Speakers

Stéphanie Allart is a member of the Renewable Energy Sector at BayernLB in Paris since January 2021. Her main focus is on the French and Spanish Sponsors in their home market and internationally. She originates and closes transactions in these two geographies and all over Europe.

She joined BayernLB in 2013 as a Relation Manager in the Corporate Banking team, in charge amongst others of French corporates from the energy, renewable and technology sectors. She originated and closed very diverse transactions such as Schuldscheine, Bonds, project financings, Commodities solutions, credits, etc.

Before joining BayernLB, Stéphanie held various positions at BNP Paribas in Paris in the corporate and syndication teams.

Pedro Amaral Jorge joined APREN in October 2018. He previously took a role at AfDB to work as private sector expert in developing and structuring Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Sanitation Projects in Africa, with focus in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, undertaking the mission of supporting AfDB executing Non-Sovereign Operations by funding Public Private Partnerships, Private Sector Enterprises as well as State Owned Enterprises, with a portfolio of financial tools, from project finance to risk mitigation.
In March this year Pedro was invited to become a board member of the Portuguese Water Partnership, given the Green H2 development and water constraints and requirements.
Pedro has a track record on EPC and Utility business development, financing, designing, building and management with more than 20 years of international work experience, having worked in Europe, South America, Africa, Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Pedro has 22 years’ experience in Top Management positions such as General Manager, Executive Board Member, Executive Director and CEO, in which he was responsible for strategic and investment planning and execution; business development; business planning, implementation and management; project development, project finance and, corporate finance; financial analysis and management; project and contract management; M&A and negotiation.
Pedro lead the development, execution, implementation and management of water and sanitation sustainable infrastructure, natural gas distribution infrastructure and renewable energy projects, all in different contract structures such as full PPP’s, Utility Concession, BOT, EPC, O&M, Engineering and Design, in several countries and continents.
Pedro worked for AfDB, Mitsubishi/METITO, Mota-Engil, SACYR/SOMAGUE, IDOM, among others.
Pedro has an Executive MBA in Finance and Operations from IESE/AESE as well as a MsC in Mechanical Engineering from IST -  Instituto Superior Técnico.

Matthis Brinkhaus studied Industrial Engineering (B. Eng.) with a focus on energy technology and product management at the University of Applied Sciences Ansbach and Industrial Engineering (M. Sc.) with a focus on energy and resource management at the Berlin University of Technology. In his master thesis he focused on the control energy system of the Indian power grid. Matthis Brinkhaus began his professional career as a Project Manager and Trainer at an international provider of education and training in renewable energies and energy efficiency. He then worked as an Analyst for a project planner for wind farms. Since August 2019, he works for Energy Brainpool as a Market Analyst. He is responsible for promoting the long-term power price scenarios as well as the newly developed hydrogen price index. In addition, he conducts regularly seminars on power purchase agreements and is responsible for consultancy projects in this field. He is an expert at the intersection of renewable energies, the electricity industry and the hydrogen economy.

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis has been working at Hydrogen Europe since 2016. He currently holds the position of CEO of the association. He previously covered roles in the planning department of the Foreign Office of Germany, at Infineon Technologies and was Member of the European Parliament (2004-2014) inter alia in the ITRE Committee (Industry, Technology, Research and Energy) where he could contribute to lay the cornerstone for the first and the second Joint Undertaking on hydrogen and fuel cells. He was awarded Hydrogen Person of the Year at the World Hydrogen Awards 2022, “as a major player promoting hydrogen in Europe and world-wide, accelerating collaboration and industry development”.
Jorgo was born in Duisburg, Germany. He holds German and Greek nationality, and a degree in political science from the University of Bonn.

Dr. René Cotting, CFO Smartenergy Group since May 2021, a privately owned investment company, focusing on investments in renewable energy and related ventures.

In addition, he is Board member of SIX stock-listed company Bossard, being the Chairman of the audit, risk & compliance committee since 2015.

Previously, Dr. René Cotting has held various positions in Switzerland and abroad for the ABB Group since 1995. From 2013 until the end of May 2017, he was CFO of ABB Switzerland. On March 1, 2017, he was named Head of Operation, Innovation and R&D for the ABB Group and Chairman of ABB Technology Ventures. In the course of his professional activities, René Cotting gained experience in emerging markets, in particular in India, China and Poland and worked several years as CFO in the Silicon Valley and Texas (USA).

Educational background: He has a PhD degree in economics, social sciences from University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland, and completed further studies in the fields of strategy, finance, controlling, marketing and corporate management at IMD Lausanne (Switzerland), Harvard Business School Boston (USA),  Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University, Evanston (USA) and studies in the field of Venture Capital at Wharton Business School San Francisco (USA) and on Artificial Intelligence[1]Implications for Business Strategies at MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (USA).

Juan Díez Gibson is Economic and Trade Counsellor at the Spanish Embassy in Bern since November 2020, which involves following up on economic bilateral relations between Switzerland/Liechtenstein and Spain and promoting Spanish exports to Switzerland and Liechtenstein as well as investments from Switzerland and Liechtenstein into Spain. With bachelor degrees in Law and Economics (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and a master’s degree in Public Management (Instituto de Estudios Fiscales), Juan Díez Gibson is a Spanish State economist and previously worked twelve years at the Spanish Treasury, including as Deputy Director General for Strategic Analysis and International Financial System.

Prior to joining SMARTENERGY Group AG to lead the H2 & eSAF Business Development, in February 2023 and for over 6 years, Pedro Guedes de Campos was the Financial Engineering Officer of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership – a Joint Undertaking between the European Commission, the Industry and the Research, which acts as a European institution exclusively dedicated to the management of RD&I funds for developing fuel cells and hydrogen.
Before that and since 2000, he held various positions in infrastructure, energy and environment businesses from the perspective of the public sector (European Commission – ECFIN and Portugal), the private sector and also as a consultant in Public-Private Partnerships and EU funding. 
Pedro holds a degree in Economics and an MSc in Energy and Environment’s Economics and Policy.

Walburga Hemetsberger has been the CEO of SolarPower Europe since 2019. She has over 20 years of professional experience in Brussels, working for a utility, a trade association, the European Parliament and the European Commission.  Walburga has spent most of her career in the energy sector, in particular renewable energies and hydrogen.

Cornelius Matthes is a well-respected leader and investor in the renewable energy industry and built several successful clean energy businesses and start-ups within Middle East and Africa. He has extensive board level experience from 10 years in Deutsche Bank (among others, youngest board member in Deutsche Bank Italy Group) and several leading renewable energy organizations and associations via pro bono work as well as different startup companies.
By building the international shareholder and partner network of Dii (Desertec Industrial Initiative), he was at the forefront of the renewable energy revolution in North Africa and the Middle East. A keen entrepreneur and investor in emerging markets with recognitions such as “Solar Pioneer 2015” for the Middle East or the Visionary CleanTech Influencer of The Year 2022 by World Cleantech Awards. He is lecturing at several universities including St. Gallen and is a regular speaker at international conferences. He holds an MBA (Dipl. Kaufmann) from University of Passau, and speaks German, English, Italian, French and Russian.
His experience ranges from M&A transactions, asset management, developing utility scale renewable energy projects (including mid-market with private PPAs), pay-as-you-go solar to energy efficiency, including ESCO projects and new business models. Some of the projects and companies were executed in challenging settings or countries. He has led sizable organizations both in startup environments and blue-chip companies and has raised funds from angel investments to USD 100m+ projects with institutional investors.
“I am glad to be able to work in renewable energy which is also my passion – we can genuinely make an impact with many different things and help people, to make our planet a better place. Having new challenges every day is fantastic and many more mountains to be climbed!” Executive management and boards of a variety of companies in emission-free technologies, as well as investment funds, seek his advice.

Christian Pho Duc is heading the hydrogen activities of Smartenergy and is also in charge of solar projects in Germany. His many years of international management experience, his marked technical background and, last but not least, his multicultural roots make him ideally suited for this task. After over 5 years of expanding E-Mobility on the water as SVP Sales at market leader Torqeedo he is now eager to provide clean energy to the installations worldwide. Christian spent already 5 years in the Solar Industry at Smartenergy Renewables, Nanosolar and Solyndra developing solar projects as managing director and VP Sales in EMEA and India. Prior to his engagement in the renewable energy space, Christian worked for 15 years in the semiconductor industry, always at the leading edge of technical innovations launching what were then the most highly integrated memory chips. He marketed high-end products for Infineon, Giesecke & Devrient and Siemens on the international stage, holding a number of management positions. Christian holds a master’s degree in semiconductor physics and microelectronics engineering from Cambridge University and master’s degree in physics from the Ludwig-Maximilian-University of Munich and showed an early interest in the market potential of new technologies. He undertook research at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics into high resolution detectors that today orbit the earth in satellites.

Deger Saygin leads the industry decarbonisation financing programme of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Previously, Deger has worked as the Director of the SHURA Energy Transition Center. In his former role at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Deger has developed and led the global renewable energy roadmap (REmap) programme between 2013 and 2017. Prior to joining IRENA, Deger has worked as a researcher and consultant at the Utrecht University carrying out projects for intergovernmental organizations, governments, and the private sector about more sustainable uses of energy and resources in the manufacturing industry where he also received his Ph.D on. He received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara.

Degree in Management and Public Administration from Portucalense University
Master’s in Public Administration from Católica Portuguesa University
Mayor of Santa Maria da Feira (October 2013 to March 2024)
President of the Porto Metropolitan Area (2017)
Chairman of the Atlantic Axis Economy Committee (May 2021 to February 2024)
Chairman of the Association of Terras de Santa Maria municipalities
Chairman of the Board of ADRITEM – Regional Development Association (2007 to 2024)
Chairman of the Board of Directors of PERM, Parque Empresarial de Recuperação de Materiais (Materials Recovery Hub) (2013 to 2024)
Chairman of the Board of Feira Viva, Empresa Municipal de Cultura e Desporto (Municipal enterprise for culture and sports) (October 2013 to March 2024)
Secretary-General for Águas de Gaia (water supplier), municipal enterprise (2001 to 2005)
 

Joachim Meister is the Global Senior Vice President for Power and New Energy across Worley. He is an experienced senior leader with demonstrable success in managing regional teams and driving large capital projects. 
Joachim has more than 25 years of experience within the resources and energy industries, spanning all phases of project development from concept development to detailed design, construction and operation. He also has experience working in diverse teams across Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America.
Joachim is a Mechanical Engineer with an MBA from IMD and is currently based in Switzerland.

Olympic champion, five-time Olympian, Sportswoman of the Year and Lifetime Award winner:
Nicola Spirig is an exceptional Swiss athlete who was one of the world's top triathletes for 25 years and left her mark on the sport. After two Olympic medals, seven European championship titles, countless victories and successes, Nicola Spirig retired from top-class sport at the Greifensee Run in the fall of 2022 - with a personal best in the half marathon.
Her career was also extraordinary because, in addition to her successes, she successfully completed a law degree, founded a children's triathlon series and set up a foundation. However, she focused on her family happiness with three children.
How did Nicola manage to stay at the top of the world for so long? How was she able to focus on her goals and what are the cornerstones of her success? You can find out all this in her presentation.

Boris Stolz is a specialist for sustainable aviation fuels at the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) in Switzerland. Within the division for aviation policy & strategy, he coordinates the implementation of climate policies that affect aviation. He has the technical lead in subsidy programs for the development of sustainable aviation fuels and represents FOCA in expert groups of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Before joining FOCA in 2020, he was researching sustainable fuels for shipping at the ETH Zürich. Boris holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from ETH Zürich, where his studies focused on energy systems and policies.

Uwe Weichenhain is a Partner in Roland Berger's Energy & Infrastructure Practice. He focuses on the energy transition and new technologies, incl. renewable energy, hydrogen & fuel cells, and clean fuels/P2X. Uwe helps clients in the energy, technology and mobility sector in formulating investment and growth strategies, business planning, setting up and managing capital investment projects and M&A processes. He further has substantial experience in formulating technology commercialization roadmaps for public institutions.