5th Annual Floating Solar PV Forum

Chas is Operations Director at Peritus International, a specialist subsea engineering consultancy. He has experience with a wide range of subsea cable projects covering both offshore wind and oil and gas. He is also experienced in subsea pipeline design, having been involved in the design of some of the world’s deepest pipelines at over 3000m.  He holds a Ph.D in Materials Science and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the institute of Marine Engineers.

INNOSEA is a professional services firm dedicated to provide technical support during the engineering phases of marine renewable energy technologies. As a scientific independent actor, the company delivers innovative solutions for the engineering of offshore technologies and systems for its clients and designers.

Currently, with the position of General Manager at SolarisFloat, Portuguese company (part of jp.group), that with its PROTEVS solution, emerge from the need to create new and innovative technologic solutions for energy purposes, within the Floating Solar Photovoltaic markets.

Additionally, complements with the position of managing the Operations unit at jp.ik, company dedicated to the design and implementation of Large Scale Educational worldwide projects (with a pioneer project with a global reference point for ICT-based education) and MBA invited teacher at ISAG European Business School.

More than 20 years of experience in the Business and Operations Management, Software Development Management and IT industry performing different roles, with an extensive knowledge in Program and Project Management (IT Engineering, Software, Logistics and Operations).

Strong background and experience in client relationship and customer program/project management (Project Life Cycle Management) in national and international large-scale operations.

Andrés is CEO of ISIGENERE, the pioneering company in floating solar systems since 2008 when their first floating solar system was installed in Alicante (Spain). Andrés is leading the growth of the company in utility scale and self-consumption projects while continuing innovating by creating new and better versions of ISIFLOATING, its floating solar system, recognized in the industry for its high-quality, durability, safety, adaptability and total low cost of ownership.

Before ISIGENERE Andrés worked in Aquanima, a procurement services company owned by Santander Bank, the largest Eurozone bank at its time, where he led the growth of the company from 1 country and managing 80 million euros, to 11 countries and 8000 million euros.

Previous to Santander, he worked in the consultancy McKinsey & Company where he advised clients in strategy and technology projects.

Andrés studied Computer Science and holds an MBA by the Kellogg Graduate School of Business in USA.

Charles Gery joined Seaflex in 2018 as the Global Sales Manager for marina applications. Currently, as Director of Global FPV Business Development, Charles focuses on FPV business development and technical project management. Charles is a contributing member to a number of FPV publications including: SERIS FPV Handbook for Practitioners, FRESHER EU Research project, and DNV GL JIP FPV Recommended Practices Guide. Although Charles currently lives in Sweden with his wife and daughter, 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

Polina is a passionate environmental entrepreneur, with two master’s degrees in chemistry and renewable energy (ocean) and as well a mentor in Women in Tech.

As an active traveler (68 countries) and scuba-diver (100 m), Polina saw many beautiful places ruined by negative anthropogenic impacts and based on her personal experience and internal feelings, she decided to change her career's path from "black" side of fossil fuel to "green" side of renewable energy. After a successful 14-year career in the oil and gas industry (ex-Schlumberger), Polina decided to make a fundamental career change and to do something useful for the planet. Both her trainings and vast working experience led her to found HelioRec. HelioRec is an innovative startup in the field of floating solar technologies.

Polina’s international awards:

· Ocean Tribute 2022, Germany/Monaco;

· Women in GreenTech, France;

· National Ecological Award by Vernadsky, Russia;

· The most innovative solar solution, France;

· The best project ISES, Germany.

· Recycling and waste management award by Build-Review, UK, 2020.

Sacha is an experienced advisor and research coordinator at Deltares with demonstrated history of working in the research industry. Sustainable energy is a current theme in the Deltares research strategy. Sacha is currently undertaking a research project trying to answer the questions: how do solar parks on water affect the functioning of the water system and how does it affect the quality of water and water-related nature? Knowledge of this, contained in tools and knowledge rules, helps the water manager to set requirements in a permit and provides companies with tools for the design of a sustainable park with minimal ecological impact. This research is done is strong cooperation with experts from other knowledge institutes, governments, private companies and NGOs.

Jürgen Soete, Manager Equans Solar Technics Belgium

Master Economic Sciences

Started in banking sector, working 11 years in SME financing department and later working in  Project financing division for renewables

12 years working as developer, investor  and financial consultant for renewable energy projects (Wind, biomass and solar) in many West- and East European countries, South-Africa and Namibia.

Since 2017 working as EPC-contractor for PV projects, from small rooftops to large scaled ground mounted projects.  

Experienced scientist working with PV at IFE since 2003 and Adjoint Professor in Solar Cell Technology at the University of Oslo (UiO), where he have developed and held courses and supervised since 2004. Long track record of project development and management, including 13 consecutive years of experience directing large, national Research Centers. Currently Center Director of the Research Center for Sustainable Solar Cell Technology (FME SUSOLTECH). Group leader of Utility-scale PV power plants at the Department of Solar Power Systems, IFE. Educated as a PhD in Physics focussing on nanostructured silicon materials for advanced optoelectronic devices at the University of Oslo (UiO). Most passionate about industry-near R&D and innovation.

Alexandre is a Senior Associate at Aurora Energy Research. With 5 years' experience in the energy sector, he is leading the French power market modelling and analysis. Formerly expert at Elia System Operator in the European electricity market department.

Alexandre holds two master's degrees, one electrical engineer degree from the Université of Liège, and one general management degree from the Vlerick Business school.

Konstantin is a research assistant at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, the largest solar research institute in Europe. He did his BSc. in Environmental Sciences and MSc. in Hydrology at the University of Freiburg. Since joining Fraunhofer ISE, he has been working almost exclusively on Floating PV, conducting GIS-based potential analyses and hydrological investigations related to Floating PV. Here, the impact of the technology on water ecology, thermal stratification and mixing is investigated. He was also working on the application for the largest FPV research project in Germany, which was successfully launched last month.

Mr. Vozza is a seasoned business development and strategy leader with nearly 2 decades of top tier international experience from the energy industry. Following his recent appointment as SolarDuck´s Chief Commercial Officer, his mission is to electrify the world with offshore floating solar.

Dr Poku is a Senior Vice President at Scatec ASA based in Nairobi, Kenya where he is responsibility for developing hydropower projects across Africa for Scatec ASA. He is particularly focused on hybridisation opportunities between solar, hydro and batteries and responsible incorporating Floating PV technology into Scatec’s global activities. He has many years of energy experienced and has worked in multiple countries in Europe, Africa and SE Asia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Bristol, UK, a PhD in healthcare from the University of Cranfield, UK and a MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management, NL.

Yuki Esser is a business and innovation advisor at the Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC). As such, she also leads the environmental impact analysis of offshore renewables like floating solar technologies and the stakeholder engagement work package of the EU-SCORES project. She has a strong analytical background through her bioinformatics study and loves to sail the North Sea.

Anna Heimsath (female), is head of the department "Analysis of Modules and PV Power Plants" at Fraunhofer ISE. In the department, more than 70 scientists, technicians and students conduct research on novel applications and improved operation of PV technologies. Anna Heimsath has been researching the further development of solar technologies for more than 15 years. She studied production engineering at the University of Bremen and later earned her doctorate in physics, supported by scholarships from the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Fraunhofer TALENTA programme. She has many years’ experience in the acquisition and management of national (BMWK, BMBF) and international research projects (e.g. EU projects, bilateral projects with China and India) as well as participation in standardisation committees. She leads the IEA PVPS Task 13 Subtask 2 performance and durability of PV applications, including activities on floating pv, agrivoltaics, bifacial+tracker and digitalization.

Jan Skjoldhammer - Founder and CEO of Novige AB

Jan is Novige’s founder/leader and the inventor of the unique and triple patented NoviOcean hybrid wave energy concept. Aside from the strategic decision-making and being the face of Novige AB, Jan has been deeply involved in all technical and practical issues related to the development, scaling up, and validation of the NoviOcean technology. His background as an airline captain for several years and as an officer in the Norwegian Air Force, helped him develop management and leadership capabilities.

Jan’s endeavor in the property development business while flying, laid the monetary foundation for Novige AB. He has been recognized as Sweden's Mission Innovation Champion of 2020 as well as Innovator of the Year. In addition, the company has earned the Seal of Excellence from the European Commission and the Propeller Prize from Stena Line

Allard van Hoeken is innovator, entrepreneur and ocean sailor. Allard founded Oceans of Energy in 2016 with the objective to develop, own and operate offshore solar farms. In 2018 Oceans of Energy installed the first offshore solar farm system in the world offshore in high wave seas. The company is operating and extending this system, 15 km offshore, to a 1 MW grid connected project, with the objective to expand to 100-1000 MW offshore solar farms. For 25 years Allard has worked in the offshore oil and gas industry, permanently moored offshore systems and developed a grid connected floating tidal energy system. Allard was elected Engineer of the Year 2015 and received the first Prins Friso Engineers Award.

Even Kvelland is the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Glint Solar, a technology company that is using satellite imagery and machine learning to identify and analyze sites for floating solar installations. Prior to founding Glint Solar, Even worked on various energy related matters through business intelligence, diplomacy and consulting in Norway, East Africa and the United States. He was in 2019 selected as "Future Energy Leader of Tomorrow" by The New York Times and Energy Intelligence. He holds degrees from Macalester College and Columbia University.

Rasa Krutulyte Ørsted /Head of Solar/Energy Transition, Ramboll

Dr Rasa Krutulyte-Ørsted is currently a head of Solar PV in Ramboll, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she is responsible for solar PV business development across Europe and also Asia, North Africa, and Americas.  

Rasa has about 15 years’ work experience in interdisciplinary international Project Management and advisory services in renewable energy business, with combined technical, business, and academic backgrounds. Rasa led many strategic and operational projects focusing on energy markets. Her passion is to support the industry transition from fossils to renewables.

Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Althaus is segment manager for PV power plant services at TÜV Rheinland. As long-time expert in the field of solar energy he represents TÜV Rheinland in various industry associations, presents at expert forums and has contributed to many international industry standards. Based in Cologne for 20 years he has international responsibility and seen many PV installations or factories around the globe. Various past roles include regional management for Indie, Middle East, Africa as well as Germany including service responsibilities for energy storage systems, power electronics and photovoltaic components. From 2011 to 2017 in his role as Director of Global Competence Center PV Modules he coordinated standard development and global service development for TÜV Rheinland.

Mr. Althaus has presented at various conferences on topics such as PV project risk mitigation and PV quality assurance. He is a member in several standardization committees such as IECEE, CENELEC and DKE

I. Meyer, Mott MacDonald, Solar Energy Practice Leader EUNA.

Masters level qualified engineer with experience in conducting technical due diligences and undertaking feasibility studies for photovoltaic (PV) installations and more recently for 325MW of floating PV – hydro plants. Good knowledge of all phases of PV development including PV design, engineering, yield analysis and construction and operation monitoring. Imke currently leads the Solar Practice for Europe and Africa championing the PV technical excellence activities in these regions for Mott MacDonald. Imke is the Based in Brighton, UK

Wim Soppe is Senior Scientist at TNO and has more than 25 years experience in development of solar cells and modules. In the recent years his research is focused on new applications of solar modules. Offshore floating photovoltaics is one of these new domains

William Otto has been educated as a naval architect at the TU Delft with a specialisation in ship hydrodynamics. His main field of expertise is the dynamic behaviour of moored constructions in wind and waves. This expertise has been obtained by performing numerous model test campaigns for, among others, Oil&Gas platforms, floating wind turbines and floating PV. The experimental work has always been supplemented by numerical and mathematical models. All with the ultimate goal of obtaining a clear understanding of why constructions behave like they do.

Pratheeksha R is a Renewable Energy analyst at Rystad Energy. Pratheeksha has over 5 years of experience in the power and renewables global market and her specific focus is in covering solar PV, Wind and Storage market in the European countries. Pratheeksha earned her bachelor’s degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering and Master’s in Electrical Power Systems from the Visvesvaraya Technological University, India

TBA

Jasper Lemmens is a senior consultant for DNV since 2010 with a background in in Applied Physics and Business Administration. In DNV he is an expert on floating solar since 2017 and on a continuous basis he leads and contributes to FPV projects where DNV is appointed as independent technical advisor or consultant. Typical activities are market studies, feasibility studies, technical due diligence, technology qualification and benchmarking, cost assessments, financial model reviews, design reviews, inspections & acceptance reviews.

Djanani Balacoumarane is a Senior Naval architect based in Aberdeen, UK offering engineering consultancy and technical advisory services in floating solar, wind, wave, tidal, Oil and Gas and marine applications. She holds a Master of Engineering in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from Strathclyde University in UK and joined DNV in 2013 after working as a hydrodynamic analyst for floating offshore tidal turbines design and testing. She specializes in the design, integrity and approval of mooring systems and has practical experience in supporting several mooring connections and floater testing operations.

In the last 10 years she has led or contributed to diverse projects involving floating structures feasibility studies, stability, hydrodynamics, motions and operability, risk assessments, mooring failure investigation, technical due diligence, technology qualification, benchmarking, walk to work, marine operations, marine assurance and marine warranty. As part of the DNV group she plays an active role in the development of standards for moorings and has contributed to industry walk to work guidance and the recently published DNV mooring integrity management recommended practice.

Klemens Wegehaupt - enthusiastic engineer, practical pragmatist & passionate improviser - from energy enthusiast to energy expert, has been working for over 10 years in the field of microgrids & renewable energy. He moved from the conservative business of general planning for large power plants, where he was responsible for the design, calculation, and planning of primary and secondary components, to innovation in the field of microgrids & renewables. In this field he is working since 2011 as project engineer & solution architect and takes care of the creation of practical concepts for sustainable energy supply. According to Einstein's principle "If you can't explain something simply, you haven't understood it." he tries to inspire and sensitize people for this topic.

Mr. Deepak Ushadevi is the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Ciel & Terre India. With Ciel & Terre, Mr. Deepak is instrumental in developing the solar floating market and interacting with major Nodal agencies, and developers to provide floating solar guidelines, Knowledge Transfer, and know-how to ensure quality and bankable floating projects in India. To date, under his leadership, a 116 MWp portfolio of floating solar energy has been developed in India (in May 2022) with 3 projects in service and 3 projects under construction. Mr. Deepak is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the field of solar and semiconductors in many capacities as a subject matter expert, technologist, and business unit head. His core expertise is in new commercial initiatives, the introduction of new technology, strategic alignment, and market development. He has been a part of the many new technologies that have been launched globally by various leading companies in the Solar / Semiconductor domain, mainly in the IC Chip processor segment, Solar technology, and floating solar technology. He was a key member of the initial team in the first 300MM wafer fab in Singapore in 2004, the top 3 semiconductor fabs worldwide. He was the lead member for the world's first single thin film junction solar production line in 2008 for the American giant Applied Materials - a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing. He was the Key member in successfully completing FAT for the world’s first thin-film Tandem Junction, technology line in 2008 (Sun Film, Germany). He is part of the first Hydrelio® patented floating technology commissioned in India at CIAL, Cochin in 2019, for Ciel Terre
India. Prior to his stint with Ciel Terre India, he was associated with Waaree energies for new business initiatives and won the first KW project scale floating tender bid in India. During his stint in Tata Power Solar, he spearheaded Asys screen printing technology, Manz Automation robots in Solar cell line CSI -Technology segment & part of 120 MW cell line expansion. During his 7-year stint with Applied Materials, the market leader in Thinfilm equipment globally, he focused on developing/commissioning new single Junction & Tandem Junction think film lines in India, Italy, Germany, and China, Japan, US. He started his career as an Engineer in Chartered Semiconductor Singapore (now Global Foundries)

Rik joined Green Giraffe in 2011 and heads the Utrecht office He has worked on multiple M&A transactions across all renewable energy sectors and enjoys close cooperation with all stakeholders in a transaction. Rik started his career at Green Giraffe working on the minority financing of the Walney offshore wind farm 367 MW, UK) Amongst others, he led the sale of Windvision’s Estinnes onshore wind farm, the largest in Belgium, to CGN 81 MW), the acquisition by Ponooc of a minority stake in turbine manufacturer Lagerwey (the Netherlands), the sale of Windpark Wieringermeer to Nuon /Vattenfall 115 MW, the Netherlands), the funding of Greener ( the Netherlands) and the investment in Hexicon by Aker Offshore Wind ( Sweden) In 2020 he supervised various M&A deals, both buy and sell side, and fundraising on early stage development projects Since 2015 his role as head of the Utrecht office has required his management of the staff compliment of 40 employees, taking on responsibilities for personnel, administrative, and corporate management, all in parallel with his continued advisory work on various transactions. Rik graduated in economics from the Utrecht School of Economics and holds a master’s degree in financial law at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam