Archives: Speakers

Michael has acquired a great deal of experience in managing Engineering, Operational and Service businesses in challenging times of change; from M&A activities, restructuring and closing of operations to business process optimization/transformation and development of new business models. He started his working life in Air Pollution Control technologies for some well reputed OEM companies. These activities were ranging from commissioning, design, sales to contract execution and have earned him a position in the Board of the International Society of Electrostatic Precipitation, which hosts the main and relevant competences in this field worldwide. With joining E.ON in 2003, his insight into the power generation business has been expanded and now also covers the full spectrum of process optimization, operational support and engineering support activities for the energy sector. Rounding off that service provider experience, he joined the operational side of business as Manager of the Power Plant Group West 1, comprising 6 hard-coal fired units with a total installed capacity of approx. 2.200 MW and several industrial steam generators and district heating units. After the spin-off of Uniper from E.ON, Michael moved to the UK based part of the Engineering business area of Uniper as the Managing Director for Uniper Technologies Limited and Director Asset Services of Uniper. With his return to Germany, Michael took the role of CEO of Uniper Anlagenservice GmbH, the Maintenance and Project Company of Uniper. There, his focus next to a substantial restructuring of the company, was on driving the development of integrated business models for strategic maintenance services, connecting traditional skillsets in maintenance for energy systems with state-of-the-art ITsolutions and Big Data technologies. In April 2020, Michael was appointed Director Sales & Product Development for the Uniper Engineering Group, developing and combining Uniper’s technical and commercial expertise into innovative solutions for decarbonizing its customers’ energy needs. Recognizing the need to massively accelerate energy transition, Uniper took the strategic decision end of 2021 to exit the stand-alone engineering service business and to focus resources on the transformation of Unipers’ own and customers’ assets to climate-neutral generation with innovative solutions addressing the increasing complexity of our energy world. With that decision, Michael was appointed with a leading role in this internal transformation as SVP Engineering of Uniper. Additionally, Michael holds a mandate in the Executive Board of VGB PowerTech e.V., the German Association of Power Plant Operators and is a lecturer at the KWS PowerTech Training Centre on APC Technologies. Michael is also a well-received speaker at various conferences in the energy sector, delivering key-note speeches and lectures on various aspects of the energy sector. More recently he has been elected to the Board of Directors of the VAIS (Verband für Anlagentechnik und Industrieservice), the Association of Industrial Technology and Service Providers.

Aurel Mindrican, Trading and Market Strategies Director, CEZ Romania

Aurel holds a license degree in Hydroelectric and environment and a master’s in Optimisation of Hydro Power Plants operation from Universitatea Politehnica Bucharest followed by another master’s in Energy with FABIZ – ASE, Romania. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of electricity suppliers’ association in Romania (AFEER) in 2006-2008. After 5 successful years as a senior engineer in Hidroelectrica (the biggest power producer in Romania) contributing to the start of electricity market in Romania, he took the position of Trading Director in Romelectro, one of the top 5 trading companies in Romania. From 2008 to 2021 Aurel was Trade Development Manager and General Manager in CEZ Trade Romania, as well as Trading Manager in Ovidiu Development (CEZ Wind farm) from 2016 to 2021. Since last year he has taken the position of Trading and Market Strategies Director in CEZ Romania Group.

Ralf Wezel is Secretary General of EUTurbines, the European association representing the gas and steam turbine industry with offices in Brussels and Frankfurt. When taking over this task in 2014, he was at the same time appointed Secretary General of EUGINE, the sister association of EUTurbines, representing the interests of the European engine power plants industry. Ralf Wezel, an economist by education, started his career working for VDMA, the German engineering industry association. In 2001 he moved to Brussels, where he headed the offices of different European industry associations in the engineering sector, including the European construction equipment association CECE and the European agricultural machinery association CEMA.

Thierry Lepercq is a serial entrepreneur in energy. He is the initiator of HyDeal Ambition, the world’s largest green hydrogen project aiming at delivering 3.6 million tons of green hydrogen at 1.5 €/kg by 2030, and the Executive Chairman of HyDeal España, a joint venture bringing together upstream (renewable energy), midstream (gas transmission) and downstream (steel, chemicals) industry players. He is the author of Hydrogen is the New Oil.

Thierry Lepercq was EVP Technology and Innovation at Engie from 2016 to 2018. From 2006 to 2016, he was the president of Solairedirect, a global pioneer of competitive solar power, which has developed and built 3 GW of capacity on four continents at prices as low as 20 $/MWh.

A graduate from HEC Paris, Thierry Lepercq started his career in technology financing.

Stephen B. Harrison is the founder and managing director at sbh4 GmbH in Germany. His work focuses on decarbonisation. CCUS is a fundamental pillar of his consulting practice, and he provides advisory services in this area to several leading international operators and equipment providers. Stephen has also served as the international expert for a major Asian Development Bank project related to CCUS in Viet Nam. With a background in industrial gases including 27 years at BOC Gases, The BOC Group and Linde Gas, Stephen has intimate knowledge of the carbon dioxide capture, purification, liquefaction, storage, transportation, and utilisation value chain from commercial, technical, and operational perspectives. For 14 years, he was a global business leader in these FTSE100 and DAX30 companies. Stephen has extensive due diligence and investment advisory experience. PE firms, fund managers and green-tech start-ups are regular clients. As a member of the gasworld advisory board, Stephen guides this international publication, which focuses on carbon dioxide and other industrial gases.

Emma is Managing Director of Lucky Saint, the multi-award winning 0.5% superior unfiltered lager listed in +2500 bars/pubs and restaurants across the UK in bottle and on draught. Emma has worked in consumer goods for 20 years across Europe and Africa: in the blue chips of Tesco and Diageo, and grown fledgling brands into household names such as innocent and Graze. It is the gritty challenging world of scaling start-ups that Emma loves and the reason she joined founder of Lucky Saint Luke Boase as MD in February 2020. Emma has 2 young girls and is a passionate advocate of championing women in industry: as an Ambassador for Retail Week’s Be Inspired programme and Steering Group Member for The Grocery Girls.

With 25 years of experience at the forefront of Global sales, marketing, and business development for Beverage, Dairy, Bakery, Confectionery, Food Ingredients, Food Flavours, Food Service FMCG / Private Label, Retail, HIS (High Intensity Sweeteners) Next generation Natural Sweeteners, Natural Flavours. Using pioneering and exciting new technologies to produce sustainable F&B taste solutions Sweegen is your preferred partner to work with.