Solarplaza Summit | Floating PV

For 15 years, Andrea has been committed to the purpose of the transition towards sustainable energy generation. He has gained professional experience in the photovoltaic business, working internationally for different tier-one manufacturers and consultancy firms in the PV industry. He holds a master’s degree in Materials Engineering from the University of Padova and has thorough know-how about the PV market, technology, and quality aspects. Pursuing his way in the solar industry, he participates regularly in roundtable discussions and various public events, sharing his knowledge with the objective of supporting the safe development of the solar PV industry.

Charles Gery joined RWE in 2023 as a Senior Floating Solar Expert in the department of Product Development and New Technologies. He is currently the Project Manager for RWE’s PV2FLOAT research project located in a former mining quarry in Eastern Germany. Charles has specialized experience in mooring and anchoring specifically for FPV installations. Formerly, Charles worked for Seaflex AB in Umea, Sweden since 2018 as the Global Business Development Manager for FPV. Charles is a contributing member to a number of FPV publications including: SERIS FPV Handbook for Practitioners, FRESHER EU Research project, and two DNV JIP projects including FPV Recommended Practices Guide and the ongoing JIP for Anchoring and Mooring as well as Floats. Although Charles currently lives in Sweden with his wife, daughter and son, he has lived and worked in the United States for most of his life. His background in sales, management and business development comes from his experience in various industries including, automotive, environmental testing, government and logistics. Charles has traveled extensively during his tenure with President Clinton, visiting over 25 countries, attending global summits, and developing contacts with governmental and private entities. Charles has received a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has also attended North Carolina State University as well as Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

Queen Mary, University of London and King's College London graduate, after post-graduate course at the Sorbonne, Elena began her career as a business analyst at American Express (UK). Before starting the "Evklips Energy" adventure, Elenagained valuable experience at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where she worked as a financial analyst. The dream of a "greener future" becomes a driving force for the transition from large corporations towards the establish of company. To date, Evklips Energy is among the leaders in the construction of photovoltaic plants throughout Europe. In the last 6 years, the company has over 1 gigawatt of installed capacity. Evklips Energy is the investor and owner of 4 solar power plants in Bulgaria (18 MWp). With a team of over 250 professionals, Evklips Energy also offers full EPC services in Bulgaria.

Polina, an environmental entrepreneur with dual Masters degrees in Chemical Technology and Renewable Energy (Ocean), possesses over 20 years of experience in the energy sector and is the solo-female founder of a hardware startup. As an active traveller (exploring 71 countries) and deep-sea diver (reaching depths of 100 metres), Polina saw many beautiful places ruined by negative anthropogenic impacts and based on her inner feelings, she decided to change her life. After a successful 14-year career in the oil & gas industry (ex-Schlumberger), Polina made a fundamental career move from the "black" side of fossil fuels to the "green" side of renewables. Guided by her academic background and extensive professional journey, she founded HelioRec, an innovative company focused on floating solar technology for near-shore locations where half of the global population lives.

Stanislas is a Senior Solar PV Consultant in Multiconsult, Norway, with more than 10 years of experience. He is currently undertaking an Industrial Ph.D. (2019-2022) together with Multiconsult and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology on the design and optimization of hydropower-connected floating solar PV plants. Stanislas has been one of the founding members of Multiconsult’s solar energy advisory team, specializing in solar PV projects in emerging markets. He has extensive international experience from solar projects ranging from Eastern/Southern Africa to Central/Southeast Asia. He has been awarded the prizes ‘Norway’s Young Consultant of the Year’ by the Norwegian Association of Consulting Engineers in 2017 and ‘Europe’s Young Professional of the Year’ by the European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations in 2018.

Andrés is CEO of ISIGENERE. Born and raised in Colombia, Andrés studied Computer Science and holds an MBA by the Kellogg Graduate School of Business in USA. Andres started his career working in software startups. After his MBA he worked for the consultancy McKinsey & Company in Spain where he advised clients in strategy and technology projects. Later on he moved to Santander Bank where he led the growth of the subsidiary of the bank from 1 country and managing 80 million euros of spend, to 11 countries and 8000 million euros of spend. Now in Isigenere, Andrés is leading the growth of the company in utility scale and self-consumption projects while continuing the innovation by creating new and better versions of ISIFLOATING, its floating solar system. the pioneering company in floating solar systems since 2008 when their first floating solar system was designed and installed in Alicante (Spain).

Dr Sacha de Rijk is a senior researcher at Deltares, a Dutch research institute for water management, and an expert in water quality and water-related biodiversity. At Deltares Sacha is coordinating a team of experts working on the environmental impact of floating solar, both onshore and offshore. Furthermore, her research focuses on lake restoration and the impact of climate change on water quality and biodiversity. The research is done is strong cooperation with experts from other knowledge institutes, governments, private companies, and NGOs. In her work, she strives to find practical applications of scientific-based knowledge to contribute to more sustainable use of water resources and the protection of biodiversity.

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Mr. Vozza is an economist with an MBA from BI Norwegian School of Management. He is a seasoned business development and strategy leader with 20 years’ international experience from top tier global energy companies and consultancy. He is an accomplished and dynamic professional with a passion for renewable energy and sustainable technologies. As Chief Commercial Officer for SolarDuck, his mission is to electrify the world with offshore floating solar.

Brigitte Vlaswinkel was awarded a PhD in Marine Geology in 2007 from the University of Miami where she focused on coastal ecosystem dynamics. After her PhD she worked at Shell International in The Netherlands. In 2016 she made a career change to apply her skills to contribute to a cleaner world and a cleaner ocean. While setting up a start-up focused on the innovation of offshore floating solar, together with the founder, she worked in parallel as Environmental Impact Lead at the non-profit organization The Ocean Cleanup. Presently, she is more than busy running the now successfully scaled start-up Oceans of Energy as Director of Research and Offshore Monitoring. The company is working towards the realization of MW-scale floating solar farms within windparks in the high seas of the North Sea. Brigitte is appointed thematic expert 'Marine Sectors and Blue Economy' for the MSPglobal Expert Group of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.

Vincent Grumetz graduated from an international business school and a mechanical engineering university which enabled him to be a sales expert in technical industries. In 2006, he started working for Airmat Technology as an Export Sales Manager and in 2011 he joined Pronal (in rubber products industry) where he became Sales Director. Looking for new challenges, more in line with his spirit and convictions, he joined Ciel & Terre as EMEA Managing Director to follow the growth of the floating solar market in Europe.

Michele has been working for 5 years on Solar PV and Energy Storage projects, with a particular focus on Floating Solar PV projects. Michele holds a BSc degree in Energy Engineering from Alma Mater University of Bologna (Italy) and a MSc degree in Sustainable Energy Technology from TU Delft (Netherlands).

Joe is a research analyst based in London in the S&P Global Clean Energy Technology team. He covers downstream solar PV in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. He also covers upstream analysis of the global PV Tracker and Floating PV markets, along with their respective annual reports. Prior to this, Joe graduated from Oxford University with an MEng in Engineering Science in 2022. Here, he specialized in renewable energy and thermofluids.

Aurélien Croq is the CEO of SolarinBlue, the French leading start-up in floating offshore solar. SolarinBlue inaugurated in 2023 the first offshore floating solar farm in France and the Mediterranean Sea, and will extend this first project to 1MW by end 2025. Aurélien graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (X2007, France) and brings together an expertise in Engineering & Economics and an entrepreneurial mindset. Prior to his role at SolarinBlue, he was the successful founder of digital learning start-up and was previously Economist at the Strategy Division of ENGIE and Energy & Transport advisor for the Prime Minister office. Aurélien is dedicated to deploying SolarinBlue’s technology at scale: enabling the first offshore wind & solar co-located hybrid farms.

Saidi Saidon currently working as the system solution manager of SUNGROW FPV SCI. & TECH.CO., LTD. Graduated from Shenyang Jianzhu University with Master degree and has over 5 years of experience in the FPV industry. He has supervised and accomplished many international FPV projects, and will endeavour to realise the vision of ' to be the navigator of FPV'.

Karolina Baltins co-leads the Photovoltaic Power Plants group at Fraunhofer ISE, which comprises over 14 scientists and numerous students. Within the group, she is responsible for advancing topics related to integrated photovoltaics, with a particular focus on Floating Photovoltaics (FPV). In this context, she oversees research areas such as yield simulation and monitoring, potential analysis, environmental impacts, and feasibility studies. Karolina Baltins holds a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Environmental Protection as well as a Master of Science in Geography of Global Change. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Freiburg. Her dissertation, titled “Global assessment of environmental stress factors for solar technology application using Geographical Information Systems,” examined global environmental stress factors for the application of solar technology.

Etienne Abadie is the CTO of Ecocean, he has a background in aquatic ecology and biology, specialized in ecosystem management and restoration, he joined Ecocean’s team in 2018 as a project manager. First deployed in the Netherlands, he has been working there two years to develop restoration projects in Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark. In 2021, he went back to Montpellier, France, in the main office, within the project and scientific team to analyze the ecological data of Biohut and manage different projects in Northern Europe and continental waters. He has developed key project with the Rijkswaterstaat, WWF or Brussels port authorities.

Christophe is coordinating different workstreams, in particular related to “Innovative Solar in Developing Countries” at ESMAP, a World Bank unit that finances studies and TA related to the energy sector. Before, he coordinated the WB Bank Energy and Climate Teams in Beijing and Brasilia, also worked in other regions, in particular Sub-Saharan Africa, on more than 40 WB energy and climate projects and reports, covering a broad spectrum of topics including rural access, large scale/decentralized - onshore/offshore renewables, energy efficiency, battery storage, smart grids, energy pricing, power sector reforms, utility management, etc. Before joining the WB, he was a Senior Researcher at CIRED, a public research center on Energy and Environment Economics (France). He holds an engineer degree, a PhD in Energy and Development Economics.