8th HAEE Energy Transition Symposium

He was born in 1959 in Athens. He is an economist. Member of Parliament for New Democracy (2022-2023). Minister of Environment and Energy from June 2023. Alternate Minister of Finance, responsible for Fiscal Policy and responsible for preparing and coordinating the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" (2020-2023). Deputy Minister of Fiscal Policy (2019-2020), Member of the European Parliament (2009-2014), Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation (2006-2009), Municipal Councilor, Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Athens (2003-2006), responsible for preparing for the 2004 Olympic Games. From 1990 to 1993 he served as Advisor to Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis and Head of the Prime Minister's Planning and Communication Office.

He also served as President and Director General of the E21 Research Centre (1994-2001). He was the last President of Drasi (2014-2019), which suspended its activity to support New Democracy.

He has worked in advertising and communication since 1985 and he has founded four companies in the fields of communication (1994-1999), crisis management (2000-2006) and agricultural production & processing (2014-2019).

He studied economics in Greece (University of Athens) and business administration (MBA) in England (City University, London) and received a master's degree from the British Market Research Society in Market Research. He has received a PhD from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Athens, entitled: "Social tolerance to corruption".

He is married to Eleni Papapanou, has two daughters, Marianna and Irene and four granddaughters.

Nikos Papathanasis presently holds the office of the Alternate Minister at the
Ministry of National Economy and Finance and he was also elected, at the 2023
elections, as a member of the Parliament in the district of Athens North.
From August 2020 until May 2023 he held the office of Alternate Minister at
the Ministry of Development and Investment with the responsibility of the
portfolio of private and strategic investments, PPP’s and the Just Transition
Fund. Also from July 2019 until August 2020 he held the office of the Deputy
Minister at the same ministry with the responsibility of the portfolio of
Industry, Commerce and Consumer’s Protection.
During his thirty five year career, he served as a C-level executive for large
corporations with a successful track record in developing business plans,
reorganizing and streamlining operations that led to significant positive
economic outcome.
He received his B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and his M.A.Sc. in
Aerospace Engineering at the University of Toronto, followed by a Masters in
Management Science at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
He commenced his career at the DeHavilland Aircraft Company (Bombardier
Aerospace) in Toronto while later he served as a member of the Board of
Directors of the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) and executive Vice
President of Olympic Aviation, a regional airline company. During his
professional years, he worked mainly in the private sector while he reached high
executive and C level managerial positions in companies in Greece and abroad.
He managed companies in the fields of construction, real estate development
to public transportation as he served as CEO in the Athens Line 1 metro rail
system and subsequently Chairman and CEO in the Athens Metro and Light rail
system for a total of eight years. From 2008 to 2010 he served as a Presidentelect of the Greek branch of the European Centre of Employers and Enterprises
providing Public Services (CEEP) which is a General Cross Industry social
partner recognized by the EU Commission. From 2017 holds the Chair of the
President of the Institute of Democracy “Konstantinos Karamanlis”, a scientific
non-profit organization. He served from 2016 until the national elections of
2019 as Director General of the presently governing political Party of “Nea
Democratia”.

Geoffrey R. Pyatt, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Career Minister, was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources on September 19, 2022.

Ambassador Pyatt served as U.S. Ambassador to Greece from 2016 to 2022 and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 2013 to 2016.  Among other recognitions, he received the State Department’s Robert Frasure Memorial Award in recognition of his leadership of the U.S. response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Previously, Ambassador Pyatt was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs from 2010-2013. He was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria from 2007 to 2010. He also served three times at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, as Deputy Chief of Mission from 2006 to 2007, Political Counselor from 2002 to 2006, and Political Officer from 1992 to 1994.  Ambassador Pyatt was Economic Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong from 1999 to 2002 and Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Lahore, Pakistan from 1997 to 1999.  Since joining the Foreign Service in 1989, he has also served on the National Security Council staff, on the staff of Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott and at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he worked with The Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank that brings together leading citizens of the Americas.

Ambassador Pyatt grew up in La Jolla, California and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Yale and B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.

Alexandra Sdoukou currently serves as the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, assuming this position in June 2023.

Prior to her current role, she held the position of Secretary General for Energy and Mineral Resources from 2019 to 2023.

From 2004 onwards, she has actively participated in the administration of co-financed European programs within the Development Program Management Organization Unit (MOU S.A.). Throughout her career, she has occupied significant administrative roles within various ministries, including the Ministries of Economy, Development, as well as Environment, Energy and Climate Change. Her expertise lies in the formulation, execution, and supervision of energy policies. Notably, between 2017 and 2019, she assumed the position of special adviser to the President of the New Democracy Party, focusing on energy and mineral resources matters.

Academically, Mrs. Sdoukou holds a degree in Law from the Democritus University of Thrace. She furthered her education by obtaining an LL.M. in European Commercial Law from the University of Bristol, as well as an MSc. in International and Economic Studies from the Athens University of Economics.

She is married and a devoted mother of three children which is the greatest, yet most rewarding, challenge in her life.

He was born in Athens, 1953. He studied Chemical Engineering at National Technical University of Athens. His family has its origins in Ikaria, an island of the Eastern Aegean Sea with which he has cultivated strong bonds.

He has worked initially as an agent and distributor of raw materials to the tanning and shoe making industry during the period 1977-1996.

Since 1986 he has established, with other partners, a distribution company for chemicals to the coatings, plastics, polymers industries among many industrial sectors. The company under the name of Delta Chemicals covered gradually almost every industrial application as a supplier of raw materials and specialty chemicals, providing also technical assistance and expertise. The company was also active in the Balkans and surrounding areas through subsidiary companies in Romania and Turkey. In 2016 the company has been sold and merged in the RAVAGO group (Luxemburg) a big multinational distribution entity. Mr. Aivaliotis left the management of the company in 2019.

At the same time there were parallel business activities in the investment field (through funds such as AIOLIKI, listed in Athens’ stock exchange), in the distribution of electrical appliances/air conditioning, in construction of buildings.

As a political person, he was a founding member of the “Fileleftheri” (1999) and “Drassi” (2009) political parties, two attempts to establish a Liberal party in Greece. He was Vice President of “Drassi” until its merging with New Democracy Party in 2019. He was candidate for the Parliament in 2012 (Drassi), 2015 (Drassi/Potami) and 2019 (New Democracy).

He was also a Vice President of the Entrepreneurship Club from 2009 to 2019 (the association which gives yearly the Kouros rewards to the most dynamic and successful business endeavors).

He was involved, on a project basis, as a counselor of the Deputy Minister of Finance with the task force to provide a State Guarantee on a loan to revive the investment activities of Energean to the Prinos oil fields (Kavala), which are destined to become the first Carbon Dioxide Storage facility in Greece (CCS), as well as with the architecture and procedures of the loans project of the European Recovery and Resilience Fund, from 2020 to 2023.

He is currently General Secretary for Energy and Mineral Resources at the Ministry of Environment and Energy from July 2023.

He is married to Anna Aivaliotou, having a happy family with two children and three grandchildren.

Dr Petros Varelidis is Secretary General Natural Environment and Waters in the Ministry of Environment and Energy since February 2022.

He has studied Chemical Engineering in the National Technical University of Athens and has a PhD on composite materials and recycling.

He has also graduated from the department of business administration of the Athens University of Economics and Business.

Since 2009, he has served as a policy advisor of the political leadership in the ministry of Environment. 
Since December of 2019, is representing Greece on the Bureau of the European Environment Agency.
From 2016 to 2021 he held the position of Director of the Organisation of Natural Environment and Climate Change (formerly named National Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development).
During 2005-2009 and 2013-2015 he served as an environment attache in the Permanent representation of Greece in the ΕU.

From 2012 to 2013, during the preparation of and the presidency of Cyprus of Council of the EU, he served as environment attache in the Permanent representation of Cyprus in EU.

Ioannis Xifaras is the Secretary General of Transport at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport since March 2021. Responsible for the transport sector, he oversees and coordinates a number of projects related with aviation, railway, urban transportation, digital transformation, legislation, e-mobility, road safety, etc. His main goal is to ensure the improvement & modernization of transport in Greece while adding value to the society, the economy and the environment.

He has extensive professional experience in managing projects Infrastructure and Transport, Energy and Specialized Electromechanical Systems as well as in Infrastructure of Smart Applications, in the public and the private sector.

He is a licensed engineer, a graduate of the Electrical and Computer Engineering School of the Democritus University of Thrace, holder of MBA-international from Athens University of Economics & Business and MS in Computer, Telecommunications and Networks from the University of Thessaly.

He is getting elected at the National Committee of the Technical Chamber of Greece, since 2016.

Political science, English language and literature, and Arabic language and literature graduate

Previously held positions:

2020-2023 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France in Bucharest
2017-2020 Director of culture, education, research and networks at the Ministry of Europe and
foreign affairs
2016-2017 Deputy director of the European Union
2013-2016 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France in Skopje
2010-2013 Secretary general at the French Institute in Paris
2006-2010 Director of the French Institute in the United Kingdom
2003-2006 Deputy spokesperson in the Office of the President of the Republic
2002-2003 Adviser in the office of the Minister
2000-2002 Deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of foreign affairs
1999-2000 Spokesperson at the European Commission
1995-1999 Administrator for the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, DG Relex
1991-1995 Adviser at the Permanent Representation of France in Brussels
1988-1991 Adviser in the office of the Secretary of State for the Environment
1985-1988 Environmental adviser (Ministry of foreign affairs)

Honors:
Knight of the French Legion of Honor
Officer of the National Order of Merit
Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters

Matthew Lodge

UK Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic

Matthew Lodge was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Marines on leaving school in 1986. He was sponsored through Birmingham University from where he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Modern Languages (French and Russian). Subsequent duties with the Royal Marines included service in Norway and the United States, and a secondment to the Army which included an operational tour in Northern Ireland and service in Kenya. Matthew joined the Foreign and Commonwealth office in 1996. His early diplomatic career included work on the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, service in Georgia and Armenia, and postings to Athens (1998-2000), Paris (2001) and the UK Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels (2001-2003). From 2004 to 2007 he was Private Secretary to the FCO Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service. In March 2007 Matthew was appointed as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Baghdad. On his return from Iraq, Matthew attended the Higher Command and Staff Course (2008) at the UK Defence Academy before being appointed as Head of the FCO’s Afghanistan Group. From 2010 to 2013, Matthew was Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Finland and from August 2014 to summer 2017 Matthew was Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the State of Kuwait. In spring 2017, Matthew was appointed as Minister at the British Embassy in Paris, serving concurrently as Ambassador and Permanent delegate to UNESCO (2017-2021). In August 2021 Matthew was appointed as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic. Matthew is married to Alexia and they have twin boys.

Since September 2021 Susanna Terstal has been the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Greece. She has previously been ambassador to Iran (2015-2018) and Angola (2012-2015). From September 2018 until April 2021 she was the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process. Before becoming an ambassador she was the Deputy Head of mission in Geneva.

Susanna joined the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994 and began her career in the legal directorate where she held different positions. Before working in the Ministry she worked in the private sector.

Susanna studied in the Netherlands, United States and Italy. She is a lawyer and has masters in Political Science, International Relations and Italian language and literature.

George James Tsunis presented his credentials to the President of the Hellenic Republic on May 10, 2022. He was nominated by President Biden and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 10, 2022.

Ambassador Tsunis is the proud Greek-American son of immigrants to the United States, with deep roots in the village of Platanos in the beautiful mountainous region of Nafpaktia.  Growing up, his parents instilled in him the Hellenic ideals of καλοσύνη (goodness), αγάπη (love), and above all, φιλότιμο (the love of honor).  He learned Greek as his first language.  Deeply engaged with the Greek-American community, Ambassador Tsunis was a founding trustee of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, and is a trustee of the Hellenic Initiative among other roles.

Prior to his nomination, Ambassador Tsunis was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Chartwell Hotels, LLC.  He served as Chairman of Battery Park City Authority.  He was also a Trustee for the New York City Convention Development Corporation and the New York City Convention Operating Corporation and helped manage a 1.5 million square foot expansion of the New York Convention Center, transforming it into one of the world’s most modern and beautiful convention centers.  Ambassador Tsunis served as the chairman of the Nassau University Medical Center, a large public safety net hospital with a focus on providing care to vulnerable communities.

Previously, Ambassador Tsunis was a Counsel and Partner (Attorney of Law), at Rivkin Radler LLP, Uniondale, NY, and Legislative Attorney, New York City Council.  He served as Counsel for Dix Hills Water District, Dix Hills, NY and Town of Huntington Committee on Open Space Preservation, Huntington, NY.

Ambassador Tsunis earned a B.A. from the New York University, New York, NY and a J.D. from St John’s University of Law, Queens, NY.  He was an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (Order of Saint Andrew), the highest ecclesiastical honor that can be bestowed upon a layman by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award for Long Island Cares and the lifetime achievement award for civic engagement for Long Island Business News.  Ambassador Tsunis is married and has three children

In September 2012, Dr Naji Abi-Aad started acting as COO to Petroleb, an oil company based in Beirut and active in petroleum exploration offshore the East Mediterranean and the Gulf. In the meantime, Dr Naji had been engaged with the US Tellurian as Senior Advisor for the Middle East from December 2016 to March 2020.

Prior to his move to Lebanon, Dr Abi-Aad was serving for eight years in Qatar, first as Research Advisor for Qatar Petroleum (QP) and its Board of Directors Department, and as Media and Research Strategist in the Office of HE Qatar’s Deputy Premier, Minister of Energy & Industry, before being appointed to top positions in Qatar Petroleum International (QPI).

Dr Abi-Aad studied in Beirut at the American University (Petroleum Studies) and Universite St Joseph (Law) before been awarded a Ph.D. degree in Energy Economics from Grenoble University in France. During his 35 years of experience, he has been involved in extensive consultations, conferences and studies, particularly on oil and gas in the Middle East, their resources and supply prospects. He has authored over 100 reports and studies on Middle East energy issues, as well as a book on security of petroleum supply from the region (“Instability & Conflict in the Middle East: People Petroleum & Security Threats, Macmillan, London 1997”).

Among the most important areas of Dr. Abi Aad’s specialization and his long experience are issues of security of oil and gas supplies from the Middle East, the local and international markets for natural gas produced in the region and the source thereof, the development of gas sales and supply contracts in all its forms and prices at the local and global levels.

Eleni Bairami is the owner and Managing Director of ECO Hellas, one of the fastest-growing companies in the Renewable Energy Sector in Greece.
Focusing on solar energy, biogas, gasification and circular economy, Eleni has developed, constructed, operated more than 2 GW of renewable energy projects with over 280 million of investment value. Currently she is collaborating with multinational RES conglomerates in a series of projects in Greece and in the Region of Southeastern Europe.
Eleni studied Physics majors and Mathematics in Wolfgang - Goethe University Frankfurt / Main Germany, while she started her career in the German Bank sector in Frankfurt/Main. She continued her career in the RES private sector by working in executive positions in the biggest German biogas and biomethane construction company MT Energie/ MT Biomethan (today HITACHI ZOSEN INOVA) where she gained experience in projects in several countries such as Germany, France, UK, South and North America, South Korea, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Latvia, and Greece. Eleni focuses on constantly following recent developments in the sector, thus maintaining cutting-edge knowledge of the developments and challenges in the Renewable Energy industry.

Given her academic background in physics and mathematics, she has the ability to function seamlessly in a highly technical environment, while maintaining the required business perspective, thus providing a 360ο approach to complex issues regarding the energy sector. And at the same time, she can communicate specific details related to the operation and management of projects, thus approaching a broad range of audiences and business partners.

Derek Bunn

Professor, London Business School; Founding Editor, Journal of Energy Markets

Derek W. Bunn is a Professor at London Business School. Having read Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge University, he received at PhD in Economics from London Business School (1975) and was subsequently elected CEGB Fellow in Engineering at Oxford University. Occasionally since then, he has been a visiting professor at Stanford University and elsewhere. Author of over 200 research papers and 10 books in the areas of forecasting, decision analysis and energy economics, including Analysis for Optimal Decisions, Applied Decision Analysis, Systems Models for Energy Policy and Modelling Prices in Competitive Electricity Markets, he has also been recipient of several professional and industry awards, including the Goodeve Medal of the UK Operational Research Society. Elected international council member of The Institute of Management Sciences (1992-1994), he represented the societies’ international interests in the merger executive with ORSA to create INFORMS. More recently he has served as council member of the British Institute of Energy Economists. Chief editor of Journal of Forecasting since 1984,
formerly chief editor of Energy Economics, and founding editor of the Journal of Energy Markets, he has also served on the editorial boards of many other journals, including Management Science.
His work has been extensively cited and translated into many languages. He has been a regular keynote speaker at international research and practitioner conferences. His work in energy goes back to 1978 when he took up a Fellowship at Oxford University, in engineering economics, endowed by the Central Electricity Generating Board. During that period he worked on electricity demand forecasting, optimal generation scheduling procedures and capacity expansion planning. Since then he has continued to publish and consult with many of the world’s major power companies on the topics of electricity re-structuring, strategic evolution, regulation, decarbonisation and market price modelling. He has acted as a special advisor to the House of Commons Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change, consultant to the UK Competition Commission on Electricity Market Abuse, Expert Advisor to the National Audit Office in their review of the electricity industry reforms, peer reviewer on modelling work for the Government and the energy regulator, and Expert Witness in several litigation cases before the
High Court and at international Tribunals. He is currently chair of the UK Government's expert panel for capacity markets and an independent panel member of the Balancing and Settlements Code for power trading. He has also organised conferences and taught energy modelling courses to a variety of business and academic audiences worldwide.
At the London Business School, he has created, directed and raised continuing funds for the energy research programme since 1986. As head of the Decision Science subject area from 1984 - 2007, he had responsibility for its academic, research and administrative staff, created and directed the well-funded Decision Technology Centre, and managed a complete turnover of the faculty, facilitating its expansion against competing internal pressures. He has been chair of the Examinations Board for three terms, served on Management Board and has chaired many committees including several delicate ad hoc cases concerning faculty and student abuse. Most recently, he was instrumental initiating the new business analytics degree programme.

Aristotelis Chantavas is currently the Head of Europe area in Enel Green Power, responsible for the European countries, except for Italy and Iberia. Aristotelis is managing the renewable business of Enel in these countries, focusing mainly on wind, solar, hydro and battery storage technologies. Moreover, in April 2023 he was re-elected as the President of SolarPower Europe.
He has a diverse background in the management of different types of renewables projects, varying in both size and type. His broad professional career in renewable energy, both in Europe and North America, includes executive roles in business development, construction and maintenance, M&A and new investments.
Aristotelis graduated in Civil Engineering from Democritus University of Thrace and holds an MSc in Engineering Business Management from University of Warwick, with further specialization in Entrepreneurial Studies at Harvard University and MIT Sloan School of Management.

Athanasios Dagoumas

President, Hellenic Regulatory Authority for Energy

Dr. Athanasios Dagoumas is an Assistant Professor in Energy and Resource Economics and Director of the Energy and Environmental Policy laboratory at the University of Piraeus. He holds a Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, where he elaborated his PhD in Energy Economics. He is Member of the Board of the Cambridge Trust for New Thinking in Economics. He has more than 15 years of work and research experience in energy related issues, including working as a Senior Researcher at the University of Cambridge and as a Senior Energy Analyst at the Transmission System Operator and at the Electricity Market Operator in Greece. Moreover he was enrolled as a Special Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change in Greece. His extensive experience builds his capacity for an in-depth understanding of multidisciplinary aspects of the energy sector: economic, engineering, environmental and policy. He is keen on developing models for the energy system, the economic-energy-environment (E3) systems and the real energy markets. He has been President to the Regulatory Authority for Energy since July 2020.

Haris Doukas

Dr. Haris Doukas is an Associate Professor at the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). He is a mechanical engineer from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), with a PhD in the area of decision support systems for energy policy and management, from the ECE, NTUA. His scientific and research expertise includes the development of decision support systems for energy and climate policy. He has almost 2 decades of working experience in the design of energy and climate policies and programs for the promotion of renewables, energy efficiency and management in a regional, national and European level. Moreover, he participates as a specialist in respective initiatives beyond Europe, such as the countries of the Mediterranean basin and the Arab states of the Gulf. In the abovementioned fields, he has more than 120 scientific publications in international scientific journals with reviewers, the Greek Book "Multiple Criteria Decision Models for Energy and Environmental Systems", the open access Book as co-Editor "Understanding Risks and Uncertainties in Energy and Climate Policy: Multidisciplinary Methods and Tools for a Low Carbon Society", the English Book "Multicriteria Portfolio Construction with Python", as well as numerous presentations in international conferences, chapters in Books, articles in technical magazines and daily and weekly press. Finally, Dr. Doukas is an Associate Editor of the Operational Research International Journal (ORIJ) and participates as member of the scientific journals' Editorial Board in the areas of energy policy and operational research. For his work, Dr. Doukas has received numerous awards by the State Scholarship Foundation (IKY), the NTUA, the AUTH, the Technical Chamber of Greece (TCG), the Hellenic Operational Research Society (HELORS) and the World Renewable Energy Congress (WREC) among others.

Panagiotis Doumas is a Director and Member of the Executive and Management Committee at
Howden Hellas, having in his delegated authorities the business development and maintenance of
big corporate accounts within a variety of territories. Panagiotis has been in the insurance world
since 1999. He was a Managing Partner at Aplus Brokers, a boutique insurance broking firm, which
he set up with his partners in 2017, specializing in Financial Lines (D&O, Cyber, Crime, Financial
Institutions Professional Indemnity) and Energy, mainly Renewables. Aplus was the first acquisition
of Howden Hellas due to their rapidly growing portfolio and expertise in the sector.

Konstantinos Eleftheriadis is the Energy, Resources & Industrials Industry Leader and a Financial Advisory Partner at Deloitte Greece. He specializes in Financial Advisory, M&A Transactions and Forensic Services. With over 19 years of professional experience, Konstantinos’ expertise has been instrumental in a range of sectors with special focus in the Energy & Resources market, both locally and internationally. Konstantinos specializes in services and areas like: transactions support, M&A assistance, feasibility studies, independent business reviews, liquidity, business and e-mobility plans, storage, gas and new fuels, and advice on Power Purchase Agreements, having provided such services for many Greek and international clients that are operating in Power generation, Renewables, Oil & Gas, Mining & Metals, Waste treatment, etc.

Nicolas Eybalin, Counsellor for Cooperation and Educational Action of the Embassy of France in Greece and Director of the French Institute in Greece, has held various positions in the European Ministry and Foreign Affairs in France and abroad. For about ten years he was the Financial Director of various subsidiaries of the French AXA Group.

Nikos Frydas is Principal in the Energy Department and Vice President of Grant Thornton Tax and Business Advisory Solutions SA. His career spans more than 30 years of international experience in the energy sector. He specializes in the Design and Regulation of competitive Electricity Markets, and in new Business Models for energy utilities in the energy transition era.
Mr. Frydas’ professional record includes working with major European Utilities (National Grid UK, PPC) and Energy Trading firms (EDF Trading, Merrill Lynch), and as member of the management team of ENTSO-E in Brussels. In the period of 2004-2007 he was appointed by the United Nations, as the first Chairman of the Regulatory Office of Kosovo, while subsequently he spent several years as senior staff member of the World Bank based in Belgrade. As Consultant he has led several major assignments in Europe, Africa and Central Asia working for projects sponsored by IFIs (EC, EBRD, IFC, WB), for public and private clients.
Nikos holds a BSc degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from DUTh (Greece), a MSc degree in Power Systems Engineering from University of Strathclyde (UK), and a MSc degree in Energy Economics and Regulation from University of Strathclyde. He holds also Certificates from London School of Economic and University Luigi Bocconi, for courses in Energy Regulation Economics.
Mr. Frydas is a Chartered Engineer in the UK’s Engineering Council, a Member of the Technical Chamber of Greece, as well as member of the International Association of Energy Economists. He is a regular visiting Lecturer of “ESCP Europe” in their London and Paris campuses.

Maria Rita Galli is the CEO of DESFA (Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator). Until recently she held the position of the Executive Vice President Business Development & Asset Management at Snam S.p.A, a leading global energy infrastructure company and was the Chairman of the SENFLUGA Energy Holdings S.A., a consortium controlling 66% of DESFA's share capital.

Ms. Galli started her career at Eni in 1997, as a graduate in nuclear engineering from the Milan Polytechnic University. At Eni, she went through various roles within the International Business Development Department, joined relevant international projects and was involved in M&A activities. As a member of Eni's Board of Directors, she also oversaw the operations of some of the Group’s companies abroad (Galp, Distrigas, eni Gas&Power Trading BV, eni Gas&Power France, GVS GmbH, etc.)

Since 2006, she has been in charge of the International Business Development unit and, from January 2010, she has been in charge of the International Business Development and Assets Management department.

In October 2016, she joined Snam as the Head of Business Development and International Asset Management.

Vasilis Georgiou was born in Athens, in 1966. He received a BEng degree on Electrical Engineering, an MBA and a MSc in Management of Energy Systems.
During his professional career he has developed his expertise in strategic management positions such as business development, project management, strategic design, organizational development, and transformation. Since 2002, he is the President and Managing Director of PROTASIS SA, a company providing studies, consulting, design & engineering and advanced system solutions for electrical power systems and networks.
Before his current position, he has worked for various SMEs and multinational companies in the fields of electrical energy and telecommunications.

Alexis Goybet is currently the Country Manager of Voltalia Greece. He has over 25 years of experience in renewable energies (Hydropower, Solar, Wind, Biomass, Storage) across various geographies including Europe, India, Sri Lanka, French Guiana, Africa.

He joined Voltalia France 15 years ago and since then he has taken on different positions of responsibility. He is also member of Voltalia Executive Committee (Excom) since 2011. Before coming to Greece to undertake the position of the Country Manager in 2022, he was the Head of Hybrid & Hydro Projects, International Development and holds extensive experience in developing innovative hybrid systems for off-grid, poor grid, and isolated locations.

Alexis graduated from Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management and holds a master’s degree in business engineering.

Panagiotis Grammelis

Director of Research, Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH)

Dr. Panagiotis Grammelis is Director of Research at the Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute of CERTH (CERTH/CPERI). The scope of his research is the exploitation of solid fuels, i.e. biomass/waste and coal, with emphasis on the thermochemical conversion technologies. He is experienced in numerous EU and national funded and industry oriented projects, with an extensive knowledge of the South-East European market. Since May 2011, Dr Grammelis is Head of the Laboratory of Alternative Fuels & Technologies and guides a team of highly-skilled researchers. He has been Steering Committee member of the Biomass Panel in the RHC-ETP (responsible for industrial boilers and district heating), national expert for the standardisation of solid biofuels and member of DHC+ (District Heating & Cooling) Platform. Member of the Editorial Board in IJER and IJGW and the Scientific Committees of international conferences (EUBCE, GCGW, WSED). He is co-author in 380 papers in scientific journals, international conferences, workshops and books, with 2777 citations and h-Index 30 according to Scopus.

Graduated in Mathematics from the University for Sciences & Technology Houari
Boumediene in Algiers, Mrs. Samia HAMADACHE began her career at SONATRACH
Marketing Activity in 1997 and has developed a long and proven experience in the field
of energy markets, strategic analysis and the management of gas and LPG export
contracts. During her 26 years’ career in the Oil & gas State Company SONATRACH,
she held various positions of responsibility including in particular, project manager,
head of exports department and National Representative of Algeria at the GECF. In
March 2021, she was appointed as Director of Gas Marketing Division within the
SONATRACH Marketing Activity, being in charge of natural gas, LNG and LPG
marketing.

Professor Dr. Emmanouil Kakaras has been Executive Vice President NEXT Energy Business at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries EMEA, Ltd., since 1 April 2021.

Prior to this role, he was Senior Vice President for New Products and Energy Solutions at MHI Group company Mitsubishi Power Europe since January 2018. Up until then he served as Vice President and Head of Research & Development at Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe since September 2012. His R&D activities mainly focus on flexible operation of thermal plants, on fuel cells and electrolyzers, the development of  large  scale  energy  storage  and on the capture and utilization of CO2.

From 1999 to 2018, he has been the Director of the Centre of Research and Technology Hellas/ Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute (CERTH/CPERI) and he serves also as Independent Non-Executive Board Member of listed companies.

He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation, overseeing basic research for Engineering Sciences since March 2021.

Professor Kakaras’ academic background is on clean energy generation technologies and since December 1991 he has been Professor at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. Since 2018 he also lectures at the University Duisburg Essen, Germany. He has been  also guest lecturer at the Universities of Warsaw and Tokyo. He has participated as an external member in various working groups organized by the European Commission (CAG, Energy Committee), the Advisory Council of the Technology Platforms on Zero Emission Power Plants and on Smart Networks for Energy Transition as well as a Board Member of Industrial Associations (VGB, Rhein Ruhr Power, BDI, EUTurbines, EPPSA).

Dr S.Kapellos is a graduate of the Chemical Department of the University of Athens. He received a PhD on the field of Physical Chemistry from the same Institution. Between 1993 and 2007, he had the opportunity to fill various managerial posts within the BP Hellas Organization: Quality, Health, Safety and Environment, Human Resources, Customer Services, Pricing and Credit, Retail Fuels District Manager Northern Greece.

In 2007, he is appointed as the CEO of BP Solar Hellas, to setup the new business.

Since 2010, he works for HELLENiQ RENEWABLES, 100% owned by HELLENiQ ENERGY Group (Former Hellenic Petroleum). He currently holds the position of the Chief Operating Officer and BoD member of the company. Τhe RES portfolio of HELLENiQ RENEWABLES is comprised of more than 3 GW of PV, Wind and Storage Projects, of which 241 MW PV and 99 MW Wind in operation. In February 2020, the acquisition of a 204 MW PV project in Kozani is signed that has been connected to the Grid in April 2022 and it is the largest in operation RES project in Greece and one of the largest PV projects in Europe. Dr.S.Kapellos is the CEO of the Kozani 204 MW PV project company.

Dr.S.Kapellos has published several scientific articles in international magazines during his academic career and several articles on subjects related to RES, Solar Technology and Energy Policy for newspapers, relevant magazines and e-media.

Since 2008, he is being an elected member of the board of the Hellenic Association of PV companies (HELAPCO) and since April 2013 Chairman of the board of the Association. Since April 2021 he has been elected as President of the Energy Committee of the Hellenic-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

John Karydas is the Chief Executive Officer of the Renewables and Battery Storage Business Unit of Copelouzos Group.

Copelouzos Group was founded in 1973 and today has evolved to a fully integrated business development organization, servicing key industrial and technological sectors in Greece and abroad. One important business sector of the Group is energy with the core businesses within this sector being the marketing of natural gas, electricity production and trading, renewable energy sources and energy storage. Copelouzos Group has been a pioneer in the RES with an extensive portfolio of renewable energy assets and the first who has received Production licenses for the operation of battery energy storage systems in the country. The Group has also been developing the pioneer project of the electrical interconnection between Greece and Egypt for the bidirectional transfer of green energy.

John Karydas has been Member of the Board of Directors of Athens International Airport from June 2009 until November 2012, Member of the Supervisory Board of Pulkovo Airport, St. Petersburg from February 2010 until August 2011. From 2005 until 2011 he also held the position of the Chief Operating Officer of Copelouzos Group. He is the Managing Director or an Executive Member of the Board of major companies of the Group developing and operating RES, energy storage and electrical interconnection projects.

He received an M.B.A. degree from Bath University in the UK, an M.Sc. in Computing Science from Oxford University and a B.Sc. (with First Class Honors) in Computer Science with Mathematics from London University. He is a graduate of Athens College.

Prior to joining Copelouzos Group 21 years ago, he held senior and commercial positions in Greek and multinational companies.

Kostas Komninos is the General Manager of the DAFNI Network of Sustainable Greek Islands, an association of 56 Greek local and regional island governments. With the interdisciplinary DAFNI team, he is offering technical support to the association’s members in the fields of clean energy, energy efficiency, electromobility, water and waste management, urban planning and more. He has significant experience in clean energy and local development projects, especially in the Greek and European islands, and has been working the last decade to narrow down the gap between policies designed at the EU level and projects realized locally. Among others he is currently coordinating the “Kythnos Smart Island” innovation project and also offering technical support to the Municipality of Astypalea for the “Astypalea Smart and Sustainable Island” in the frame of the collaboration between the Hellenic Republic and Volkswagen S.A.. The period 2019 to 2022 he held the position of Vice President on Smart and Sustainable Islands in FEDARENE, the European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and Environment, while from 2015 till 2018, he has also served as a non-executive member in the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator S.A. (HEDNO), with a portfolio to promote the development of innovative projects in the Greek islands. 

Duško Krsmanović, PhD, is an accomplished advisor with over 10 years of experience in international economic, political, and business advising. Before joining UKEF, Duško worked as public affairs and strategic advisor to various international companies across the Western Balkans, providing support and managing stakeholder relations in renewables, petrochemicals, retail, pharmaceuticals, logistics, e-commerce, FMCG, hospitality, and banking. Next to his core occupation, Duško also served as an independent, UK funded, expert advisor for international economic affairs to the Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations (MOFTER) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Earlier he worked for CMS Law as a regional Business Development & External Affairs Manager, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Serbia and in Montenegro as a Senior Advisor for Economy and Trade, the World Bank, Universities of Bologna, Hamburg, and Rotterdam. Duško Krsmanović holds a doctorate in Economics of Regulation from the University of Bologna and a doctorate in Law and Economics from the Universities of Rotterdam and Hamburg. He also holds an LL.M. degree from the University of Hamburg and the University of Bologna, and a law degree from the University of Belgrade. Besides, he has been specializing in Public Policy at the University of Georgetown in Washington DC. He is a guest lecturer at universities of Belgrade, Milano and Florence, and an author of three books on lobbying.

Konstantinos studied Mechanical Engineering and holds masters' degrees in Applied Energy and in Human Rights and Democratisation.

Since 2004, he has been working for Public Power Corporation in Greece, in various positions: at first as on-site engineer for the company's new projects of upgrading thermal power plants and then by joining the Athens management team. In 2013 he was appointed Director of Chios island autonomous power plant. He moved back to Athens in 2017 as Head of Business Evaluation Section of the Business Development Division. Since 2019 he has been heading the newly formed Storage & Islands Energy Transition Unit in PPC.

He has been a member of Eurelectric’s Network of Experts on Island Systems for 6 years (serving as its Chair since end of 2021) and a substitute member of the Working Group on Renewables & Storage. He also represents PPC in the Strategy and Technical Committees of the European Association for Storage of Energy and as a substitute in the Technical Committee “Future Technologies” of VGBE.

Loukas Lazarakis, Head of Energy at Intrakat, is leading its dynamic expansion in the sector of Renewable Energy Sector.
Prior to Intrakat, he has served as the CEO of Nostira S.A., a renewable energy company with main activities the development, construction, and asset management of RES units. He brings more than twenty years of executive experience in the Renewable Energy Industry.
Having joined Windsolar Hellas S.A. in 1999 as CFO, Loukas originally worked in Finance roles and in 2003 was one of the founders of RETD S.A., in which he held positions of CFO/CEO. In 2007, RETD S.A. became an EDF EN subsidiary and five years later was appointed CEO at EDF EN Hellas S.A. until June 2017.
During his career, he has gained a reputable experience in the Energy sector, having developed major RES projects, summing up to hundreds of MWs, in Greece, Cyprus and Romania. Loukas was in charge of the strategic directions and financial decisions of the organizations he cooperated with, while implemented hundreds of millions of financing facilities and facilitated 500MW of RES projects in Greece.
He holds a degree in Economics from University of Piraeus.

Ioannis Maris

Country Representative Greece, Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG

Ioannis Maris holds a BSc degree in International and European Economics and an executive MBA from the Athens University of Economics and Business as well as an MA in International Political Economy from the University of Warwick. He has an experience of 20+ years in various industries including utilities, renewable energy generation and Oil and Gas.

Ioannis joined Trans Adriatic Pipeline in 2021 and currently is holding the position of Country Representative Greece. Before joining TAP, he has had different roles in major companies such as in the Public Power Corporation (PPC) in Greece and Leonardo in Italy, Greece and Cyprus.

In the energy industry, his area of focus is the European energy transition, regulatory and commercial issues in O&G, renewable energy systems and renewable gases such as green hydrogen and biomethane.  He is fluent in English, French and Italian.  

Andrea Martinez

Deputy Managing Director, Sinloc

Andrea Martinez has over 25 years of experience in the infrastructure and local development market space. He is actively involved in the deployment of several technical assistance EIB ELENA schemes, ESIF financing platforms, Horizon 2020 projects aimed at accelerating the energy transition process. He is Deputy Managing Director at Sinloc - Sistema Iniziative Locali SpA, an investment and advisory company, participated by ten leading Italian Banking Foundations. Since 2011 he is Key Account and Investment Team Manager of JESSICA Urban Development Funds in Sicily, Sardinia and Campania. Since 2014 he is member of the Steering Committee of Green Building Council Italy and has been board member of several special purpose vehicles involved in energy and urban regeneration. Starting from October 2019 he is Project Coordinator of the EU Islands Facility NESOI.

Konstantinos Mavros has significant and diversified experience in the broader energy sector and the fields of corporate finance and technology. He has worked in the past in the Renewable Energy Sector, and has been leading companies in the technological field. He has also co-founded a Venture Capital fund supported by the European Investment Fund. He is an active member and holds key positions in several international professional and academic associations and has been a visiting lecturer at the Athens University International MBA program. Mr Mavros holds a Masters’ degree in Finance from Imperial College London and has completed high level executive education programs at Harvard Business School.

Panos Mitrou has been with LR for 17 years and currently holds the position of Global Gas Segment Director, based in Athens Greece. His primary focus is on the maritime gas supply chains, LNG, LPG and other gas commodities and fuels, as well as gas floating solutions, delivering an enhanced service portfolio to the shipping community.
In the past he has held various commercial and technology positions. Since 2012 he has been deeply involved in the setup and materialization of several funded projects related to alternative fuels and innovation in the maritime sector. In 2013, he has initiated Poseidon Med, a key cross-border European project, introducing LNG bunkering in Eastern Mediterranean maritime transportation.
He represents LR in a number of gas associations and Boards including SEA-LNG, SGMF and GGC He chairs the Methane Abatement in Maritime Alliance and the Marine Working Group of the World LPG Association.
Panos holds a Naval Architect and Marine Engineer Diploma from NTUA and an MBA in Shipping from ALBA Business School. He is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. Panos is also a PhD candidate in Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering, at University of Strathclyde with focus on optimizing the shipping transition pathway.

Dr. Nikolaos Nikolopoulos is the Chief Research Officer for EQsustain. He is Director of Research (Researcher A’) at the Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute (CPERI) of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH). He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and holds a Ph.D. in the field of Computational Fluid Mechanics, namely the Aerodynamics Division of the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory.

Dr. Nikolaos Nikolopoulos is in charge of a research team at CPERI / former ISFTA (Institute for Solid Fuels Technology and Applications), which focuses on the design, development and optimization of energy resource utilization systems and processes, especially by means of mathematical and/or computational modeling. He is a Scientific Responsible in many European and National programs and service programs and has many years of experience in the management of research projects. The emphasis of his research activity at CERTH / CPERI lies on developing and applying pioneering methods of computational fluid engineering in the modeling of multiphase flows, ranging from the field of power plants up to smart grids. In recent years, the research team structured under his guidance, apart from the fields of Computational Fluid Mechanics, has been as well dealing with the development and application of one-dimensional algorithms of dynamic behavior of energy systems, both for technologies a) of solid fuels and b) the generation and distribution of electricity and heat, based on Renewable Energy Sources (RES), from the building level and the low and medium voltage grid, up to the level of a smart city. He is also one of the shareholders of the CLEAN ENERGY Ltd spin-off company of CERTH/CPERI. His research work has been presented in 166 publications in scientific journals and international conferences, 24 oral presentations and 6 books and has gained significant international recognition (more than 2,040 citations (excl. from all authors), h-index = 25, according to Scopus).

Papastamatiou Panagiotis holds Diploma in Electrical Engineering from NTU of Athens with PhD in Operational Research and Energy Policy & Planning and postgraduate lessons in Economics and Management in Athens University of Economics and Business. Since 1995 he has been active in the wind energy sector and the rest Renewable energy Sources in Greece and abroad.

He is Chief Executive Officer of the Hellenic Wind Energy Association, ELETAEN, an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Greek Association of RES Electricity Producers, GAREP, and elected member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Electricity Association, H.EL.AS.

Papastamatiou is also Director of ENTEKA Group. He directs the development and financial sectors of the Group, which since 1984 deals almost exclusively with wind energy projects, development, ownership and operation of wind farms.

Apostolos Petropoulos has 10 years of experience in the energy sector, focusing on electro-mobility and end use sectors. He works at World Energy Outlook modelling team (IEA) preparing medium and long-term energy outlooks with particular emphasis on demand sectors and he leads the analysis for the transport sector. As a previous member of the PRIMES Modelling Team, he was involved in numerous European Commission and country specific projects related to transport sector and biofuels market, using PRIMES-TREMOVE and PRIMES-Biomass models. He holds both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree (Combined Diploma) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens.

Dr. Andreas Poullikkas

Chairman, Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA)

Dr. Andreas Poullikkas holds a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) degree in mechanical engineering, a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) degree in nuclear safety and turbomachinery, a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in numerical analysis and a Doctor of Technology (D.Tech.) higher doctorate degree in energy policy and energy systems optimization from Loughborough University, U.K. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET). Dr. Andreas Poullikkas is currently the Chairman of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) and he was for several years the Chairman of the Cyprus Energy Strategy Council (both appointments by the President of Cyprus). In his professional career he has worked for academic institutions and for the industry, such as, a Visiting Faculty at Harvard University, USA, the Cyprus University of Technology (Professor of Power Systems and Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering) and the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (founder and director of the Research and Development Department). He is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Power Technologies, member of the Editorial Board of the journal Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments and the author of various peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, book chapters, conference proceedings and the author of ten books. He is included in the World’s Top 2% Scientists and the World’s Top 100000 Researchers Lists, both published by Stanford University.

Lucian Pugliaresi

President, Energy Policy Research Foundation (EPRINC)

Mr. Pugliaresi is President of the Energy Policy Research Foundation (EPRINC), a public policy energy think tank founded in 1944. He has led the organization’s research effort on the scope and benefits of the North American petroleum renaissance. EPRINC’s programs are focused on the intersection of petroleum economics and public policy. EPRINC publications on developments in U.S. and international petroleum markets are made available at the foundation’s website, www.eprinc.org. Mr.Pugliaresi has served in a wide range of government posts, including the National Security Council at the White House (Reagan Administration), Departments of State, Energy, and Interior, as well as the EPA. He has written extensively on energy and frequently testifies before various committees of the U.S. Congress. His career in the federal government included central policy roles in the development of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decontrol of domestic crude oil and gasoline prices, nuclear nonproliferation, offshore oil and gas leasing on federal lands, U.S. trade policy, environmental regulations, energy security, and U.S./Soviet relations. Mr. Pugliaresi has published extensively on petroleum topics and is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal. Among some of his recent publications are "Future Oil Supplies Can Lower Prices Today,” Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2011; "Lessons of the Shale Gas Revolution,” Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2011; "The Keystone Debacle,” Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2011; "North America’s Strategic Loss: Keystone XL Pipeline and the High Cost of the American Regulatory Regime," Geopolitics of Energy, Canadian Energy Research Institute, Dec – Nov 2011. “Keystone Can Help the Gulf—and the Northeast,” Wall Street Journal, January 31, 2012. “Ethanol’s hidden gasoline tax,” Washington Times, May 7, 2012. “Time to Rethink Renewable Fuel Rules,” CNBC online, April 18, 2013. “Repeal or reform the RFS,” The Hill, August 2, 2013. “ Obama’s Keystone pipe blockage, U.S. energy dependency is counter-progressive,” The Washington Times, August 13, 2013. “Don’t let protectionism strangle America’s energy renaissance,” The Hill, December 23, 2013. “American Perspective, Oil and Gas Development, Arctic in World Affairs, A North Pacific Dialogue, Korean Maritime Institute, 2013. “Will Latin America join petroleum’s new world order?” Forum, Oxford Energy Institute, November 2014, Issue 98. “Congress’ Bizarre idea to pay for health care (with L. Goldstein). Politico, July 2015. “The SPR Can Limit the Economic Harm from a Supply Disruption,” Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2015. “Pruitt will reform EPA's heavy-handed regulations,” The Hill, January 10, 2017. “US consumers benefit from energy integration with Mexico, Canada,” The Hill, February 17, 2017. “Time to take fuel-efficiency mandates in for a checkup,” The Hill, March 11, 2017. “Growing importance of US–Mexican energy trade,” Forum, Oxford Energy Institute, June 2017. “Future of Asian LNG”, Joint Project of EPRINC and Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ), published annually 2017, 2018, and 2019.

After graduating from Ecole Nationale d’Administration, François de Ricolfis has been working at the french Treasury (Ministry of finance) since 1989.

His main areas of expertise are in country risk, banking issues, project finance and export finance.

His recent posting include :

• From 2006 to 2008, Deputy assistant secretary for export finance (Ministry of finance)
• From 2008 to 2019, Mananging director the SGFGAS (french agency  dealing with housing finance schemes for homeowners)
• From 2019 to 2022, Head of the regional economic service in Beyrouth (covering Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Irak, Iran, Lebanon)

François de Ricolfis is currently economic counsellor at the Embassy of France in Greece, head of the regional economic service (Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania).

Éric Scotto is a committed entrepreneur, combining his talents as an investor with his concern for the climate. After ten years in information technology, two years in finance and a first success in business creation, he created Perfect Wind and built a first wind farm of 54 MW in 2004. Perfect Wind became a leader in the production of renewable electricity and was acquired by the world's leading wind power company Iberdrola in 2006.

In 2007, he co-founded Akuo, a global independent producer and developer of renewable energy. The company is active across the entire value chain, spanning from project development to financing, construction and operation activities. Akuo has invested over €2.6 billions to build a portfolio of over 1.4 GW of assets in operation or under construction and a 7 GW development pipeline. With more than 450 employees, the group is headquartered in Paris, France, and operates in more than 15 countries spanning over the 5 continents.

In 2010, the group inaugurated its first Agrinergie® power plant on Reunion Island, which combines solar energy production with environmentally friendly agriculture. Since this conclusive experience, Éric Scotto has continued to develop renewable energy plants (wind farms, solar and hydroelectric power plants) throughout the world with the ambition of offering energy packages adapted to the territories and coupled with storage solutions.

In 2011, Eric Scotto participated in the creation of the Akuo Foundation. The Foundation extends the values of the Akuo group to the benefits of disadvantaged communities. Aiming to ensure the access to essential needs such as energy, education, water and health, it designs and deploys local solutions answering the challenges of climate change, sustainable development and biodiversity protection. 

In 2017, Akuo developed its own participatory financing platform, AkuoCoop. This tool allows Akuo to further deepen its collaboration with all stakeholders in the territories.

In 2019, Eric Scotto co-founded Sunstyle International SAS, a joint venture between Akuo and Sunstyle AG. The launch of the production of solar tiles in Châtellerault in the Vienne region, France, was made official on 15 October 2020, in the presence of Barbara Pompili, then French Minister for Ecological Transition. Today, Sunstyle tiles are being deployed on a global scale and have been integrated into major architectural projects like the French Pavilion at Dubai World Expo, Google's Mountain View headquarters in California, and others to be launched in the coming years.

In April 2021, he has co-edited "Les énergies renouvelables pour les Nuls" (Renewable energies for Dummies) with Arnaud Leroy, then CEO of ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency), a book published by First to help understand today's energy issues.

In March 2022, Akuo joined forces with Spyropoulos SA, a technical-commercial company with a leading position in the Greek market, to launch GEARS SA (Green Energy Aggregator Services), a new aggregator in Greece, allowing the company to expand in a new market segment while contributing to the optimization of solar power plants in different Greek regions.

Antigoni Synodinou was born in Athens, Greece. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering with Master's studies in Business Administration and Environmental Resources Management. She started her career in the private sector in a dynamic Greek industrial company and then in a leading multinational consumer goods company.

Afterwards she joined EYDAP where she has held several positions of responsibility since 2003. In particular, in 2016 she served as Assistant General Director of Water Supply, in April 2019, she took over the Executive Division of Coordination and Support Operations and from June 2021, the Executive Division of Transformation. She is fluent in English and French.

Ambassador S. Spyridakis is a senior professional with more than 20 year of diplomatic experience, expert on European Affairs with focus on Energy and Digital Transition, Central Europe, Western Balkans, as well as on EU engagement with North and Latin America. Furthermore, he combines earlier experience from the private sector in the areas of management consulting with focus on organisational reengineering, international marketing and sales with multinational corporations. Definitely an innovation enthusiast.

Aristofanis (Aris) Stefatos

CEO, Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company (HEREMA S.A.)

Aristofanis (Aris) Stefatos, CEO of the Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company (HEREMA S.A.) holds a PhD in geology & geophysics, a master’s degree in Environmental Oceanography and a bachelors in Geology. For the last 15 years he has held senior and top management positions in private E&P companies in Norway and has been a founding partner of five Norwegian companies within the broader E&P sector, including companies developing innovative environmental and digitalization solutions. Through his 24 years of work experience, Mr. Stefatos has also worked with the technical maturation of exploration prospects and drilling. He has worked in geological basins in Europe, North America, Indian ocean, West Coast of Africa, and South East Asia. He has a proven track record of five oil and gas discoveries in the Norwegian and the Barents Sea.

Vasilis Tsaitas is a graduate of Business Administration from University of Piraeus and MBA from INSEAD, as
well as a Fellow at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, with 20 years of experience
in finance and strategy in the energy sector.
He started his career at Shell Hellas, where he held the role of Financial Controller. He worked for
HSBC investment banking in London, focusing on M&A advisory for European Oil & Gas and utility
companies. He also has professional experience in the development and financing of RES projects.
He joined HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group in 2011 and has been responsible for Investor Relations
and international capital markets, participating in strategic initiatives of the Group. Since February
2022, he holds the position of Group CFO.

Dimitris began his career in the London Insurance Market in 1998 at Windsor Professional Indemnity, where his responsibilities included the development of business in Greece and Cyprus. During 2002 Dimitris moved to BMS International and launched the BMS office in Athens (2003). In September 2006 Dimitris led the successful Management Buy Out of the BMS Hellas office from the BMS Group.

During 2019 he completed the acquisition of Piraeus Brokers SA, through a strategic alliance with the Howden Broking Group, which in 2020 became the majority shareholder of Howden Ηellas & Howden Cyprus. Since 2021, he has initiated and concluded seven major acquisitions of insurance intermediaries, placing the company to the top, as the largest corporate broker in Greece. 

Dimitris holds an MBA in Maritime Management from the University of Leicester and a Bachelors’ of Science in Insurance and Investment from the City Business School, where a member of the advisory Board for the undergraduate programs in Finance, Investment & Insurance.

Dimitrios Tsitouridis is a policy officer in DG ENER, Unit Task Force 2 in charge of the relationships with the Member States and the Energy Community. Prior to joining DG ENER, he served as Advisor to the Greek Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy and worked in the Cabinet of European Commissioner in charge of Climate Action and Energy (blue book traineeship). He has also worked in the private sector, in law firms in Athens, Brussels and Paris. Dimitrios studied law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and holds a Master’s degree in Comparative and International Dispute Resolution from Queen Mary University of London.

Thalia Valkouma with more than two decades of experience in the infrastructure & renewable energy sector, is a passionate and experienced leader who combines environmental engineering, project and strategic management, sustainability and ESG expertise.

Running a PhD in Environmental Engineering Technology, she also holds an MBA in Business and Project Management, a Master’s in Science (MSc) in Environmental Engineering, Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Biology. She has been trained in the College of Europe on EU energy policy and Governance, Goals and Challenges of the EU Energy Market. She has several certifications in energy, sustainability, management, quality assurance and ESG & CSR.

She has worked for several years as Environmental Project Manager and Strategic Planning Director in the private and public sector and has also acted as advisor and consultant of the Greek Government/Ministries and other international bodies on environment, energy and sustainability. She has delivered various presentations and speeches in different international conferences, forums and trainings.

Since 2016 she is co-founder and owner of Faria Group and Faria Thess S.A, companies focused on investment, development, construction and operation of renewable energy projects.

As President and CEO of FARIA Renewables S.A. since March 2023, she leads a joint corporate formation between FARIA Group and Capenergie 5 Fund managed by OMNES Capital, with the vision to create a leading independent power producer using renewable energy sources [offshore & onshore wind, photovoltaics, hybrid & storage projects, green hydrogen, and innovative solutions] and with the mission to drive green innovation and sustainability, foster strategic partnerships and collaborations, and deliver high-quality and impactful results for stakeholders, partners, and the environment.

Eleni Vrettou has more than 20 years of international experience in Banks in Greece and abroad, specializing in the fields of corporate and investment banking. 

Ms Vrettou held the position of Executive General Manager Chief of Corporate and Investment Banking at Piraeus Bank Group. Prior to that, she worked for 14 years at HSBC Bank Plc in Greece and the United Kingdom. Her most recent position at HSBC was that of Managing Director and Head of Wholesale Banking Greece, while previously, she was head of multinationals and business development at HSBC for the CEE, CIS, Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. She also held the position of Chief Strategy and Investor Relations Officer at Lamda Development. Prior to HSBC, she had worked for Greek and international Financial Institutions in Athens and New York, in the fields of Credit and Risk and Investment Banking (M&A).

She has significant experience in corporate transformations and the management of non-performing exposures, as well as in the systematic development of ancillary business in investment and transaction banking and development programs.

Between the years 2019-21, she served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Piraeus Factors S.A, Piraeus Leasing and Piraeus Leases, as well as a Member of the Board of Directors of ETVA VIPE. She currently is Chair of the Board of Directors of Attica Bancassurance Agency and an independent non-executive member of the BoD of STARBULK Carriers Corp, as well as of MOTODYNAMICS S.A.

Ms Vrettou holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Yiannis Yiarentis is currently the CEO and Chairman of the BoD of Renewable Energy Sources
(Dapeep SA). He is also member of the BoD of Hellenic Energy Exchange (Henex SA).
He was previously holding several High-Level managing roles in Greek and Multinational
Energy Companies like Chairman of the BoD and CEO of ADMIE, Manager in Petros
Petropoulos, Supply Chain Manager in Shell Marine, Category and Procurement Manager in
Shell International, Shell Hellas etc.
He has been also member in International and National Committees like Climate Plan,
Supply Chain and Logistics, CIPS, Entso-e, MeDTSo, etc.
He holds a MSc In Sustainable Development and Bachelor degrees in Petroleum Engineering
and Industrial Engineering.

Arthouros Zervos is the President of the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21^st Century (REN21) since 2013. He is a Professor Emeritus at the National Technical University of Athens.

He has been Chairman and CEO of the Greek electricity utility Public Power Corporation (PPC) as well as Chairman of the PPC Renewables, both from 2009 to 2015.

He has more than 35 years of high level expertise in policy, science, research and technology across the renewable energy sector. He led key European and International renewable energy bodies and has acted as policy advisor to Governments, EU bodies and policy fora.He has been President of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) from 2001 to 2013, President of the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) from 2000 to 2012 and President of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) from 2005 to 2010. In 2013 he received the “Poul La Cour” prize for outstanding achievement in wind energy. He was the lead author of the White Paper on Renewable Sources of Energy for the EC in 1997.

He is a graduate of Princeton University with a Bachelor and Master Degrees of Science in Engineering as well as a Ph.D. Degree from the Université P. et M. Curie (Paris 6).

Professor Dr. Kostas Andriosopoulos is the Executive Director of the Research Centre for Energy Transition & Sustainability Center at Audencia Business School where he holds the position of full Professor in Finance and Energy Economics. Kostas holds a PhD in Finance (Cass Business School, City University London), where he has been the recipient of the prestigious Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation’s scholarship. He also holds an MBA and MSc in Finance (Northeastern University, Boston, USA), and a bachelor’s degree in Production Engineering and Management (Technical University of Crete, Greece). In addition, Kostas held the position of Executive Director of the Research Centre for Energy Management at ESCP Europe Business School.
Kostas is a member in various professional and academic associations.
- President of the Energy Committee of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.
- President of the Decarbonization Fund of the Greek islands for the Hellenic Ministry of Environment & Energy.
- Founder and Secretary General of the Hellenic Association for Energy Economics (a think-tank focusing on issues related to energy, the environment and the economy).
- Board member of the Global Gas Center - World Energy Council as a Gas and LNG markets expert.
- Member of the board of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE) as a Vice President for Publications.
- Founding board member of the Financial Engineering and Banking Society.
- Member Technical Chamber of Greece.
- Member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society, which recognizes outstanding academic
achievements of students enrolled in collegiate business and management programs.
- Member of the Energy Commission of the Industry and Parliament Trust in the UK (2012-13).
In addition to his academic profile, he has an extensive professional experience in the business world and has served as a business consultant in energy, food, web & software, commodity trading and shipping industries. During September 2019 - February 2021 he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Public Gas Company (DEPA), a position he also held for the period 2014-2015.
Since August 2018 he is Country Manager of Akuo Energy in Greece, a multinational company based in France that develops RES projects in 17 countries around the world. In addition, he has worked as an advisor to the Retail Banking Director and Managing Director for the British Bankers' Association (2007).
Kostas’ current interests include energy-related geopolitical issues, gas and LNG market dynamics, RES investments, financial engineering and the application of operational research tools on risk management and investment techniques in energy, shipping and agricultural commodity markets. His work has been published in international finance and commodity-related Journals and has participated as speaker in recognized conferences world-wide. He is the Associate Editor for the International Journal of Financial Engineering and Risk Management, Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Energy Markets, he has edited special issues in recognized journals, acts as a reviewer for a number of academic journals, and has organized numerous international conferences.

Dr Thierry Bros is a Professor at SciencesPo Paris, a contributor to the Natural Gas World website and Tellurian Policy & Research Vice President. In his 30+ years long career, Thierry was Senior Policy Manager & Lead Analyst for an oil & gas organisation in Brussels, Senior European Gas and LNG Analyst in a bank, notably accredited as the best European gas analyst for five years, as well as Senior Financial Equity Analyst, dealing with gas stocks (from upstream to regulated). Previously, Thierry was in charge of Security of Supply at the French Ministry of Economy and Finance where he liberalised the French gas market and supervised the European Contingency Gas Plan. On the academic side, Thierry has been a Senior Research Fellow of The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and, in his first book, published in 2012, he rightly forecasted that the surge in US oil and gas production was going to deeply alter the energy and geopolitical landscapes. Thierry holds a Master of chemical engineering from ESPCI ParisTech and a PhD from Ecole Centrale Paris.

Director, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies; Professor, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Dr Bassam Fattouh is the Director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES) and Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He has published a variety of articles on energy policy, the international oil pricing system, OPEC behavior, the energy transition, and the economies of oil producing countries. Dr Fattouh served as a member of an independent expert group established to provide recommendations to the 12th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial Meeting in Cancun (29-31 March 2010) for strengthening the architecture of the producer-consumer dialogue through the IEF and reducing energy market volatility. He is the recipient of the 2018 OPEC Award for Research. He acts as an advisor to a number of governments and companies. He is a regular speaker at international conferences.

Areas of Expertise
Bassam Fattouh focuses his research on aspects of the international oil pricing system such as the relationship between the futures market and spot market, the relationship between OPEC and the market, the causes of oil price volatility and the dynamics of oil price differentials. He also focuses his research on the IOC-NOC relationship and its implications for investment behaviour. He has a strong background in the economic environment of the Middle East.

Thomas Lamnidis is the founder and managing partner of Lamnidis Law. He has been practicing law for more than 37 years with experience in Energy, Transport, Infrastructure and Privatisation projects. In addition, he has extensive litigation experience in various market sectors and has handled several international commercial arbitration cases. His main practice areas include Energy, Privatisations, Transport, Infrastructure and Litigation. Indicatively, he has acted as legal advisor and project manager for various projects of International Organizations (European Union, EIB, EBRD, World Bank) in the above-mentioned sectors in more than 30 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. Among others, he has also advised International Consortia on a multi-country power transmission project, on an LNG terminal in Kuwait, a UAV surveillance system for oil and gas pipelines, a 1,500 MW CCGT development project, a 880 MW CCGT project, 1.300 MW CCGT project and large-scale renewable energy projects’ acquisitions, development and EPC agreements in Greece and abroad, for a total capacity of more than 7 GW. Thomas is a founding member of the Energy Institute of Southeast Europe and a member of the Board of Directors and has been a speaker at more than 100 international conferences in Europe and Asia on Energy, Investments, Privatizations and Transport.

Thomas is founding partner of the Foreign Affairs Institute and Head of Energy and Law Committee.

Thomas speaks Greek, English, French, German, Italian and Russian.

A well-respected Chairman and Director, with 30+ years of senior experience in various Energy and related sectors (including Oil & Gas, Renewables, Infrastructure and Transportation) across the EMEA region.

Until very recently, Yanos was the Chair of the BoD of DESFA, the newly privatised, but still regulated Gas Transmission System Operator in Greece, where he oversaw the company’s transformation from a public enterprise to private, and from a local business model to international, while improving  its corporate governance framework and ESG strategy.

Previous roles included membership of Board-like senior executive teams (top 1%) at regional and global levels within Shell and Vestas, a Global Sales role for a US-based, PE-backed nanotechnology company and CEO of TRAINOSE, the only Railway operating company in Greece. He has managed large P&Ls (> 1 bl €) and complex KPIs, led major change projects, including major organisational and cultural transformations, financial and performance turnarounds, introduction of new products and services, new market entries etc. He has led, mentored, and coached large and diverse teams, operating (virtually) across different functions, and distributed in various locations, countries, and cultures.

Besides his Board directorships, Yanos is also active as a Guest MBA / Exec Ed speaker, corporate governance and leadership development course leader, mentor, and coach, working with the UK’s Institute of Directors, New Energy Business School in NL, and other training organisations.

Yanos has a PhD in Physics from Durham University (UK) and he recently obtained his CFA-accreditation in ESG investing.

Σπούδασε στο Φυσικό τμήμα της Φυσικομαθηματικής Σχολής του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών, αλλά στράφηκε νωρίς στη δημοσιογραφία. Σήμερα είναι διευθυντής στο εξειδικευμένο πόρταλ www.energypress.gr και καλύπτει το ενεργειακό ρεπορτάζ στο www.news247.gr.

Μεταξύ άλλων έχει εργαστεί ως αρχισυντάκτης των οικονομικών ρεπορτάζ στην εφημερίδα «ΕΠΕΝΔΥΤΗΣ» και στις εφημερίδες «ΕΘΝΟΣ» και «ΑΓΟΡΑ», ενώ παρουσίαζε επί τρία χρόνια την εβδομαδιαία τηλεοπτική εκπομπή Energy Week στο οικονομικό κανάλι SBC.
Πέραν της αμιγώς δημοσιογραφικής δουλειάς του, έχει διευθύνει καμπάνιες επικοινωνίας, έχει επιμεληθεί εκδόσεις οικονομικών βιβλίων και έχει συμμετάσχει σε δεκάδες δημοσιογραφικές αποστολές στην Ελλάδα και στο εξωτερικό.

He studied at the Physics Department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the University of Athens, but turned early to journalism. Today he is the Director of the specialized portal www.energypress.gr and covers the energy report at www.news247.gr.

Among other things, he has worked as the editor-in-chief of financial reports in the newspaper "EPENDYTIS" and in the newspapers "ETHNOS" and "AGORA", while for three years he presented the weekly TV show Energy Week on the financial channel SBC.

In addition to his purely journalistic work, he has directed communication campaigns, edited financial book publications and participated in dozens of journalistic missions in Greece and abroad.

Spiros is Professor at the Technical University of Crete and the Director of the Industrial, Energy and Environmental Systems Lab. He is specialized in renewables, energy efficiency issues and energy saving applications. His research interests include various aspects of renewables (assessment and implementation of technologies and especially photovoltaics and solar thermal systems, implementation of national policies related to renewables and financial and social incentive schemes, renewable energy heating and cooling applications, renewable energy auctions and market exchange, Life Cycle Assessment and environmental impacts analysis from large-scale deployment of renewable energy technologies); Sustainability in the energy sector; Energy saving devices; Technologies of "smart" materials for energy related applications; Energy characterization of building structural elements.
As part of his academic work he has published more than 60 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has been cited more than 2800 times, with a current h-index of 30; additionally, he has actively participated in more than 50 research projects. He has presented papers to numerous international energy related conferences and acted as referee for international journals in the area of Renewables, Energy efficiency and Energy policy, while on the same time he has served as member in various professional and academic associations such as the International Association for Energy Economics and the International Solar Energy Society. Additionally he has provided lectures and supervised MSc theses in various academic institutions including ESCP London, EADA Spain and Montpellier Business School. Spiros is the President of the Hellenic Association for Energy Economics.

Dimitrios Pefanis is the General manager of insider.gr, the award winning financial website, which was launched in December 2015 and attracts more than 1,3m unique users on a monthly basis.
He is the former director of in.gr, the leading Greek website as well as a financial Reporter at TA NEA Newspaper and editor of N-Digital Technical Supplement.
He studied Communications and Mass Media at Panteion University (BA) and New Media Journalism (ΜΑ) at Emerson College in Boston, MA.
In 2013 he received the Citi Journalistic Excellence Award in Greece for financial reporting and is experienced in banking, bonds, stocks and general financials. He is also a Lecturer, teaching Social Media Marketing and Content Marketing at Hellenic American Union and has attended numerous conferences in Europe on New Media, Online Business Development.

Thanos Zarogiannis has significant experience in the fields of energy transition and e-mobility. As an Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Environment & Energy and previously to the Secretary General of Energy at the Greek Ministry of Environment & Energy, he contributed to kick-starting the e-mobility sector in Greece, and shaping the energy transition strategy for Greek islands. Previously, he has worked in the Innovation team of the leading Electricity Network Operator in the UK. He has also worked in the product development team of a UK based electric vehicle charge point manufacturer and operator. He holds an MSc in Sustainable Energy from Technical University of Denmark and a Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from National Technical University of Athens.