Industry heavyweights booked to give keynotes at Electrify Europe
Speakers will give expert insights into Europe’s evolving power sector
Vienna, Austria, XX April 2018, Electrify Europe, Europe’s leading conference and exhibition for the new digitalizing power sector, has unveiled its first keynote speakers.
Laszlo Varro, Chief Economist at the International Energy Agency, Steve Martin, Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at GE Power International, Dr. Helmar Rendez, Chairman of the Board at eastern Germany’s largest energy supplier, LEAG, and Jo-Jo Hubbard, co-founder and COO of London-based energy tech firm, Electron, will present their keynotes over the three days of the event, at a time of unprecedented change in Europe’s power sector.
The speeches will reflect the focus of this year’s show – facilitating collaboration, innovation and decarbonization through digitalization of the electricity sector. Further keynote speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
Nigel Blackaby, Conference Director at Electrify Europe, says: “These keynote speakers will deliver contrasting but insightful viewpoints on the opportunities and challenges presented by the four trends transforming power: digitalization, decarbonization, decentralisation and electrification.
“Varro is well known for his thought-provoking statistical and analytical examination of trends in the energy sector and really brings to life the research done by him and his his colleagues at the IEA. Rendez will offer a unique viewpoint from a group invested in legacy assets whose role in the European energy mix is changing . Hubbard is a real technology expert and will have informed opinions on the application of blockchain in an energy context. Martin’s digital expertise mean he can provide real insight into the value this technology can bring to customers.
“Building on POWER-GEN Europe’s 25 years as an reputable and highly-valued event in the power sector, Electrify Europe represents a fresh new focus that addresses key issues in a rapidly-evolving market. These keynote sessions will give all attendees the opportunity to gain exclusive insights from the energy industry’s most highly-respected experts – and learn how to respond to a period of radical change in the power sector.”
Hubbard says: "Europe seems to be leading a lot of thinking about the decentralization of energy generation and trading models. We are looking forward to sharing perspectives at Electrify Europe this year and piecing together this new puzzle in collaboration."
Rendez says: “Disruptions have already impacted the traditional energy value chain in Europe. Hence we will see new phalanxes of cooperation between well-rooted industries.
“Electrify Europe is an excellent trigger to initialise cross-industry collaborations covering multiple topics, attendees and objectives from different branches, such as energy, engineering, renewables or mobility.”
Electrify Europe will take place in Messe Wien, Vienna between 19-21 June. To register, go to: http://www.electrify-europe.com/en_GB/register.html
-ENDS-
Keynote bios
Laszlo Varro
Laszlo Varro is the Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency. He leads the Economics and Investment Office, which is responsible for providing energy economics insights for the policy and energy security analysis of the IEA. He oversees the comprehensive coverage of investment in the energy sector and he leads the Energy Business Council, the IEA’s main engagement platform with the private sector.
Until 2016 Laszlo held the position of Head of Gas, Coal and Power Markets at the IEA. Until 2011 Laszlo was the Director for Strategy Development at MOL Group, a publicly-quoted oil and gas independent. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Cambridge and Corvinus University of Budapest.
Steven Martin
As Vice President and Chief Digital Officer for GE Power, Steven Martin is responsible for leading and advancing the business’s digital industrial strategy. This includes the development of product, service and solution roadmaps, and designing new customer experiences and business models.
Prior to joining GE, Steven spent fourteen years at Microsoft and was most recently the general manager and chief data scientist for Azure. In this role, Steven was responsible for global operations, customer acquisition and billing, analytics and data science, as well as the underlying data platform for services management.
Dr Helmar Rendez
Dr. Helmar Rendez is heading the Management Board of Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG and Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG (LEAG). He has been a member of the joint Management Board of Vattenfall Europe Mining AG and Vattenfall Europe Generation AG since 2015.
He has had various senior management positions in the energy industry including: Chairman of the Board of Stromnetz Berlin GmbH, Stromnetz Hamburg GmbH and Vattenfall Europe Netzservice GmbH as well as Head of Business Unit 'Distribution' of the Vattenfall Group (2007-2014), and Head of Corporate Development of VEAG Vereinigte Energie-werke AG (1998-2001).
He began his career in 1988 for Zentrum für Logistik und Unternehmensplanung GmbH after graduating with a degree in economics from the TU Berlin.
Jo-Jo Hubbard
Joanna Hubbard is the co-founder and COO of Electron, a London based energy tech firm, and a thought leader on the topic of digital transformation in the energy sector. She is a frequent key note speaker at energy and technology events, sits on advisory boards for several UK utilities on digital transformation and community trading models and writes for national newspapers on these topics.
Joanna started her energy career in the early days of the renewable build-out on the asset financing side, at merchant bank Augusta & Co. After this, she moved to international strategy consultancy firm McKinsey & Co, where she focused on digital transformation.
Her enthusiasm for blockchain technology in an energy context stems from its ability to explode the long entrenched, structural trade-offs made by global electricity markets. Blockchain technology enables the coordination of millions of assets and billions of transactive devices, without necessitating a vertically integrated monopoly utility, thus enabling competition and innovation right down the edge of the grid.
About Electrify Europe
Brought to you by POWER-GEN and DistribuTECH, the leading global series of power generation, transmission and distribution events, Electrify Europe is set to become Europe’s largest electricity market hub, promoting collaboration, innovation and business growth for the new digitalised, decarbonised electricity sector. Held in Vienna, Austria, between 19-21 June 2018, Electrify Europe is the first event uniting stakeholders from across the electricity supply chain to share insights and develop solutions for the next generation of industry issues. For more information, please visit http://www.electrify-europe.com.
About PennWell Corporation
PennWell Corporation is a business-to-business events, media, and marketing services company producing 150 print and online magazines and newsletters, 40 conferences and exhibitions around the world, plus an extensive offering of books, maps, websites, research products, digital media, and database services. For further information please visit www.pennwell.com.
Media contact:
Tamsin Jackson
Tel: +44 (0) 207 242 8867
Email: pennwell@aspectuspr.com