Solarplaza Summit | Greece

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Ypatios Moysiadis’ early years spent growing up in an industrial coal mining town in Northwest Greece had a profound effect on his career and helped embed a focus on sustainability in all his future ventures. He started working in renewables 15 years ago, capitalising on the legislative introduction of renewable energy incentives. Over the years he expanded his scope into the development, construction and operation of renewable energy assets. This work lead to posts at major British and international organisations like Galliford Try Group, Grupotec, Foresight Group, BayWa r.e. and Voltalia Group, working in several spot markets and countries. Ypatios has worked across the value chain on all major renewable technologies, with emphasis on Solar PV. Today, Ypatios is the Managing Partner of Wattcrop focusing on development of new generation projects internationally and advancement of innovation within the services sector of Renewable Energy. He is a visiting lecturer at Cass Business School London and ESCP Business School Paris, and promotes Renewables as an author and active blogger.

Elisabeth is an analyst at Ember, an independent energy think-tank. Her work focuses on the energy transition, primarily the decarbonisation of the European power system and its key enablers, such as electricity grids. She publishes data-based, impact-oriented analyses with the aim of driving policy change at the EU and pan-European level to accelerate the energy transition. Previously, she was the lead energy modeller at Malta's national energy agency, contributing to the development of the National Energy and Climate Plan amongst other policy documents.

Jesús Prado brings more than 15 years global solar PV spanning various leadership roles in EPC services, sales, operations and business development. As Nextracker’s Vice President Sales for Europe, he oversees the company’s utility-scale and C&I project portfolio with European customers. He leads the Europe commercial sales team and is responsible for over 15 GW of projects globally. He frequently speaks at solar industry events such as Future Energy, Solar Plaza, Brazil Solar, UNEF, and the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi. Based in Sevilla, Spain, Jesus holds a B.S. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Salamanca and MBA from ESIC Business School.

Giorgos Anomeritis is the Head of Project Finance at Eurobank S.A., one of the Greek systemic banks with long track-record, among others, in RES financings. Giorgos joined Eurobank in 2005, thus currently brings almost 20 years of Project Finance expertise. Under his current capacity, Giorgos is responsible for all Project Financings of Eurobank at the Energy sector (including RES and other conventional forms of power production), Infrastructure, PPPs and telecoms, in countries whereby Eurobank retains strategic presence. In his carreer, Giorgos has led the arrangement of financings for muptiple GWs of capacity, closely working with all major local and international sponsors. Giorgos holds a MSc in Finance from Lancaster University, UK and a BSc in Business Administation from Athens University of Economics, Greece. Prior joining Eurobank, Giorgos was working for 2 years with Citibank in its retail activity.

Christos Nakos is an energy markets professional acting for the last 5 years as Head of Renewable Energy Asset Aggregation & Management in Metlen SA. He developed the RES Aggregator unit from scratch, being responsible for the overall operations and business development. From 2024 and onwards his professional focus is more on the unit’s commercial activity which has been expanded with the aggregation of storage assets. He and his team originate and structure RES & Storage PPAs in the SEE market in both directions, i.e. either buying from renewable and/or storage asset owners or selling back to offtakers on various structures. He holds a diploma in Electrical Engineering with an MSc in Mathematical Modelling. His professional experience lies in energy & power markets modelling, having served as electricity expert/modeller in Metlen SA, LAGIE during the transition to Target Model, E3-Modelling and Centre of Renewable Energy Sources and Saving.

Ioannis Grammatikakis is an experienced manager with strong engineering and business background. He is self-motivated and results oriented with broad skills including product development, people and project management, account management and new business development. He is one of the founding members of inAccess, where now after the acquisition by Powerfactors holds the position of VP, Global Sales for Unity Projects. In the past, while at Inaccess, Ioannis was a Senior Product Manager and responsible for the company operations in the UK. He has played a significant role for driving the Unity solution from its birth to a multimillion business with worldwide presence. Ioannis holds a diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the NTUA. After completion of his undergraduate studies he was accepted in the Imperial College and he was awarded the MSc on “Communications and Signal Processing” with distinction, having the highest academic performance in his class. He has also attended the Executive MBA of the AUEB, where he also had the highest academic performance in his class. Finally, Ioannis is a certified product manager by the AIPMM.

Nikos Giannoulis has been Head of PD in Greece at Sens Lsg Gmbh since 2022 supporting the development of the Greek market portfolio for the company. He has been working in wind and solar industry holding various roles with local and international developers for the last 13 years in the markets of Greece and Cyprus. His professional experience is ranging from Greenfield Project Development, Project Financing, Market Analysis, M&A, Operation and Asset Management. Giannoulis holds Diploma in Electrical Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Masters in Sustainable Energy Technologies from Southampton University, and an MBA from Imperial College London.

Joost Samsom is partner and co-founder of Voltiq. Voltiq is a boutique investment banking firm specializing in energy transition. Joost has 24 years of experience in the development, acquisition and management of renewable energy projects and companies. He has been leading numerous equity and debt raisings for solar and wind developers throughout Europe and Latin America. Before co-founding Voltiq in 2009, Joost was an Executive Board Member at the clean energy branch of global retail and distribution company SHV. Prior to working for SHV, Joost worked for Dutch utility Nuon (nowadays Vattenfall). From 2002 – 2006 he was responsible for Nuon’s investments in Spain based in Seville. Joost has served as an executive and non-executive director on the board of renewable energy companies in the United Kingdom, Germany, Chile, Mexico, Spain and The Netherlands. He has in-depth knowledge of wind, solar, bio-energy, battery storage and hydrogen. Joost is a graduate in European Studies at the University of Amsterdam and is fluent in Dutch, English, Spanish and German.

Apostolos Panos has been the Chief Commercial Officer in Principia since March 2024. His previous role was Head of Energy Management at Enel Green Power Hellas. Also held various positions as an engineer in the O&M Department of the company, and as Responsible for Battery Energy Storage Systems operations worldwide. His previous professional career focused on the energy sector, with employment at HEDNO and on the development of RES plants. He is a graduate of the Department of Electrical Engineering of the University of Patras and holds a Master's Degree entitled "Energy: Strategy, Law & Economics" from the Department of International and European Studies of the University of Piraeus.

Evgenia has 4 years of experience in energy consulting, advising energy companies, financial institutions and regulators on a broad range of issues relating to the energy transition. She is a Senior Consultant at Baringa’s energy market advisory practice in London. She focuses on commercial due diligence, market entry and M&A advisory, as well as regulatory analysis in Southern European renewables markets. She has advised on numerous high-profile transactions in the region as well as the wider European electricity market during her time with Baringa. Jenn holds an MSc in Management from Imperial College Business School.

Stelios Psomas is a leading Greek PV consultant and lobbyist. He started campaigning for PV in Greece already in 1995 (as a Greenpeace energy & climate campaigner). Since then he has pushed for the introduction of support schemes for PV and the opening of the market through his role as a policy advisor for the Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies (HELAPCO). He has been actively involved in the introduction of feed-in tariffs, self-consumption support schemes, auction schemes and long-term energy planning in Greece. In particular, he was involved in the drafting of most of the PV-related legislation in Greece, and has also acted as an advisor to the banking sector, facilitating the financing of PV systems.

Eirini Samara is a civil engineer and is currently Business Development Manager at Huawei Technologies - South East Europe in the Digital Power Business Department. She's responsible for the Smart PV and Battery Energy Storage System Business Unit. Prior to working at Huawei, she has been working for more than 7 years in key account and business development area in different industries.

Stephen is an expert on changing energy markets, focusing on market design. Stephen has over twenty-five years’ experience in the electricity business, specialising in the changing energy markets and the strategic response of commercial players. He headed AFRY’s global work on energy market design for many years, and is internationally recognised as an expert in energy market reform and the energy transition. He contributes to the global and EU debates on appropriate markets for decarbonisation, flexibility, capacity, and network access. Stephen has led national programmes for market reform on several occasions, and has worked on electricity markets in around 30 countries. He is an inspirational conference speaker and has published numerous papers on electricity market design and the energy transition.

Joshua is a renewable energy professional with over 12 years of commercial and technical experience in utility-scale battery storage and solar technology. Joshua is the Head of Storage at Econergy, a renewable energy IPP that operates across 6 different regions with over 450MW of solar, wind and battery storage projects under construction and 155MW of operation solar PV. He joined in 2021 to head the technical, commercial, and strategic aspects of the company’s stand-alone and co-located storage projects in the UK and also developing the overseas storage strategy. Econergy is currently building over 100MWh of battery storage projects in the UK and has a further 1GW of storage projects nearing ready to build. Before joining Econergy, he worked for a leading German inverter manufacturer, SMA Solar Technology, where he served as the technical expert for the UK and Ireland. He has been involved in the design and delivery of over 800MW of utility-scale solar and storage projects.

Epistimi Oikonomopoulou is a Senior Associate at the international law firm Clifford Chance. Her practice focuses on Antitrust and Energy regulatory matters, and she is a key member of the firm’s Clean Hydrogen Taskforce. She studied civil engineering at NTUA, holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Sydney and did an LLM in Energy Law at Queen Mary University of London. Before joining Clifford Chance, Epistimi worked at the EBRD, the European Parliament and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy at Units related to the internal energy market and the development of energy infrastructure projects. She is a qualified lawyer in Australia (NSW) and Ireland and admitted to the Paris Bar.

Kostas Athanasopoulos is the Commercial Director of Greece at Sympower, where he champions the integration of demand-response services in the Greek market and promotes the benefits of balancing services to RES and battery energy storage systems for optimal grid stability. Kostas operates internationally, emphasizing the importance and benefits of demand response, especially for commercial and industrial consumers. He promotes demand response as a crucial tool for balancing electricity systems and has been instrumental in its consolidation in the Greek energy market. Passionate about innovation and sustainability, Kostas is committed to driving impactful results in the evolving energy sector.

Stella Zacharia is a senior executive of GEKTERNA group, specifically TERNA ENERGY and OPTIMUS ENERGY companies. Her recent positions are CEO of OPTIMUS ENERGY and Head of Energy Policy & Regulatory Affairs, TERNA ENERGY. She has worked for the last 25 years as Renewable Energy Expert in Greece and international markets, collecting valuable experience in the fields of project development, energy assessment and forecasting, participation of RES in energy markets, PPAs, balancing, storage as well as in regulatory and energy policy directives. She is a member of HERON SA Board of Directors and a member of selected Energy and Industry Councils Boards. Stella Zacharia is a Mathematician, with an MSc in environmental physics and several professional/executive training courses.

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 4 GW of PV, Wind and Storage Projects, of which 241 MW PV and 100 MW Wind in operation in Greece and 41 MW PV in Cyprus. HELLENiQ RENEWABLES recently announced the acquisition of an under construction 180 MW PV project in Kozani and another one 211 MW in Romania, both to be fully operational in 2025. Adding up another PV project of 200 MW in Evros and the 100 MW Battery Storage that has been won in the last auction, both to be operational in 2025, the target of HELLENiQ to operate 1 GW RES projects in 2025 has already been secured. 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.

Mrs. Tsaltampasi is the initiator and the elected President of the 1st Women's Energy Community WEnCoop and President of the Greek Association of Women Entrepreneurs – SEGE. In the business sector, she is the CEO of the OECON Group of Companies, which includes companies in Greece and abroad. She actively supports Women's Entrepreneurship and the Promotion of Women in all sectors of the economy through SEGE, as well as through other positions she holds. She is the A’ Vice President of AFAEMME – Association of Organizations of Mediterranean Businesswomen, and the President of the Balkan Women Coalition (B-WCo). Additionally, Mrs. Tsaltampasi is a member of the Financial Committee of Women20 (W20) and holds the position of G7 Advisor related to the W7 agenda. Mrs. Tsaltampasi was a Finalist for the EUSEW 2022 Awards in the Category of “Women in Energy”. Last but not least, as president of SEGE and WEnCoop, has led WEnCoop to international recognition, and to win the National and European Award, of the category “Supporting the Sustainable Transition”, in the European Enterprise Promotion Awards - EEPA 2022. WenCoop is recognised as a Global Good Practice by both the UN and the European Union, being the first women's partnership to successfully operate in the energy sector. SEGE is cited in the minutes of the Commission as a European best practice for addressing both women's entrepreneurship and women's empowerment issues in an integrated manner, making the Association a key interlocutor of the Commission on Equal Opportunities.

Chris is a Partner and the Renewables lead within Corporate Finance at PwC Greece with over 17 years of experience in the European Equity Markets both in Greece and the UK. Chris joined PwC in 2018 and led several landmark RES transactions in Greece including the acquisition of the largest PV park in Greece by Helleniq Energy from juwi Group, the JV formation between PPC and RWE for the development of 2 GW solar PV projects, PPCR’s acquisition of Volterra’s entire RES portfolio and several wind farm and PV transactions (including the first offshore wind transaction in Greece) with a multinational variety of counterparties both in Greece and the wider Balkan region. Prior to PwC, Chris headed the European General Retail team at Barclays Capital in London covering retail stocks in excess of €250bn market cap. Chris led the team to a consistent top 5 ranking in annual investors surveys. Chris also created and led the General Retail team at Bloomberg, offering research advice to investors and frequently commenting on financial media. Chris is a Chartered Management Accountant with CIMA, holds an MSc in Economics & Finance from Warwick Business School with Distinction and a BSc in Banking & Finance from the University of Piraeus.

Ruben Carvalho is an accomplished and dedicated leader with over 15 years of experience in the field of solar and renewable solutions. He has a strong passion for providing sustainable solutions for the future, with a clear vision of bringing "Energy Next to You." As the Managing Director of Greenvolt Next Greece, Ruben leverages his extensive international experience to drive the company forward. His career includes leadership roles in diverse markets such as Dubai, Japan, and India, where he has held various positions from Managing Director to Project Manager and Business Developer. Ruben’s global expertise and commitment to renewable energy make him a visionary leader in the industry, known for his ability to adapt and succeed in different countries and markets.

Dr. Stefanos Papaefthymiou works for the Grid Operations Department of HEDNO, as Director of Protection Branch. Previously, he has worked for the Network Major Installations Department of HEDNO, as protection engineer responsible for maintenance of HV/MV Substations. He has also worked for the Islands Network Operation Department of HEDNO with the object of development and operation of generating stations (conventional and RES) in NII, and earlier for the Distribution Division of PPC, occupied with distribution network protection studies, as well as with the implementation of Distribution Network Control Centers. Furthermore, he has served as technical advisor to PPC Renewables SA for implementation of the Hybrid Wind-Pumped Storage Power Plant in Ikaria island and he has supported the Greek Regulatory Authority of Energy in establishing the institutional framework for Hybrid Renewable Power Stations in NII. Additionally, he has provided consultancy services to HEDNO for definition of optimal strategy for management and operation of the NII electrical systems, according to the provisions of the NII Power Systems Management Code, as well as for implementation of the required projects (interconnection projects, Energy Control Center, etc.) for connection and smooth integration of the Ikaria Hybrid Project. Last, he has been involved in the preparation of techno-economic studies for RES Producers. He is a registered member of the Technical Chamber of Greece and a member of CIGRE.

Stathis Galanopoulos is the Head of Portfolio Management for MORE, leading the overall performance monitoring and optimization initiatives for the operating portfolio of renewable assets. In his previous role in MORE he was the Head of Operations & Maintenance department. He joined Motor Oil Group in 2017 while previously held senior roles in Construction and Asset Management for renewable projects, as well as in Management Consulting for major energy companies in the electricity, oil and natural gas sectors. Stathis holds a M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from the University of Patras with a focus on Energy and an MBA from ALBA Graduate Business School.

Dr. Aris Polychronopoulos brings in 16+ years of hands-on experience in commercial, industrial and utility scale renewable power plants engineering, procurement and construction. He has served as CTO, General Manager and CEO of a top class EPC Contractor with an international footprint. Under his leadership, a startup from Athens, Greece has delivered to some of the world’s leading utilities, IPP’s and investors more than 2.5GWp of solar PV plants, exceeding a cumulative turnover of US$ 2bn in Australia, Europe, USA and LATAM. Aris has developed, drafted, negotiated and delivered hundreds (if not thousands) of contracts, but also construction, yield and failure benchmarks and has worked together with industry leading experts, law firms, contractors, technical advisors and major stakeholders of the sector, worldwide. He holds a PhD in electrical engineering and control systems. Aris is the Owner of SKPLUS Engineering company.

Ioanna Souka is currently working at The Green Tank, a think tank based in Athens, aiming to provide policy solutions for a sustainable future. She specializes in the Energy sector, focusing on the decarbonization of the electricity production system, but also the industry. Another area she is working on is the energy communities and the self-production projects, as it is important to ensure that the energy transition will be also just. She is a member of working groups in European networks of organizations, collaborating for proposing policy solutions at European and national level towards a clean energy system, away from fossil fuels. In her career she has been also working on the development of software for demand forecasting, team management as well as technical support and automation of processes. She graduated from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Aristotle University Thessaloniki, specializing in the field of Energy. During her internships at the University of Denmark (DTU) and CERTH, but also her thesis, she worked on the analysis and visualization of domestic energy consumption, monitoring of solar panels production and district heating systems.

Stavros Skarlis is a Research Senior Associate at Aurora Southeastern Europe, specialised in the power markets of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. Since July 2023, he leads the Aurora’s flexibility market subscription services in Southeastern Europe. Before joining Aurora in 2022, Stavros spent more than 12 years in the automotive sector, where he acted as a Senior Engineering Consultant and Project Manager in the field of exhaust aftertreatment technologies for Diesel internal combustion engines. Stavros holds a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in internal combustion engines and exhaust aftertreatment systems. Since 2013, he holds a PhD degree in Selective Catalytic Reduction technology for Diesel engines. He has co-authored numerous peer-to-peer reviewed publications in journals, conferences, and books.

George Roulias was born in Athens, Greece and started working in his family business making confectionary products in Greece, Africa and Middle East. In early 2000 he left the family business to form a JV with Virgin Entertainment Group UK where he served as a Managing Director for nearly a decade, from1999 to 2009. In 2009 he decided to make a swift to his career and move to Renewable Energy Sector at the time European and Greek solar markets began to explode. He participated as Business Development Director in Inet Energy SA a Greek EPC company until 2011. He also founded his third company, Glensol Energy Ltd an independent provider of renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions for public and private sector based in Greece and operating in EMEA region. The company has built its presence in South East Europe with a proven track record of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Greece, Cyprus and Romania. The company is expanding its activities in Middle East and Africa through a network of local partners. The boundless potential of Renewable Energy exploitation and the preservation of sustainable development have become the cornerstones of his abiding interests.

With over 17 years of experience spanning energy, startups, and business operations, I have honed my expertise in driving organizational success and innovation. I have spent over a decade as a Chief Operating Officer (COO) across diverse industries, complemented by more than 6 years in the Cannabis sector. My entrepreneurial ventures span energy and constructions, demonstrating a proven ability to lead, scale operations, and deliver results. I have an MSc. In Energy, Trade & Finance, Meng. Mechanical Engineering, BEng. Mechanical Engineering.

Evans is Partner and Head of Energy, Sustainability & Infrastructure (ESI) at Koutalidis Law Firm. He has a wide contentious and non-contentious energy practice, focusing predominantly on renewable energy and has more than 19 years of experience dealing with Energy & Infrastructure matters. He regularly represents multinational green energy developers, investors, EPC contractors, operators, off-takers, and financiers on matters relating to project acquisition, development, financing, construction, operation, and sale of energy. Evans also has significant experience in energy- and infrastructure-related international arbitrations. Evans holds an LL.M. from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Athens with Summa Cum Laude. In addition to his practice, Evans regularly lectures lawyers on contract drafting, EPC contracts, and legal issues concerning energy-related transactions. Evans is recognized by Chambers for his “deep knowledge of the Greek energy sector” and “complex problem-solving”, with some clients highlighting that he “considers both legal and commercial aspects of projects” and that he “thinks out of the box.”

Mr Petsinis is currently working as Director of Market & Network Regulation in the Greek Transmission System Operator (ADMIE or IPTO). He has a leading role in the re-organization and the structural reforms of the Greek electricity market towards the adoption of the European Electricity Target Model. He is leading the market design and the restructuring of the operation of the TSO mainly focusing on balancing, ancillary services, and capacity mechanisms. The integration of RES, Storage and Demand Response in the Greek electricity market is another focus area. Mr Petsinisi is also involved in the design of the internal market for electricity in Europe participating in the Market Committee and other relevant groups of ENTSOe. Before joining the Greek TSO, he was working in the Commercial Division of Attiki Gas Supply Company (EPA Attikis), as a Business Development & Strategic Planning senior analyst identifying opportunities, designing tariff policy, developing and monitoring the Business Plan and Key Performance Indicators, and reporting to the Management Team and Shareholders. Finally, since 2002 he has worked as a consultant with expertise in business plans, techno-economic studies, proposals for government subsidies and engineering studies.

Edwin founded Solarplaza company in 2004. He is a senior PV expert and started in the photovoltaic solar energy business in 1994. He has experience as a solar energy consultant and project developer in more than 200 PV projects. Edwin holds a Master’s degree in Chemical engineering and previously worked in the Chemical industry before starting his first consultancy company in PV in 1994.