Solarplaza Summit | Baltics

Jelena is a Board member of the National Energy Regulatory Council (NERC) as of 2021. The core focus areas of her work concerns renewable energy issues, including permitting and regulation of alternative fuels. Jelena is also currently a Vice-Chair of the Renewable Energy Committee at the Energy Regulators Regional Association (ERRA). Jelena has a Master's degree in Law, and prior to becoming a Board member of NERC, she worked in the Ministry of Economy and Innovation on regulatory improvement and legal analysis.

Rytis Kėvelaitis is a founder and CEO of Energy Unlimited, a renewable energy advisory and development company in the Baltics. Rytis is an entrepreneur with an experience in renewable energy project management and public policy in both private and public sectors. He is a former Vice Minister of Energy of Lithuania for renewable energy & energy efficiency policies.

Vaidas Žagūnis oversees the development and management of business banking at Citadele in the Baltic region. With over 20 years of experience in the banking sector, he held several leadership roles, focusing primarily on Business clients. In 2016, Vaidas joined the board of SEB Bank in Lithuania, serving as Deputy President and Head of Retail Banking. He joined Citadele in 2020, and since then his daily focus has been to create more opportunities for the Baltic businesses, help them shift to the green economy, and as a result, strengthen the economy of the Baltic region. He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from Kaunas University of Technology and has also pursued studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard business school (HBS) in the USA.

Giedrius is a Loan Officer at European Investment Bank focusing on Project and Structured Finance transactions in geographical area covering Nordic countries, Baltic Sea area, and Central and South Eastern Europe. With more than 10 years’ experience in Project Finance, Giedrius participated in financing of a number of flagship infrastructure PPP projects in Finland, Sweden, Russia and Poland. In his current position, Giedrius is also actively involved in the renewable energy projects in the area, including the leading role in structuring and financing of several solar PV and onshore wind projects in Poland. Prior to joining the EIB, Giedrius worked as a Senior Manager in Project Finance at Nordic Investment Bank in Helsinki.Giedrius holds a Master in Finance and Banking from Vytautas Magnus University.

Johan Lindahl has extensive experience of market and regulatory topics concerning the PV market. Partly from the work as Swedish representative in the international organization IEA PVPS the last twelve years, but also from the current role as the Secretary General of ESMC, the European PV manufacturing industry association, and his previous role as the Swedish PV industry associations spokesperson. Johan also holds a Ph.D. in thin film solar cells of the type CIGS from Uppsala University, Sweden.

Renewable energy consultant and project developer with more than 10 years of experience working with renewables. 100 % renewable future is the goal.

Vigars Kaktinieks has an experience of 15 years in the renewable energy area, developing green projects in Latvia and Europe. Vigars is the author and shareholder of PurpleGreen, managing not only company development but all essential technical and legal aspects of the project development process.

Nerijus Virbickas is a Head of Innovation at Green Genius with over 20 years of extensive experience in the global energy sector. He is also a mastermind behind the InnoSolveGreen project, which has been recognized by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) for its potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the transition of European industries towards a carbon-free economy.

Andrius is an expert in energy law, regulation, policy, strategy and management. He has practiced in the energy sector since 2005 and specialises in the fields of electricity, gas (including LNG), renewable energy sources, nuclear energy, energy efficiency, energy markets, climate change management and other related areas. Providing wide-ranging services in the energy sector – from law-making to daily business operations – Andrius is always able to offer clients tailor-made, complex and non-standard solutions.

Andrius Karazinas has been actively working in the solar industry since 2012 and has deep knowledge of the Lithuanian RES market. He is a president of the Lithuanian Solar Energy Association; which unites almost 100 Lithuanian companies: all scale solar PV EPCs and developers mainly. Andrius is also CEO of the international EPC company “Solet” with its market share in Lithuania, Denmark and Finland.

Forbes Baltics in 2021 named Tadas Navickas as one of the pioneers of wind energy in Lithuania. With over 15 years devoted to transforming Lithuania's energy landscape, Tadas brings a wealth of experience to the table. His portfolio includes managing mergers and acquisitions, development, financing, and successful execution of multiple wind and PV projects in Lithuania and Poland. Notably, he led the 4energia companies in Lithuania until 2018 when it was acquired by Enefit Green, a subsidiary of Eesti Energia. In 2019, Tadas, along with his co-founders, established Sunly, the company swiftly becoming one of the most promising renewable energy startups in the Baltic States and Poland.

Alexander Esser founded and heads the dedicated Nordics & Baltics team based in Stockholm with 15 team members, offering advisory and forecasts for energy markets in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, and Norway. He has been with Aurora for 7 years and Previously, he led the continental commercial team and was part of the initial team building up the Berlin office. In his currently role, he oversaw more than 30 transactions and debt financing of wind, solar, battery and electrolyser assets and portfolios, as well as strategic projects such as the first project finance of an electrolyser for green steel in Sweden and the evaluation of capacity markets for Finland.

Vytautas Žilys has been actively working in the banking industry for the past 16 years and is experienced in cooperation with corporate customers. He is responsible for renewable energy financing portfolio development at Luminor Bank.

Mathilde Ketoff joined RGREEN INVEST in 2019 as Investment Director, after working 12 years at BNP Paribas. Specialized in structured finance, infrastructure and sustainability, she initially advised and financed sponsors, developers and governmental entities for the implementation of renewable energy projects in the EMEA zone. She then provided upstream support to Oil & Gas companies (small- and mid-caps) answering to their financial needs and business development goals (acquisition, development, projects, junior debts…). Since her arrival at RGREEN INVEST, she has taken the helm of the company’s dedicated Debt strategy and overseen the execution of around 30 transactions in Europe, supporting developers in their RE, green mobility and storage projects.

Edvardas Norkeliūnas has accumulated a diverse professional background over the years. He spent two years working as an energy regulator, followed by a decade-long tenure in trading, specializing in financial energy trades, Guarantee of Origins, and energy wholesale trades. Currently, Edvardas has been with Fusebox Energy Software for over a year, focusing on Virtual Power Plants, Flexibility, and Demand Side Response.

Nicola Kopij Zanin is an Independent Consultant at Solarplaza. He covers the role of Chief Financial Officer at Solartech, a Polish-based solar & storage EPC, development & investment company. Nicola holds a bachelor's degree in Economics and Business from LUISS University in Rome, a Master's degree in Finance & Investments from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and has obtained the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 1 Certificate.