Solarplaza Summit | France

With a background in chemistry, philology, and an MBA, Claudia Cruz joined RatedPower's business development team two years ago. As leader of client satisfaction in the French market, she focuses on driving success for francophone clients. With deep understanding in the European solar and storage market, Claudia is dedicated to helping companies across francophone Europe leverage Enverus's solutions to enhance their operations and growth.

Xavier DEGON is the Head of TotalEnergies Trading Origination for France. He develops power trading solutions to optimize the value of renewable energies, batteries, and other assets that contribute to the energy transition. With over 15 years of experience in energy markets in France and Europe, Xavier has worked extensively on the energy transition. In 2012, he completed the first world tour with an electric car.

Hermine Durand is the deputy director of the electrical system and renewable energies within the Directorate General for Energy and Climate. A mining engineer, graduate of ENS and Sciences Po, she previously served as head of the Bordeaux division of the Nuclear Safety Authority (2016-2020), head of the office for hydraulic and marine renewable energies within the Ministry of Energy Transition (2020-2022), and then deputy director, whom she replaced at the end of 2023.

Benjamin Thibault is a renewable energy expert with over 15 years of experience in the sector. He currently holds the position of Vice President of Renewables Western Europe at Uniper, a leading international energy company. Uniper is committed to expanding its renewable energy portfolios in Europe, with a focus on Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Sweden, Hungary and Poland, with the aim of developing up to 10 gigawatts of ready-to-build capacity by 2030. In his role, Benjamin is responsible for implementing a transformative strategy in France, Italy and the UK. Before joining Uniper, Benjamin worked for the Finish state-owned energy company Fortum where he held several roles, in particular heading their French office and participating in the growth of the company in the wind and Hydro sectors. Benjamin holds a master's degree in Business from HEC Paris, a Master’s degree of political Sciences from Sciences Po Paris and An Executive MBA from Trium a joint LSE/NYU/HEC program. He is based in Paris, France, and speaks fluent French, English, and conversational Spanish.

Théo Barallon is co-heading the Paris team at Finergreen. After graduating from Insa Lyon and from HEC Entrepreneurs, Théo worked for CACIB in the Project Finance team and then in Singapore for the french Urgo group as international business developer. In 2015, he joined Finergreen in Paris to develop the company at its very beginnings alongside Damien Ricordeau and Louis Catala. Théo has been leading the french operations for the past 6 years, growing the team and the business. Finergreen is active worldwide as a specialized investment boutique to advise on debt & equity transactions in the fields of the energy transition.

A After a degree at the business school, ESSCA Pierre Guerrier started his career in the sale of technical solutions for the building sector. He became marketing manager, sales national director and general manager, and decided to jump into the PV sector when nascent in 2009. Starting as Head of Development at Sun’R an innovative IPP pioneer in agrivoltaics, then Director of Development at Sonnedix. Pierre is now Director General at SOLVEO Energies. He also is administrator of Enerplan (French solar syndicate) and convenor of the La Plateforme Verte work group dedicated to agrivoltaics.

With a solid reputation in asset and project finance transactions acting for major Banks and Financial institutions, Sylvie assists many Financial Advisers and internationally based companies in organizing the most efficient debt structuring for various types of projects. She is recognized in the setting up of complex, innovative asset and project finance deals. Over her long experience, she has acted for various actors on both domestic and cross-border transactions as well as in the structuring of off-balance sheet transactions in relation to the leasing of assets and financing various investments, especially in the energy and transportation sectors. In 2017, she created La Plateforme Verte, a do-tank aimed at facilitating the dialogue between developers, funders and regulation actors in order to encourage the energy transition with capital and loans.

Alexandre has worked in the energy industry for over 15 years’ and is already well-connected in the renewable energy market, with developers, IPPs, investors and lenders alike, as well as with large offtakers. Alexandre holds a PhD in Finance and Law at Goethe University Frankfurt / Université Paris Dauphine.

Dominique Jamme has been the Director of the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) since December 18, 2018. He has held various positions within CRE since 2001, including Director of Networks and later Special Advisor to the President from May 2017 onward. In this role, he established the CRE’s Foresight Committee. A graduate of École Polytechnique (Class of '83) and the École Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées (Class of '89), Dominique Jamme began his career at Giat Industries (1990-1993), followed by a tenure at the General Directorate for Armament (1993-1996). He then joined the Ministry of Industry (1996-2000) as Head of the Industrial Conversion Department, where he was responsible for defense sector restructuring.

Christoph Gardlo is the Co-Founder and COO of ESFORIN (Energy Services for Industry). The company’s core business is algorithm trading in intraday markets with clients’ flexibilities – helping companies to optimize energy costs and reduce significant amounts of CO2. Before becoming an independent energy entrepreneur, Christoph gained profound experience in the energy markets in various companies. In the 2000s he joined E.ON with focus on Marketing, later becoming Account Manager Power Station Sales. In 2010 he was Head of Gas Sales Germany at Cargill, then Head of Key Accounts Portfolioservices & International Sales at natGAS AG, before he became COO and Co-Founder of ESFORIN.

Corentin de Ricaud has significant project finance expertise and over 16 years of experience acquired through leading financial institutions and energy and infrastructure companies working on projects in the power and renewables industries. At Apricum, Mr. de Ricaud works on a range of clients including project developers, governments and institutional investors, helping them to develop bespoke project and financing solutions as well as successful investment strategies. Before joining Apricum, Corentin was an investment officer at the European Investment Bank where he was involved in the financial close of the Scaling Solar 34 MW PV project in Zambia and was active in originating new project finance transactions in MENA countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia and West Africa. Prior to that, he spent five years as a dedicated in-house financial advisor at ENGIE, where he led the landmark Gulf of Suez 262.5 MW BOO wind project in Egypt from inception to financial close, being the very first renewable energy IPP project in the country. Prior to that, he held positions at BNP Paribas and Bouygues Construction. Corentin holds a master’s degree in finance and strategy from The Paris Institute of Political Sciences (“Sciences Po”).

Former lawyer specialized in project financing, Alexia is now a renowned Futures Facilitator. Combining futures literacy, mindset coaching, and facilitation, she dedicates herself to supporting visionary decision-makers eager to develop a resilient and adaptable mindset capable of facing tomorrow's challenges. She creates collective intelligence spaces - expert panels and confidential mastermind groups - where impact, engagement, and integrity are at the heart of discussions. She also shares her knowledge at ESSEC (iMagination Center and Ignite your Creativity courses) and at the Integrity Center.