Speakers Profiles
Learn more about the speakers ans experts that will contribute to the agenda of the H2 Forum 2023
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Nils Aldag
CEO, Sunfire GmbH
Nils Aldag is co-founder of Sunfire, a leading global electrolysis company. In 2020, he was appointed by the European Commission to the CEO group of the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance. Since 2021, Nils Aldag also represents the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition as its Vice Chairman.
Marco Alverà
CEO, TES-H2
Marco Alverà has more than 20 years of experience in energy companies. He is the author of The Hydrogen Revolution. He began his career at Goldman Sachs before starting and selling a telecom company, and then joining Enel, one of the world’s largest green electricity companies. He subsequently worked for Eni, the oil and gas major, for over 10 years in senior positions, and from 2016 to 2022 he was CEO of Snam, which Marco positioned as an international leader in green gas and green gas infrastructure. Since 2017 he has been non-executive director of S&P Global, where he is also chair of the Finance Committee.
Ulrika Andersson
Executive Vice President BA Specialty Polyols & Solutions, Perstorp Group
Dr. Christiane Averbeck
Managing Director, Climate Alliance Germany e.V.
Dr. Christiane Averbeck is Managing Director of the Climate Alliance Germany, the broad civil society alliance for climate protection in Germany. Previously, Dr. Averbeck worked in development cooperation projects in Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe, conducted research about pollution in the North Sea, supported the Federal Government’s Council for Sustainable Development and engaged in a training program called Education for Sustainable Development. She holds a PhD in Biology.
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Lars Baumgürtel
CEO, ZINQ Group
Tobias Braun
Global Business Developer, DEHN SE
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Nicole Dreyer-Langlet
Vice-President Research & Technology Germany and Member of the Board of Mangement, Airbus Operations GmbH
From past responsibilities ranging from Engineering to Procurement, today Nicole Dreyer-Langlet is responsible for representing Airbus' Research & Technology domain in Germany. As such, she is carrying the Airbus brand and the exciting achievements especially in the field of sustainability to our industry and research partners, academics as well as government and political representatives. In addition to this wide ranging role, Nicole is member of the board of management for Airbus Operations GmbH and amongst others responsible for Engineering and R&T topics.
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Claes Fredriksson
Founder & CEO, Liquid Wind
Mr Fredriksson is a visionary leader with extensive international experience and a solid track record in management, marketing, business development and sales. He established Liquid Wind AB in May 2017 and is currently the majority owner and CEO of the company. He is also the owner FreeThem Generation, a company offering services in the renewable energy space. FreeThem Generation has experience from working with projects related to Hydrogen & Fuel Cells, Energy Storage, EV Charging, Bioenergy, District Energy, Geo Exchange, Solar and Ocean Energy. Fredriksson holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and trained as a Marine Engineer in the Royal Swedish Navy. His wealth of experience includes working with multinational corporations, as well as with innovative start-up companies in Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, Hungary, and Hong Kong.
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Catherine Gras
Catherine Gras, CEO Storengy UK & Germany, Storengy Germany GmbH
Catherine Gras has worked in the ENGIE Group for more than 20 years. She has held various functions in Mergers & Acquisitions and management positions in gas supply, energy management, trading and gas storage. Catherine Gras is the CEO of Storengy UK and Germany. Storengy is a fully owned subsidiary of ENGIE.
Catherine Gras holds a Master's degree from the French ESSEC Business School. Before joining ENGIE, she had worked for a private equity fund and KPMG.
Matthieu Guesné
CEO, Lhyfe GmbH
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Volker Hasenberg
Deputy Head of International Hydrogen Strategy, Daimler Truck AG
Volker Hasenberg is Deputy Head of Department Regulatory Strategy and International Hydrogen Strategy at Daimler Truck AG. He focus’ on the regulatory frameworks for hydrogen trucks and hydrogen infrastructure and represents Daimler Trucks in associations and exchanges with authorities and politicians. Prio to this he was CO2 Strategy Manager focussing on CO2 fleet regulations for trucks in Europe and other markets. He brings over 18 years of experience in environmental, climate and energy issues especially in the automotive and mobility sector. Before joining Daimler 2015 Volker was six years Senior Consultant at THINKSTEP AG.
Elena Hof
Manager Public Affairs, JET H2 Energy Germany GmbH
Hof has a Master's degree in Raw Materials Management. She spent 5 years (2017 - 2022) at NOW GmbH as Programme Manager and later Programme Leader of the National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology as well as Team Leader Hydrogen Infrastructure. From October 2019 to September 2022 Hof was voluntary head of the DIN working group "Hydrogen Technologies". Since October 2022 Hof joined the Team of JET H2 Energy to drive the expansion of hydrogen refueling infrastructure in Germany, Denmark and Austria.
Peter Michael Holzapfel
Senior Consultant Hydrogen Market, Siemens AG
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Stefano Innocenzi
Senior Vice President Sustainable Energy Systems, Siemens Energy
Stefano Innocenzi is Senior Vice President of Sustainable Energy Systems at Siemens Energy to drive forward the green hydrogen and power-to-x business. He joined Siemens Energy in September 2021. Before joining Siemens Energy, Stefano held several senior management positions at a large industrial gas and engineering company in Germany, Singapore and Shanghai, leading the development and delivery of the company large investments as well as the EPC business in APAC. Stefano holds a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Rome, Italy as well as a Master’s degree in Business Administration from St. Gallen, Switzerland.
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Dr. Nadine Kanu
Member of the Board, Federal Association of Wind Energy & Federal Association of Renewable Energies
Dr. Timm Kehler
Board of Directors, Zukunft Gas
Dr Timm Kehler has been serving as Chairman and CEO of Germany’s leading gas ad-vocacy group “Zukunft Gas”. Furthermore he was appointed President at NGVA Europe in September 2020. Previously, Kehler held various management positions at the BMW Group over a time period of 12 years. In 2007, he was nominated "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum.
Dr. Urban Keussen
CTO, EWE AG
Dr. Urban Keussen is member of the board of EWE AG since March 2018. Before joining EWE, he was Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of the transmission system operator TenneT Holding B.V. and CEO of TenneT TSO GmbH from 2014. His career has been shaped by further management positions in the E.ON Group and Preussen Elektra.
Maira Kusch
Head of Office, World Energy Council
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Markus Lesser
CEO, PNE AG
Mr. Markus Lesser, born 1964 in Düsseldorf, can look back on 30 years of experience in the international energy sector. He has been working successfully for various companies in the renewable energies sector since 2000. He worked as the Managing Director and Sales Director of Nordex AG. Subsequently, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Renergys Group AG in Zurich, Switzerland. Finally, Mr. Lesser worked on the management of Epuron GmbH. On May 1, 2011, he became COO of PNE AG and was in charge of operations and project development. Since May 26, 2016 Markus Lesser is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PNE AG.
Gilles Le Van
Vice President Large Industries and Energy Transition Central Europe, Air Liquide
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Dirk Manske
Head of Regulatory Affairs and Energy Policy, Ontras Gastransport GmbH
Dr. Gerrit Marx
CEO, Iveco Group
Gerrit Marx has more than 20 years of experience in various management positions with increasing responsibility. Gerrit Marx has a degree in mechanical engineering and a degree in business administration from RWTH Aachen University, as well as a doctorate in economics from the University of Cologne. Gerrit Marx joined CNH Industrial in January 2019 as President of Commercial and Specialty Vehicles. Since the spin-off from CNH Industrial on January 1, 2022, Gerrit Marx has been Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Iveco Group.
Andreas Möller
Vice President Carbon Management & Hydrogen, Wintershall Dea
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Ulrik Olbjørn
Project Director for Clean Hydrogen to Europe, Equinor ASA
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André Panné
Managing Director, RODIAS GmbH
André Panné has over 25 years of experience and leadership responsibility in the ICT industry as an interim manager and managing director. His focus is on business development, digital transformation, strategy development and restructuring. He has worked for Apple and BenQ Mobile, for Andersen Consulting (Accenture), gedas and Proxicom, as well as for Deutsche Telekom AG and the global association GSMA.
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Ana Quelhas
Managing Director for Hydrogen, EDP Renewables
Ana Quelhas is the Managing Director for Hydrogen at EDPR, leading the Group’s strategy on the renewable hydrogen business. Prior to that, Ana was the Head of Energy Planning at EDP, being responsible for supporting the Executive Board of Directors in the decision making processes, contributing with a long term perspective of the energy sector and an integrated vision of the company across businesses (renewables, conventional electricity generation, retail and distribution) and geographies (mainly Europe, US and Brazil). Before joining EDP, Ana worked in the Directorate-General for Research of the European Commission, in Brussels, supporting the development of the strategic research agenda in the field of energy. Prior to that, she was at the California Independent System Operator providing strategic energy consultancy to the wholesale power market and grid operator in the State of California. Ana holds a PhD with distinction in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University. She also holds a master’s degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Engineering from the same university, being graduated from the University of Porto with a degree in Electrical Engineering.
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Maria Eugenia Ramirez
Director of Sustainability and Decarbonization, Emerson
Dr. Carsten Rolle
Head of Department Energy and Climate Policy, The Federation of German Industries (BDI)
Dr. Carsten Rolle has been Head of the Department of Energy and Climate Policy at the Federation of German Industries (BDI) in Berlin since 2013. He has been secretary general of the German Member Committee of the World Energy Council since 2005. He studied economics at the universities of Bonn and Münster, as well as Trinity College, Dublin. In 2000, he received his doctorate and was awarded the August Lösch Prize for outstanding academic research in the field of Regional Science. He began his career at the Federation of German Industries in 2001.
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Caroline Stancell
General Manager, Hydrogen for Mobility - Europe & Africa, Air Products
Caroline Stancell is the General Manager for Air Products Hydrogen for Mobility business, Europe and Africa. She has regional responsibility for the company’s Hydrogen for Mobility business in the Europe and Africa Region, driving growth, profitability and operational excellence. Ms Stancell joined Air Products Career Development Programme after completing her university education. Over her career she has held sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility working in all sectors of the industrial gas business.
Jochen Steinbauer
Platform Director Hydrogen Trains, Siemens Mobility GmbH
Jochen Steinbauer started working for Siemens Mobility GmbH in 2012 as the Senior Project Manager Education City Project Qatar, when the first tram with onboard energy storage system has been developed. Since today, he is Director platform and business development, responsible for the development of hydrogen technologies for regional trains.
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Dr. Christoph von dem Bussche
Managing Director, GASCADE Gastransport GmbH
Christoph von dem Bussche is Managing Director of the German transmission system operators GASCADE Gastransport GmbH and NEL Gastransport GmbH, which connect Germany with five neighboring countries via their pipelines. GASCADE plans to convert parts of its large-scale transmission network to hydrogen transport and is involved in the implementation of several onshore and offshore hydrogen infrastructure projects. Since 2020, von dem Bussche has been a member of the board of the AquaVentus Förderverein, which aims to make large quantities of hydrogen produced offshore available to the German and European hydrogen market via offshore pipeline.
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Dr. Axel Wietfeld
CEO, Uniper Hydrogen GmbH
Dr Axel Wietfeld serves as CEO of Uniper Hydrogen and oversees Uniper’s global Business Line Hydrogen in order to develop commercial supply and trading deals as well as production assets for hydrogen and its derivatives. Axel joined Uniper (formerly E.ON) in 2002 and held a number of executive positions in its gas supply/LNG and renewables business in Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary and South Africa. In his recent position as Managing Director of Uniper Energy Storage, Axel was leading one of Europe’s largest gas storage operators. Axel holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering & Management and a PhD in Business Economics.
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Müslüm Yakisan
President D-A-C-H Region, Alstom
Müslüm Yakisan is the President of the Region DACH in the Alstom Leadership Team since February 2021. He was Senior Vice President Middle East-Africa and Western & Central Asia at Alstom since January 2020. In this function, he was a member of the Alstom Executive Committee. Prior to joining Alstom, Müslüm had a long and successful career in a variety of roles at Siemens.
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Alexandrina Boyanova
Head of the Climate Office, European Investment Bank
Alexandrina Boyanova is a professional banker with over 25 years of experience, of which over 16 years at the European Investment Bank (EIB). She is currently heading the Climate Office in EIB’s Operations (Front Office) Directorate, having previously covered the energy and banking sectors in Poland, as well as South-East Europe. Her current areas of responsibility include the design and operationalisation of EIB’s climate-related policies (including in the energy sector), as well as more generally - the implementation of EIB Group’s Climate Bank Roadmap, new (green) product development and EU Taxonomy alignment.
Kristina Haverkamp
Dr. Christoph Noeres
Head of Green Hydrogen, thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA
Christoph has more than 20 years’ experience in chemical engineering, five of which in R&D and more than 15 years in sales and execution of EPC projects within thyssenkrupp. From 2015 to 2016, he was Chief Operations Director (COO) of thyssenkrupp nucera in Japan (formerly thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers), then appointed Managing Director and Representative Director of Japan in 2016. Since the beginning of 2020, he is responsible for the green hydrogen business at the thyssenkrupp nucera headquarters in Dortmund.
Filip Smeets
CCO, Nel Hydrogen
Filip Smeets joined Nel Hydrogen in February 2020. Mr. Smeets has been in the electrolyser industry for over a decade. Prior to his current appointment at Nel Hydrogen Mr. Smeets was Managing Director at Hydrogenics in Belgium where he was responsible for Hydrogenics’ electrolyser activities. Prior to that he held senior positions in several global industrial companies such as Cabot Corporation and Cytec Industries. Mr. Smeets holds a Master degree in Chemis-try from the University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Jean Louis Kindler
CEO, Ways2H
Jean-Louis Kindler is CEO of Ways2H, a leading commercial provider of Waste-to-Hydrogen solutions for mobility and grid applications. Jean-Louis and his team are developing solutions and projects that transform the world’s worst waste - MSW, plastics, medical refuse - into clean energy and fuel.
A 30-year veteran of the cleantech industry with work experience in Europe, Asia and North America, Jean-Louis led the development of various technologies including electrochemical water treatment, bio-based waste-to-energy as well as fuel cell components manufacturing.
Helge-Jürgen Beil
Vice President Hydrogen Germany, Statkraft Markets GmbH
Managing Director, Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), German Energy Agency
Dr. Stefan Kaufmann
Former Innovation Commissioner for Green Hydrogen at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Michael Meister
COO, H-TEC SYSTEMS GmbH
Michael Meister has been Chief Operating Officer (COO) at H-TEC SYSTEMS since October 2022. In this role, he is responsible for purchasing, production stack and electrolyzer, as well as quality. Michael Meister started his professional career with McKinsey & Company at consulting. During the last seven years he held several management positions at BMW. In addition to setting up a new production plant in Mexico, he was responsible for the assembly of the BMW i3 as well as steering & control of the painted body (press shop, body shop, paint shop) at the site in Leipzig.
Christian Pho Duc
Chief Technology Officer, Smartenergy Group AG
Christian Pho Duc is the CTO of Smartenergy Group AG and the Vice Chair of the Renewable Hydrogen Workstream at Solar Power Europe. He graduated in Physics at Munich University and in Engineering and Physics at Cambridge University. Christian has accumulated 25 years working and management experience in Semiconductors, Electric Mobility, Renewable Energies and Hydrogen.
Wayne-Daniel Kern
Vice President Commercial Responsibility Fuel Cells (SOFC), Robert Bosch GmbH, Member of the Board Hydrogen Europe
In January 2019, Wayne-Daniel Kern co-founded the SOFC program as Vice President and holds the commercial responsibility within the project. Before this he was one of the main drivers creating this SOFC program as part of the central strategy department since 2017. In addition to his work at Bosch, Wayne-Daniel Kern has been a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer at Hydrogen Europe since June 2022. He has been at Bosch since 2006 - starting in the Corporate Department for Financial Treasury, afterwards he became Executive Assistant to the Board of Management Automotive Aftermarket.
Ellen van der Veer
Senior Strategic Advisor Energy Transition, Port of Amsterdam
Christoph von dem Bussche is Managing Director of the German transmission system operators GASCADE Gastransport GmbH and NEL Gastransport GmbH, which connect Germany with five neighboring countries via their pipelines. GASCADE plans to convert parts of its large-scale transmission network to hydrogen transport and is involved in the implementation of several onshore and offshore hydrogen infrastructure projects. Since 2020, von dem Bussche has been a member of the board of the AquaVentus Förderverein, which aims to make large quantities of hydrogen produced offshore available to the German and European hydrogen market via offshore pipeline.
Andreas Schierenbeck
Co-Founder and Board Member, HH2E AG
Experienced CEO skilled in strategic transformations within Energy, Urban Mobility, and Automation sectors. Led Uniper, Germany's 3rd largest utility, to develop renewable energy solutions and aim for carbon-neutrality by 2035. Former CEO of thyssenkrupp Elevator, where he spearheaded innovation and increased value, culminating in a €17.2B sale. Previous roles include President/CEO of Siemens Building Technologies (US) and SVP in Siemens' utility sector (Switzerland). Now driving 100% renewable energy at HH2E with plans for multi-GW green hydrogen production by 2030.
Farhanja Wahabzada
Team Lead, GIZ - Business Alliance on Green Hydrogen
Since 2021 Farhanja Wahabzada leads the "Green Hydrogen Business Alliance" at GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development contributing to a socio-ecological economic transformation in partner countries. Before, she was advising for five years the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. In her function as Head of the German-Moroccan Energy Partnership she supported the development of the Moroccan Green Hydrogen Strategy. Farhanja Wahabzada holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Philipps University in Marburg.
Erik Zindel
VP Hydrogen & Decarbonization Strategy, Siemens Energy
Erik Zindel is VP for Hydrogen & Decarbonization Strategy. In this role he is responsible for hydrogen activities within the “Gas Service” Business Area, leading the initiative for use of hydrogen and green fuels in gas turbines and supporting BD/Sales around the hydrogen value chain. He has been working for Siemens Energy during the last 29 years in Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, South Korea and Mexico in a large variety of positions for both large fossil-fired and renewable power plants as well as for industrial power plant applications. Erik Zindel grew up in Zaragoza/Spain and studied Mechanical Engineering at Darmstadt University.
Nima Pegemanyfar
Head of Hydrogen Business Europe
Nima Pegemanyfar is Head of Hydrogen Business Europe of Siemens Energy since October 2022. Before, he has been Senior Vice President, Small Steam Turbines of Siemens Energy for three years. Prior to his career at Siemens Energy, he had various roles in Power Generation Sales and Project Management and worked for Rolls-Royce as Gas Turbine R&D Engineer.
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis
CEO, Hydrogen Europe
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis has been working at Hydrogen Europe since 2016. He currently holds the position of CEO of the association. He previously covered roles at the Foreign Office of Germany, at Infineon Technologies, and was Member of the European Parliament (2004-2014) inter alia in the ITRE Committee, where he could contribute to lay the cornerstone for the Joint Undertaking on hydrogen and fuel cells. Jorgo was awarded Hydrogen Person of the Year at the World Hydrogen Awards 2022, “as a major player promoting hydrogen in Europe and world-wide, accelerating collaboration and industry development”.
Frederike Schnalke
Regional Product Marketing Manager, Dräger Safety A & Co. KGaA
Frederike Schnalke has been working at Dräger Safety in Regional Product Marketing since 2019. She has several years of experience in business areas related to technology and digital solutions. In recent years she has focused on the energy transition especially on the hydrogen economy from the perspective of safety technologies. She is an expert in plant safety as well as gas and flame detection. In this regard, she strategically supports our German sales organization with application and technical product knowledge and manages the portfolio of fixed gas detection systems.
Thekla von Bülow
Co-Head of Advisory, Central Europe, Aurora Energy Research
Thekla von Bülow is Co-Head of Advisory Central Europe, at Aurora Energy Research, an energy market analytics and consulting company. Thekla heads up Aurora's global Advisory work on green power procurement and hydrogen for continental Europe. She is providing market advisory support to utilities, financial and strategic investors and industrial players on activities in the European power and hydrogen markets. Before joining Aurora, Thekla worked for KPMG Deal Advisory. She is an Economist by training.
Dr. Reihaneh Zohourian
Senior R&D Project Manager, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG