Solarplaza Summit | Energy Storage The Netherlands

Dr. Hilton joined IHS Markit (now S&P Global) in 2020 and has eight years of experience in the clean energy sector. He focuses on clean energy technologies in Europe, Middle East and Africa and has a particular interest in how energy storage integrates with other industries. He has recently published work on recycling, energy storage for EV charging, vehicle-to-grid technologies, second life batteries and the use of batteries in hydrogen production. He leads the global forecast for energy storage. He has published articles in multiple well-respected journals, responded to government calls for evidence on energy storage and electric vehicles (EVs), and has been quoted in a range of media outlets. Dr. Hilton holds a first-class Master of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering and a PhD in energy engineering with a focus on energy storage integration with renewable energy and EV infrastructure, both from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom.

I am Enes Baser and I have been working at Holland Solar for two years now. I am graduated at The Technical University of Delft from the program Complex Systems Engineering and Management on the topic vehicle-to-grid. At Holland Solar I am responsible for the topic grid congestion. I regularly meet with our members on this topic to talk about current problems, what they are facing in the field and what needs to be done for smart solutions to succeed. I represent the solar sector in discussions with grid operators and other relevant organizations about how to mitigate grid congestion. A related topic of course is energy storage.

Koen is renowned for his experience in real estate & renewable energy. He specialises in project financing, project development, real estate and PPP and has developed a leading expertise in the renewable energy sector where he advises on solar, onshore and offshore wind projects throughout the Benelux. Koen also advises in general secured financing, especially in asset-based finance, factoring and capital markets-related matters. His clients include financial institutions, large corporations, investors and project developers. Koen is recommended for his expertise by The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.

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Marek is a founding member and managing director of energy storage technology company Fluence. He leads Fluence’s UK, Ireland & Israel team where he is responsible for overseeing the origination, development and commercial negotiation of energy storage technology and services sales. Marek has over a decade of experience in cleantech, including an instrumental role in delivering Europe’s first grid scale commercial battery storage project in 2015. A prominent energy industry influencer and thought leader, he was also named in 2017 a Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree; a list that recognises “the world’s most inspiring young innovators, bright rising stars and the leaders of tomorrow”.

Within Alliander I keep an overview of all developments related to energy storage, ranging from large stand-alone battery systems to residential batteries and systems for use in outage situations. Storage is able to provide much needed flexibility in the energy system, while at the same time it has the potential to be disruptive. Our main task as a grid operator is to provide an affordable, reliable and accessible energy system for everyone connected to our networks.

Rianne ’t Hoen works as senior consultant in the Energy Storage team of DNV, she supports customers in making technical decisions about battery energy storage system projects: market focus (geographically and applications), technical design and risk assessments. Her focus is on the knowledge field of renewable energy, energy storage, battery safety, storage business case calculations and workshop & trainings. Rianne contributes through project realization, market studies, technology assessments, independent project evaluations and technical research in the role of technical consultant and project manager. Rianne is chairman of the Dutch normalisation committee NEC 21/35 cells and batteries.

Gerke is a project manager at Solarfields. For the last 2,5 years he has worked on several solar projects that featured innovative non-standard grid solutions. Most notably on project Sluiskil: Solarfields first solar and BESS co-located project. In this project, Gerke coordinated design and realization works by different contractors and the grid operator.

At Aurora Energy Research, Marise Westbroek is responsible for researching trends in the Dutch electricity market. Recently she has dealt with questions such as: How can the Netherlands become emission neutral by 2050?; What does the future hold for hydrogen in Northwestern Europe?; How is the Dutch market for power purchase agreements (PPAs) developing?Marise holds a PhD in physics from Imperial College London and studied physics and mathematics in Utrecht and Cambridge.

Dr. Koen Broess has a PhD in biophysics and a master’s degree in chemistry. He is responsible as segment leader energy storage EVs for business development in North Europe. He is also key account manager. He has more than 11 years of experience in energy storage projects, new services and business models in the energy market and has set up and coordinated several (inter-)national projects. He is responsible for quality control of proposals and involved in the development of the battery safety test center. On national level, he was involved in the Dutch climate agreement, roadmap energy storage and the roadmap of electric vehicle batteries for the Dutch government. He is a member of the working group for the Dutch ministry of Infrastructure and water management for battery safety and regulations. Koen is a member of the executive board of the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE).

Niels Jansen is a business consultant at TNO, the Dutch institute for applied scientific research. His focus is on the economics of energy system integration and multi-stakeholder business cases in the energy transition. Niels further works on multi-stakeholder decision analysis and evaluation of investments in flexibility such as hybrid electrification, green hydrogen production and energy storage. Bringing together perspectives of grid operators, end-users, energy producers and society is his main driver. Niels also worked at a Dutch grid operator and has a background in Mathematics & Physics.

Remko is a senior account manager at Triodos Bank with a focus on financing sustainable energy projects. He started his career at ABN AMRO Bank and has been active in the sustainable energy market since 2016. As the solar and wind markets have matured Triodos made the conscious decision to focus on other sectors such as the heat transition, sustainable transportation, and energy storage. Triodos group has been involved in the financing of 10 battery storage projects in NW Europe. As a frontrunner in the energy transition Triodos continues to play a pivotal role in developing sustainable energy markets.

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Maartje has 8 years’ experience within Rabobank and joined the Project Finance Renewables department in the beginning of 2019. Prior to joining Project Finance she worked for Corporate Lending where she was actively involved in analyzing, structuring, and raising debt for large corporates in the high tech and industry sector. Maartje is a member of the European renewable energy team and responsible for the structuring and executing of onshore & offshore wind and solar transactions throughout Europe (including corporate PPAs, holdco financings and alternative funding structures). Since 2021 she is also focusing and working on battery storage projects across Europe. She has structured and financed a battery project in the Netherlands and one in France and is currently working on a financing for a battery project in the UK.

Gerard van Leeuwe works within Eneco Energy Trade and is responsible for structuring long term offtake contracts for flexible assets. His main focus is on utility-size battery and electric boiler projects in the Netherlands and Germany. He has a background in the financial industry and worked at Rabobank for 11 years, of which the last 4 years in Project Finance investing in battery, wind and solar projects across North Western Europe.

Evert Bende, PhD is Technical Consultant at Huawei Digital Power Benelux. For the last fourteen years he has been working in photovoltaics (PV), from cells to systems, and in recent years also in energy storage. In addition to that, he can rely on working experience in the energy markets and ICT. Evert really enjoys combining these fields to help accelerate the energy transition.

As an experienced ESS product manager with over 2 years of experience at Sungrow, I am passionate about the integration of energy storage solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of the electricity network. Previously, I served as a field service engineer, where I played a key role in leading the installation and commissioning of flagship ESS and hybrid PV projects throughout the UK, such as the Minety 100MWh project. In my current role, I am responsible for driving product advancement, ensuring local compliance, and supporting key accounts through the site design and grid integration process. My extensive experience in the industry allows me to effectively support customers in achieving their energy storage goals. And by doing so, also to achieve our goal of Clean Power For All.

Originally from Brazil, Lorena Nieuwenhoven completed a double major degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2019. She then deep-dived into the area of renewables and sustainability, helping expand the penetration of solar energy in the Iberian markets through her work as a Project Manager for Solarplaza. Apart from her work in the Spanish and Portuguese markets, Lorena has also spearheaded topical conferences related to Green Hydrogen and Hybrid Renewables.