Investing in Europe’s Cross-Border Infrastructure

Francois Beaude acts as head of strategy and communication for the EU agency for the cooperation of energy regulators (ACER). Previously, he held various roles at ACER and at the DG Competition of the European Commission (working on renewable support schemes, security of energy supply, and hydrogen-related measures). Francois also worked for RTE, a French electricity network operator, on various topics related to how to integrate renewables and new technologies into the electric system and markets. He holds a Master in Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique and a Master’s of Science in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Enrico Maria Carlini graduated in Electrical and Energy Engineering with first class of honors from Sapienza University of Rome in 1991.

Enrico developed his career in Terna TSO, where he currently serves as Director of ‘Power System Planning and Permitting’. He is accountable for the EHV-HV Grid Development Plan, the Resilience Plan, the process of connections to the National Transmission Grid, the NTG interconnection through interconnectors and merchant lines, plus the authorization procedures of development infrastructures.

Over nearly three decades of experience spanning from power grid engineering and system development to system operation activities, he has been deeply involved in emerging technical concepts for the energy transition and digital transformation of electricity sector, incl.: RES integration, grid resilience, grid and defense system, power quality, resource adequacy, HVDC links, energy storage systems, ancillary services market and capacity remuneration mechanisms, market coupling for the Internal Electricity Market, regional cooperation of TSOs, Ten-Year Network Development Plan, etc.

Alongside with his position in Terna, he plays several leading positions in the key organizations of the energy community, among which: ENTSO-E, CIGRE-SEERC, IEC, CEI (Italian Electrotechnical Committee), AEIT (Italian Association of Electrical, Electronics, Automation, Information and Communication Technology), SEleNe (Southeast Electricity Network Coordination Center) and CORESO (COoRdination of Electricity System Operators).

Frequent invited speaker at conferences globally on secure energy transition in the power sector. Author of more than 200 scientific publications in peer reviewed journals and conferences.

In 2021 he has been awarded the qualification of Associate Professor in Electrical Power Engineering.

Maurice Dierick heads the European Affairs department at RTE, the French transmission system operator. took up the position of executive director for European Affairs at RTE in September 2024. After starting his career in industry, he has been working in the energy sector since 2001, mainly in asset management and system and market operations, but also in hydro power and grid-scale batteries. He is a past member of the Board of ENTSO-E, an engineer by training, and passionate about the future of the biggest interconnected grid in the world: Europe’s.

Gavin Knott is the Chief Economic Adviser at Ofgem, and works on both price control regulation and on using economic analysis to understand how the competitive energy markets act in the consumer interest. Gavin has over 15 years experience working in competition and regulation across the UK’s infrastructure sectors, working as a regulator and in the private sector. Gavin also has a PhD in real option theory.

He has experience in Distribution and Transmission Price controls, Competition referrals, Dispute Resolution, License and Grid code/Distribution code/EU Network Code implementation, Market Monitoring, Capacity Markets, Smart Systems Flexibility products, Offshore and Network Development plans. He sits on several taskforces and working groups such as the NI Renewables Grid Liaison Group, the NI Utility Spectrum Focus Group, Invest NI Industrial Decarbonisation for Northern Ireland advisory panel and the NI Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Taskforce.

He is also currently seconded to the Utility Regulatory Authority (URA) on the Island Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean and assisting the URA in reviewing and developing effective utility regulation in a small self-contained setting.

Bruno Tobback is a Belgian politician and member of the European Parliament for Vooruit. He is a member of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament. He began his career as a lawyer after obtaining a Master of Law and a Master of Social and Economic Law. His political career started as a provincial councilor. Since then, he has held important positions at both the Flemish and federal levels, such as parliamentary group leader in the Flemish Parliament, federal minister of Environment and Pensions and president of the social Democratic Party in Flanders (Vooruit). Currently, he is also a member of the city council of his hometown, Leuven.

Annika Brack is the Director for the Energy, Mobility and Sustainability (EMS) practice at the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE). Previously, she served as representative for Uniper SE in Brussels and led the political affairs unit at 50Hertz Transmission in Berlin. Her experience also includes senior roles at an emerging technology think tank and the World Economic Forum. Annika is a UNAOC and WEF Global Leadership Fellow, with a background in international studies in Paris, Washington D.C., and Berlin.

Christine is an Assistant Professor with the Copenhagen School of Energy Infrastructure (CSEI) at Copenhagen Business School. She is currently also a visiting fellow with the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and a research associate with the Energy Policy and Regulation Group at the University of Cambridge. Her main research interest is in network regulation, pricing and market design. In her research, she analyses the interactions of different regulatory, market design and policy options in energy systems. Thus, she has participated in and led several research projects on flexible network users, smart grids and the integration of renewable energy sources into the energy systems.

She obtained her PhD in Energy Economics from Jacobs University Bremen and holds Master’s degrees from Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan in Stockholm, École des Mines in Nantes and Universidad Politécnica in Madrid as a result of the Erasmus Mundus joint Master course in Management and Engineering of Environment and Energy.

Professor Bert Willems, is a CERRE Research Fellow and a Professor of Economics at the Université catholique de Louvain where he studies and teaches energy management and environmental economics. He is affiliated with the Law and Economic Center at Tilburg University (TILEC), the Toulouse School of Economics and a board member of the Benelux Association for Energy Economics (BAEE).