Solarplaza Summit | Energy Storage Spain

Civil Engineer from Alfonso X “el Sabio” University of Madrid, Master in Renewable Energy and Energy Market from Escuela de Organización Industrial and Executive MBA from IESE Business School. He has developed his professional career in the area of infrastructure and energy, participating in civil works construction projects, renewable energy business development, electricity transport infrastructure concessions and renewable energy asset management, work carried out mainly in the Elecnor Group in the markets of Spain and Chile. Due to his career, he has experience in the complete development of projects, from their origin with the location of locations and administrative and environmental processing to their commercial operation and sale, through construction, financing, commissioning and operation. He is currently Director of ASEALEN, Spanish Association of Energy Storage, having previously held the position of Secretary General of PROTERMOSOLAR, Spanish Association for the Promotion of the Solar Thermal Industry.

Yann Dumont (1982) is an Industrial Engineer from ICAM in Lille (France). In addition, he has studied senior management at various international universities such as Georgetown University in Washington DC. He has dedicated his professional career to renewable energy, working on numerous wind, solar, biomass and wave energy projects. At the beginning of his professional career, he worked as head of CSP projects at Hidrocantábrico-EDP. From here, he went to the Solar Department at POWEO (the first French private energy company) as Director, with a special focus on promoting projects. Later, he started various businesses through the consulting firms Enya Renovables and Esyan Renovables, of which he was founder and partner. He worked for four years in photovoltaic and wind projects at Abengoa, mainly in engineering and construction, but also in the study and development of concession models (IPP). During this stage, he held various positions: vice president of the Abengoa T & I subsidiary and director of Abengoa Wind Concessions at an international level, among others. Afterwards, he was CEO of Wind and Solar at Forestalia, where he participated in the creation of a development portfolio of more than 5GW. During this period, the first financial closure with PPA of a wind project in Spain stands out, leading to the end of the development and investment decision of more than 2 GW. Currently, he is CEO and founder of Reolum Renewable Research, a consulting firm specializing in the comprehensive development of renewable energy projects. The company is founded and led by an experienced team, with a long history and recognition in the sector, whose objective is to join the concepts of profitability and sustainability in order to contribute to the energy transition in Spain. Finally, he promoted with other companies in the sector the creation of the Spanish Energy Storage Association (ASEALEN), which he presides since 2020.

Miriam Bueno Lorenzo is the Deputy Director General for Energy Foresight, Strategy and Regulation at the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. Since joining the Secretary of State for Energy, she has worked on the development of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan, the Long-Term Strategy for Spain, coordinated the Energy Storage Strategy and component 8 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. She holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering. She has been a lecturer and researcher at the Carlos III University of Madrid participating in international and national research projects.

Alexandre is Research Lead at Aurora, leading the French and Iberian power market modelling and analysis. Formerly expert at Elia System Operator in the European market department. Alexandre holds two master's degrees, one electrical engineer degree from the Université of Liège, and one general management degree from the Vlerick Business school.

As a member of Fluence’s Growth & Market Development team, Amir leads activities that enable new market opportunities for stationary energy storage solutions in Southern Europe, with a special focus on renewables plus storage and grid services. Furthermore, he leads business Intelligence activities in the EMEA Region. Prior to Fluence, he helped develop commercial battery storage solutions at RWE. Before that, he was involved in research and business development in the energy sector. Amir holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in electronics and system engineering, respectively, and a PhD in mechanical engineering.

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Beatriz is a professional in the energy storage sector with a wealth of experience in transmission systems expansion and energy market analysis across Latin American countries. With six years of experience, Beatriz has demonstrated her technical expertise in assessments (such as safety) and sizing storage systems. Beatriz graduated with a degree in electrical engineering with a specialization in electrotechnical from the University Mackenzie in Brazil. She also graduated with a master's degree in Renewable Energy from the University Polytechnique of Catalunya, Spain. During her master’s, she conducted research on the implementation of solar panels in electric vehicles, which was the focus of her thesis. For over a year, Beatriz has been working at Clean Horizon as an engineer in the technical consulting and market analysis teams. Currently she is responsible for the following markets: Portugal, Spain and LATAM. Her language skills, including Portuguese, Spanish, French and English.

Carol is an Executive Director within the European Project Finance team of Rabobank and responsible for the coordination of the team’s activities in Southern Europe. Rabobank is one of the leading banks in project finance globally and has been a frontrunner in financing renewable energy assets for over 20 years, with a current global commitment of c. EUR 5bln distributed over 20 countries. In respect of battery storage specifically, the team has financed over 1GW in Europe to date. Carol has extensive experience in origination, structuring and execution of renewable energy transactions across Europe, including complex portfolio and/or warehousing structures and financing on the basis of corporate PPAs and merchant revenues, and has led many of the battery storage transactions closed by the team.

PhD. MSc. Mining, Civil and Environment Engineer with 22 years of total experience on major Civil and Industrial Engineering Projects (EPC) which include: Hydropower Plants, Pumped Storage, Tunnels (NATM and TMB – EPB), Metro, High Speed Railways and Train Stations, for both contractors and consultancies.

Electrical Engineer from INSA Lyon with a Specialized Master’s Degree in New Energy Management of AMPT Lille, with over 10 years of experience in the Renewable Energy sector. At DNV, Valentin works as Principal Consultant in the Energy Market Analytics team, covering Southern Europe and Latin America Energy Markets. Additionally, he has a Global Practice Lead role for Power Price Forecast (PPF), where he coordinates the PPF activities across regions, driving innovation and promoting best practices. Prior to DNV, Valentin was Head of Quantitative Research at Antuko, where he led the areas of Market Intelligence, Market Modelling, Risk Management and Asset Management. Valentin is a specialist in Smart Grid and Energy Management with knowledge of modelling electrical transmission grid, renewable energy and storage systems. He also worked as a Research Engineer at the Lille L2EP Laboratory to develop methods and solutions for optimization of renewable energy production, storage, and consumption.

Tomás García is the lead Senior Director of the Energy & Infrastructure Advisory practice in Spain & Portugal at JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) since April 2020. In this role, he leads the team providing transactional and financial advisory services for renewable energy assets in Iberia. Prior to this, Tomás was the Managing Director of the Solar & Wind Projects business in Spain & Portugal at BayWa r.e. (2019). Prior to this role, he was the Head of Business Development EMEA, Energy Group at Canadian Solar (2017-2018). Before that he served at SunEdison as General Manager, Rural Electrification EMEA (2014-2015) and as Head of Strategy & Market Development EMEA & LATAM (2011-2014). Before that Tomás was Market Strategy Manager at First Solar (2008-2011) and a Strategy Consultant at the Monitor Group (2004-2008). Additionally, he has also worked as a Venture Capitalist, Research Scientist (doing science on solar PV materials), University Teacher and FX Trader. Tomás was a PhD student at Florida International University, earned his MSci at King’s College London and his Masters degree in Physics at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He is fluent in Spanish and English and functional in Italian.

Dr. Romain Mauger is Head of Legal Research Unit at the Iberian Centre for Research in Energy Storage (CIIAE). Previously, he was Assistant Professor at the Groningen Centre of Energy Law and Sustainability (GCELS) – University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He holds a Bachelor of Law and an LLM in Environmental Law. In 2017, he completed his PhD in Law on the topic of the energy transition legal framework in France, at the University of Monptellier. Dr Mauger’s research focuses on energy law for the transition to renewable energy sources, with experience in studying the regimes for the development of renewable energy sources, of smart grid technologies (energy storage, microgrids, etc.) and of flexibility markets, among others. He participated to various international research projects funded by European (Horizon) or national (NWO – the Netherlands) agencies and regularly engaged in interdisciplinary research. In addition, he worked for more than 3 years as a wind farm developer in France before undertaking his PhD.

Jakob is Partner for Special Projects in Our New Energy and holds a Master’s degree in Economics and management. During the last 15 years, Jakob has been at the forefront of developing the liberalization of the Nordic energy market, for companies like Energi Danmark, Danske Commodities and 8 years as CEO of Lyngby CHP. Jakob uses his deep knowledge of the energy and ancillary service markets, to support clients in deriving value from flexible assets like Battery Storage, Power-to-X, Electric boilers, etc.

Lluís is an industrial engineer graduated from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. From 2016 to 2021 he worked at the renowned R&D institute Fraunhofer ISE (Germany), where he gained professional experience in topics such as electrical and thermal characterisation of batteries, battery modelling and simulation, and implementation of innovative business models for battery storage in mobile (e.g. tramways) and stationary applications (e.g. energy communities). Lluís has also actively contributed to the development of software tools for the optimisation of energy systems, as well as real-time operation and asset management systems (EMS). In 2021 he joined One Solar as Storage and Energy Flexibility Team Lead, where he has been very active providing technical consultancy services in the field of energy storage, and promoting project development along with major IPPs and other market agents fostering the uptake of energy storage projects in the Iberian Peninsula.

After her graduation as Telecommunications engineer, Monica held management consulting positions for strategic telecommunications projects in Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark and the UK. In 2007, Monica became a business development manager for Direct Energie, before becoming Procurement Manager for Neoen in 2009 and Procurement Director in 2012. During her tenure, Monica was responsible for all procurement activities (wind, solar,storage and biomass) and contracted the equivalent of 1.8GW of projects. In 2017, she was appointed inaugural Managing Director of Neoen USA where she established the business. Monica is Chief Technology Officer at TagEnergy, responsible for procurement and technology assessment. She is fluent in Spanish, English, French and German.

Rafael Gómez-Elvira is Director of Public Affairs & Marketing in the Iberian Electricity Market Operator and Chairman of the EU NEMO Committee. With more than 25 years of experience in energy regulation, he is speaker in a wide range of international energy fora. Rafael holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering by UPM (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) and an executive PDG by IESE Business School.

Electromechanical engineer with expertise in the field of energy. Currently working on the development of hybrid renewable projects with battery storage systems and hydrogen technologies for the Spanish market at ABO Wind.

Christian Barba is the Director of Energy Storage Unit for Europe and LatAm in EDP Renewables and International Business Development for solar projects in Europe. He is also member of the Executive Board of the European Association for Storage of Energy and collaborates in the Solar Power Europe as Vice-Chair of the Grids and Flexibility Work Group. Since 2022, Christian is also a visiting professor in the Sustainable Technology course in Data Science postgraduate programs in IE University. Before joining EDP Renewables in March 2020, Christian was the Business Development Director for Europe and Africa in Grupo Cobra, where he joined in 2016. With 18 years of experience, Christian has worked extensively in Energy and Environment fields since the beginning of his career. MsC Infrastructures Engineer, Christian holds an International Executive MBA from IE Business School and a Master in Artificial Intelligence in the same institution. Since 2022, Christian is also a visiting professor in the Sustainable Technology course in Data Science postgraduate programs in IE University. Before joining EDP Renewables in March 2020, Christian was the Business Development Director for Europe and Africa in Grupo Cobra, where he joined in 2016. With 18 years of experience, Christian has worked extensively in Energy and Environment fields since the beginning of his career. MsC Infrastructures Engineer, Christian holds an International Executive MBA from IE Business School and a Master in Artificial Intelligence in the same institution.

Michael Geyer is Managing Director of Malta’s European affiliates in Spain and Germany (www.maltainc.com). He also is Senior Advisor for the German Aerospace Center DLR (www.dlr.de) in the field of development of thermal energy storage for Carnot Batteries. From 2001 until 2018 Michael was head of international solar project development first at German CSP developer Flagsol and later at Spanish developer and constructor Abengoa and lead solar thermal electric and PV greenfield project developments in Algeria, Australia, China, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, South Africa and UAE, among them • 2x50MW Andasol 1 and Andasol 2 – world´s first plants with molten salt thermal storage • 100 MW Shams parabolic trough plant in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; • 100 MW Kaxu parabolic trough plant with 3h molten salt thermal storage in South Africa, • 50 MW Khi superheated steam solar tower with 3h steam storage in South Africa • 100 MW Xina parabolic trough plant with 5.5h molten salt storage in South Africa Michael is Co-President of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council board (https://www.ldescouncil.com/) and is board member of the Spanish industrial storage association ASEALEN (https://www.asealen.es/). Michael also served as the Executive Secretary of the IEA SolarPACES Implementing Agreement (www.solarpaces.org) 2000 and 2008. He is author or co-author of more than 60 publications in the mentioned fields, including technical books, journals, conference papers, studies and reports.

Miguel is a senior industrial engineer with extensive experience in the integration of renewable energies in electrical power systems. He graduated from the Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid and Electrical Engineer from the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany, and has worked at Red Eléctrica since April 2004, having performed tasks related to the operation of the Spanish peninsular electrical system.

Since 2005, Inés has developed her career in the PV sector, in different companies of the value chain operating in the manufacturing, development, EPC, and O&M of grid-tied, distributed generation, and off-grid projects. She has held positions in business development, project development, and project management in various markets in Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific. Currently, she is a Partner at Mediación Verde together with other experts in different fields (conflict resolution, environment, and renewable energy), aiming to support energy transition through the engagement of local communities. The team counts with a long professional experience in the private, public, and third sectors and uses innovative tools to increase the level of Social License, measure the risks coming from the lack of consensus, and also prevent and resolve conflicts when they arise.

Electrical engineer with a master’s degree in Renewable Energy and Energy Markets and a master’s degree in Big Data and Business Analytics. +4 years of experience in the electricity market of the Iberian Peninsula and currently working as a market analyst for the hybridization and storage department of ABO Wind.

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Francisco J. Pérez Alonso received his PhD degree in Chemistry at Autonomous University of Madrid. He has a solid scientific background with more than 21 years of experience in R&D and training related activities . His scientific production comprises 50 scientific articles with more than 4200 citations. He also presents a wide experience in the field of R&D management and providing consulting services related to renewable energies plus energy storage projects His interests are focused on the area of chemical technology, specifically on the development of new materials for batteries and production of green hydrogen and its use in fuel cells. Since 2016, he worked for several start-ups (Albufera Energy Storage and Gnanomat) for the production of advanced materials for their application in energy storage devices (batteries, supercaps, electrolyzers and hydrogen fuel cells). In addition, he carried out consulting services related to energy storage technologies, green hydrogen and R&D management. Recently, he joined Iberian Centre for Research in Energy Storage as Senior Researcher leading research on Metal-Air Batteries.

Catalina Bauza Llinas holds a degree in Law, a Master’s in international Relations and Foreign Trade, a MBA in International Management and an Executive Development Program (PDD) at IESE Business School. Catalina is an accomplished professional with 20 years of experience in international business development, consultancy & advisory, and project management in several countries: including 12 years in the renewable energy sector. She has combined her legal background and her commercial intuition to create networks of key players and build strategic alliances & partnerships in the renewable energy and sustainability markets, with a strong emphasis on digitalization, innovation, disruptive technology, and ecological transition.

David specialises in regulated sectors and public law, with wide experience advising in the energy, environment, waste, public infrastructure and public procurement sectors. He has a wealth of experience advising companies and financial institutions pursuing regulated activities, with noteworthy examples advising on a host of high profile transactions regarding the financing, sale and purchase of renewable energy assets (e.g. wind farms, biomass plants, photovoltaic and thermo-solar energy facilities). Since 2014, David has been Secretary to the Board of the Spanish Photovoltaic Association –UNEF and is also founding partner of AEDEN, the Spanish Association of Energy Lawyers. Highly regarded legal directories Chambers Global and Chambers Europe recognise David as a leading lawyer in Spain for energy and natural resources, highlighting his “profound experience, knowledge and market intelligence” in 2019.

Verena has a diverse and extensive professional background, combining her experience in Project Finance and Corporate Finance over the years. She started her career as a Project Finance banker in the energy and infrastructure sectors, accumulating 8 years of valuable expertise in this field. From 2006 to 2018, she served as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Pilar Group BV, a company specializing in the production of silicon wafers for photovoltaic applications. Pilar Group BV had operations in Spain and Eastern Europe and served clients across Europe, Asia, and the USA. Prior to her role as CFO, from 2002 to 2006, Verena held the position of Senior Vice President at HypoVereinsbank (HVB) in Madrid. During her tenure at HVB, she was responsible for executing project financings for international developers in the Iberian Peninsula and Spanish corporates in Eastern Europe, successfully closing financings totaling €3 billion. Between 1998 and 2002, she worked as the Vice President of Project Finance at HVB in both Munich and London, further enhancing her expertise in the finance sector. Verena has also shared her knowledge and insights as a Visiting Professor at the School of Applied Finance in Madrid, where she taught International Financing. In terms of her educational background, she holds a Master's degree in Law from the European University of Madrid and is a licensed lawyer, being a member of the Madrid bar association with registration number 126811. Additionally, she holds a PhD in Agricultural Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Munich (TUM). Since 2018, Verena has been a partner at Agere Infrastructure Partners SL, where she continues to contribute her vast experience and expertise to the finance and infrastructure sectors.

Roger is the Global Head of Project Finance at Banco Sabadell. He joined Sabadell in 2002 in the structured finance department and since then he has held several positions. In 2008 he became Head of Corporate Finance Barcelona and in 2013 he was appointed Head of the newly created Middle Market Department until January 2019 when he became Head of Project Finance Energy. I have graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from American University in Washington DC, MBA from ESADE Business School and PDG from IESE Business School.

Mario leads the energy storage efforts of Aquila Clean Energy in Spain and is mandated to optimize the energy generation & evacuation capacity of the company’s existing portfolio in the Spanish market through the deployment of hybrid solutions. Mario has held various positions in the energy sector. Prior to his current role he actively supported the deployment of the clean energy business of Aquila Clean Energy in Spain and lead the Operations area in the Southern European region. Before joining Aquila Clean Energy in 2019, he held international positions within a large Spanish renewables investment company overseeing the financial function in the Middle East, Australia and South America and prior to that, he worked as senior associate financial auditor for Big Four audit company. Mario holds a degree in business administration with a focus on finance from the Carlos III University and a master's degree in finance and audit from the Comillas Pontificial University in Madrid.

Project Finance Executive Director at BBVA, based in Madrid. He joined BBVA in 2002. He currently specializes in Energy Project Finance in Europe and Latin America including renewable energy and other sectors. Previously -from 2006 to 2016- he was based in London and worked in the financing of infrastructure and energy projects in the UK and Northern Europe. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Universidad del País Vasco (Bilbao) and an Executive MBA from London Business School (London)

With over two decades of experience, David is a seasoned leader in renewable energy and energy storage. Having managed 7 GW of projects globally for the Enel Group, David is also the founder of PlusPower, a leading energy storage developer in the USA. Beyond entrepreneurship, David holds influential board positions in Peru, Colombia, and the USA, while serving as the President of the European Association for Storage of Energy. A McKinsey & Company consultant, David imparts knowledge as a Professor at the Escuela de Organización Industrial. David earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and a cum laude Doctorandus degree from Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.

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Joshua is a renewable energy professional with over 12 years of commercial and technical experience in utility-scale battery storage and solar technology. Joshua is the Head of Storage at Econergy, a renewable energy IPP that operates across 6 different regions with over 450MW of solar, wind and battery storage projects under construction and 155MW of operation solar PV. He joined in 2021 to head the technical, commercial, and strategic aspects of the company’s stand-alone and co-located storage projects in the UK and also developing the overseas storage strategy. Econergy is currently building over 100MWh of battery storage projects in the UK and has a further 1GW of storage projects nearing ready to build. Before joining Econergy, he worked for a leading German inverter manufacturer, SMA Solar Technology, where he served as the technical expert for the UK and Ireland. He has been involved in the design and delivery of over 800MW of utility-scale solar and storage projects.

Dee Yon Chng (pronounced Dion) is a project manager for Solarplaza spearheading the following events in chronological order: Agri-PV 2023, Floating-PV 2023, Energy Storage Spain 2023, Romania 2024, France 2024. Prior to Solarplaza she helped co-found a "floating" coaching company, and worked as sustainability consultant. She is a strong believer in knowledge sharing around sustainability topics, with 10 years of chairman experience in facilitating a collaborative and fruitful discussion.