructure Europe

Since September 2016, Boyana Achovski serves as Secretary General of Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), the European association of gas transmission, gas storage and LNG regasification terminal operators. Prior to her current function, Ms. Achovski held the position of GIE Vice Executive Secretary for a period of 4 years. Before joining GIE, Boyana Achovski worked for Bulgartransgaz, the Bulgarian transmission and storage operator, where she led the Analysis and International Operations Division, managing the company’s undertakings relating to the European regulatory framework and European energy policy. Ms. Achovski graduated in International Economic Affairs, specialized in International Finance and holds a Master's degree in Finance. Boyana Achovski was a Chair of GasNaturally Steering Committee from June 2017 to January 2018 and from July to December 2019.

Christelle Rouillé

CEO

Hynamics

Christelle graduated from Angers Business School and Vienna University. She has been working within the EDF Group for more than 20 years. She started her career at the International Direction and joined the Commercial Direction as a Key Account Manager. In 2009 she starts working for EDF New Energies, the EDF subsidiary for renewable energies to be Partnerships director first, then Business Development director for the Operation and Maintenance entity in Europe and Asia. In September 2017, Christelle integrates EDF Pulse Croissance, a new entity which develops startups and new activities for the Group, as the Strategy director. In April 2019, she launches Hynamics, the EDF subsidiary dedicated to produce and distribute low carbon hydrogen.

Christian Weinberger

Senior Adviser – Advanced Industrial Technologies/ Hydrogen Coordinator

European Commission

Christian Weinberger joined the European Commission in 1999 to work on technical harmonisation in the Common Market, using the New Approach with CE-marking and harmonized EN Standards. In 2003 he was appointed Head of Unit dealing with Entrepreneurship policy, identifying and disseminating good practices and preparing Commission Communications on SME topics. In 2008 he was named Entrepreneurship and SME Policy Advisor. During 2016 and 2017 he was Adviser to the Danube Region Macroregional Strategy promoting its business dimension.Since 2018 he is Senior Adviser on Advanced Industrial Technologies and Hydrogen Co-ordinator for DG Internal Market, Industry, SMEs & Entrepreneurship.

Before joining the European Commission, Christian Weinberger worked for 10 years with a large multinational corporation in Marketing, Sales, Finance and Special Business Operations in various countries and at European HQ. He then co-founded an international SME in Information Technology and was its CEO for 9 years.

Being a native Austrian, Christian Weinberger holds a Master of Physics in Engineering, an MBA and a Ph.D. in Economics.

Didier Stevens

Senior Manager - European & Government Affairs

Toyota Motor Europe

Didier Stevens (58) is Senior Manager European & Government Affairs at Toyota Motor Europe in Brussels, Belgium. He is in charge of coordinating and leading internally and externally all lobbying activities in Europe for the Japanese automotive company with special focus on CO2 for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, introduction of alternative powertrains and respective infrastructure, and other EU emissions legislation. Didier is the Toyota representative in different stakeholder groups of the European Commission, committees and working groups of ACEA (European car manufacturers association), FEBIAC (Belgian car industry federation) and a member of the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) Urban Infrastructure Initiative. Prior to his 20 years with Toyota Motor Europe, he was in charge of the European Internal Market introduction to Mitsubishi Electric. From May 2006 till February 2017, he has been Chairman of the Belgian-Japan Association EU Committee facilitating the contacts between Japanese companies and the European institutions and officials. In June 2017, Didier Stevens has been appointed Hydrogen Europe Board member in charge of the Transport Pillar and is currently leading a working group on hydrogen trucks. Didier Stevens holds a post-university degree from the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium).

Jacques Vandermeiren

Chief Executive Officer & President of Executive Committee

Antwerp Port Authority

Jacques Vandermeiren is Chief Executive Officer and President of the Executive Committee of Antwerp Port Authority as of 1 January 2017. Until January 2015 he was CEO and President of the Executive Committee of the network operator Elia, a listed company, where he held various management positions since joining it in 2001. Before that he worked for 11 years as Senior Advisor Strategy Direction with the energy company Electrabel. Vandermeiren has occupied various directorships with among others Febeg (Federation of Belgian Energy Companies) and the Federation of Belgian Enterprises. He is currently an active board member of the digital platform NxtPort, Kunsthuis Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and the Belgian coffee brand Vascobelo. He is also co-founder, and since May 2018 Chairman, of the Belgian sustainability platform The Shift, as well as co-investor in Qpinch, which generates energy from waste heat.
Vandermeiren graduated as Master of Laws, a qualification which he later supplemented with a master's in European Studies, a middle management course with Vlerick Business School and an “advanced management Program INSEAD”. He is married to Barbara Baeckelmans, with whom he has three children. He lives in Antwerp.

Frank Wouters

Director

The EU-GCC Clean Energy Network

Frank Wouters has been leading renewable energy projects, transactions, and technology development for over 28 years and played a lead role in the development of renewable energy projects valued at over $5 billion.
As Deputy Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), he managed a US$350 million IRENA/Abu Dhabi Fund for Development project facility for RE.
Mr. Wouters has served on the board of energy companies in Europe, Asia, the US and Africa and currently serves as Director of the EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network, a platform that fosters partnerships between Europe and the Gulf. He is Global Lead Low-Carbon Hydrogen at Worley, he is Fellow, Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines and he is a non-executive Board Director of Gorestreet Capital, London.
Frank has authored several books on renewable energy and lives in Abu Dhabi. He has a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Delft University. 

Dr Gökçe Mete

Head of the Knowledge Centre

International Energy Charter

Dr Gokce Mete is an energy sector professional, qualified lawyer, academic and consultant with a decade of experience focused on climate change, energy and natural resources law and policy. Alongside her academic research, she brings extensive practical experience working with law firms, academic and international organisations, including the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Natural Resources Governance Institute, the World Bank, and other international development agencies.

She holds a PhD from the Centre for Energy Petroleum, Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP) at the University of Dundee. Dr Mete is the author of 18 published and upcoming publications. In her new book, The Future of Gas in the EU: Subsidise or Decarbonise? (Palgrave, Macmillan 2019), she carries out an experiential assessment of the impact of energy transitions on the future of natural gas in the EU energy mix and provides policy recommendations, including on the future of sector coupling, and explores alternatives pathways to promote incentives for technologies that can enable decarbonisation of the gas grid at scale.

She is currently the Head of the Knowledge Centre at the International Energy Charter in Brussels, an intergovernmental organisation with over 90 signatories across the globe, whose work is dedicated to facilitating international cooperation in the energy sector.

Previously, she was the Content Lead of the £3.4 million UK Department for International Development (DfID) funded Extractives Hub project at the CEPMLP.

Cas König

CEO

Groningen Seaports NV

Cas König (53) was appointed CEO of Groningen Seaports NV on 1 September 2017.

In recent years he has held various positions and gained broad (international) experience in the industrial port setting - at Aluminium Delfzijl and ESD-SIC - and in political-social interest groups. In recent years, for example, he has worked at various interest groups, including the Association of the Dutch Chemical Industry (VNCI), the Eemsmond Business Alliance (SBE) and VNO-NCW Noord.

In 2013 he was singled out as Plant Manager of the Year. This resulted in Cas König being a figurehead for the process industry at national level for a year. As of 2018 Cas König is chairman of the Northern Industry Table, focusing on climate change and CO2 reduction following the Paris Climate Act.

Robin Edme

High-Level Policy Expert - Climate & Sustainable Finance

Ministry for the Ecological & Inclusive Transition of France

Martin Neubert

Chief Executive Officer - Offshore

Ørsted

Martin Neubert is CEO of Offshore in Ørsted, Executive Vice President and member of Ørsted Executive Committee.

Prior to Mr. Neubert’s appointment as CEO of Offshore in Ørsted, he was Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer of Offshore, and Head of Market & Project Development. From 2014 – 2016 Martin Neubert was Vice President, Head of Commercial Transactions & Market Development in Offshore and Senior Director, Head of Group M&A from 2012 -2014. Martin Neubert started as Senior Manager of Group M&A when he was employed in Ørsted in 2008.

Mr. Neubert holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Finance and a CFA charter.

Paul van Son

President & CEO

Dii Desert Energy

Paul van Son has been active in various management and executive positions in the international (renewable) electricity and gas business for over 30 years at Siemens AG (Germany), SEP (the Dutch power pool and interconnected grid), KEMA Consulting/ECC (international energy consultants), Chief Executive Officer of Essent Energy Trading, Managing Director of Essent Sustainable Energy and Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche Essent GmbH in Düsseldorf, being responsible for the German activities of Essent N.V.

Mr. van Son has been instrumental in developing of non‐food biomass for power supply, wind power development and marketing of green power (an invention of Essent in 1998). During 2008/9 Mr. van Son was Executive Director of Econcern, NL (renewable energy and energy efficiency).

He is Chairman of the Energy4All Foundation (www.energy4all.org / www.niceinternational.com ), a non‐profit organization promoting decentralized energy and communication systems in Africa.

In addition, Mr. van Son is President of the European Federation of Energy Traders (www.efet.org), which has been a pioneer in energy market opening and (renewable) energy trading.

In 2009 Mr. van Son was appointed CEO of the Dii GmbH (Desertec Industrial Initiative).

Marc van der Linden

CEO

Stedin Groep

Marc van der Linden (1972) has been appointed Chairman of the Executive Board with effect from 1 February 2017. Before that he was, since December 2012, a member of the board of directors of Eneco Holding NV He started at Eneco in 1997 and held various positions including that of director of Eneco Energy Projects, director of Eneco Installation Companies and director of Eneco Wind. Before that, Marc worked at Van Gansewinkel Groep. He studied Economics at the University of Tilburg.

Other position: Chairman of Netbeheer Nederland, Member of Cyber
Security Council of the Netherlands, Member of Economic Board Zuid-Holland,
Member of Advisory Board of Technical College Rotterdam.

Beatriz Ruix Castelló

Innovation & New Energies Division

Enagas

Beatriz Ruiz, Phd Chemical Engineering. Beatriz has over 16 years of experience in the fields of research, development and innovation as Technical Manager leading the deployment of new business and projects in renewable energies, hydrogen, batteries and energy storage technologies. Currently working in the Innovation and New Energies Division at Enagas as Coordinator of the Hydrogen Area and Technical Leader of the Energy Pillar within the Hydrogen Europe Working Groups, representing the interests of the Industrial part within the European association.

Ian Thompson

Chief Engineer & Head of Innovation & New Technology

Grove Automotive LLC

Professional Automotive engineer with over 34 years experience in the industry. My areas of expertise include complete vehicle interiors, body structures and materials technologies. I’m a graduate from University of Hertfordshire in the UK with a Masters in Automotive Design, Manufacture and Management. I have worked in both the OEM and Tier supplier sides of the business and also in US, Europe and Asian markets. I have worked in both the high volume, mass market vehicles, with the likes of Jeep, Peugeot and Ford brands and also in the low volume niche vehicle market with Lotus, Aston Martin, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Karma. Current role is designing and developing a new range of luxury high end hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and also leading Innovation and New Technology initiatives within the organization.

Luc Graré

VP Sales & Marketing

Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser

Nienke Homan

Regional Minister

Province of Groningen

Nienke Homan (1979) is regional minister at the province of Groningen, responsible for (a.o.) energy transition, climate. In this capacity, she is responsible for hydrogen policy.

Mrs. Homan is member of GroenLinks, a progressive left-wing green party. From 2005 to 2007 she was general board member of the party, and she has been campaign leader for the national elections in Groningen as well as for the regional elections. Before she became regional minister she worked for Greenpeace Netherlands and in youthcare. She has been regional minister since 2015 and now serves in her second term.

Being an inspiring leader in the energy transition and climate adaptation, Nienke is working hard on tackling climate change.