Virtual Roundtable on Critical Infrastructure Resilience

Catherine Banet (PhD) is Professor of Law at the University of Oslo and Head of the Department for Energy and Resources Law, Norway.

Her legal research activities focus on energy market design, energy transport infrastructures regulation, support schemes and financing models, focusing on renewable energy and notably offshore wind, climate change mitigation measures such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen regulation.

Prof. Banet has a background from the private law practice (Norway, France), the European Commission (DG ENV), U.S. diplomatic mission and academia. She is a member of the Academic Advisory Group of the Section on Energy, Environment and Infrastructure Law of the IBA, and Chair of the Board of the Norwegian Energy Law Association.

Chloé Le Coq is Professor of Economics at Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas (CRED) and Research Fellow at the Stockholm School of Economics (SITE). She is a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board DIW Berlin and a Member of the Scientific Committee Chair ETI LAB -Mines Paris (since 2022). She is involved in the university incubator AssasLab. She has held visiting positions at Purdue University, the University of California Energy Institute at Berkeley, and the National University of Singapore.

Her research investigates topics related to antitrust policy, industrial organization, and behavioral economics, with a particular focus on energy markets and social innovation. Her recent work includes empirical studies on cartel formation, information structure in electricity markets, and experimental studies of social entrepreneurs.

Mónika Zsigri works for the European Commission as Head of Unit of Energy Security and Safety in the Energy Security and International Relations Directorate (DG ENERGY). Previously, she was Head of Unit responsible for joint purchasing of gas and international outreach in support of the EU’s diversification strategy. She has over 15 years of experience on different aspects of EU energy policy, including the reduction of methane emissions, LNG and storage, as well as energy security, energy infrastructure and regional cooperation. In the past, she has worked in the area of cohesion policy in support of the twin transition to a green and digital economy. Before joining the Commission, as management consultant, she worked on different assignments in the energy and telecommunications sectors helping clients optimizing their business processes or developing successful business strategies. Ms Zsigri holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

Maria Kerkidou is an established energy expert with over 20 years of experience in European energy policy and energy security. She currently serves as Director of Strategic Market Analysis at PPC Group – Public Power Corporation S.A., where she leads strategic assessments of market developments and energy trends.

Previously, Maria headed the Energy Planning and Security of Supply Unit at the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) in Greece, where she was instrumental in the development of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) and in evaluating energy security across electricity and natural gas systems.

Her career includes roles such as Senior Energy Engineer and participation in EU-funded initiatives, reflecting a strong commitment to regulatory strategy and the clean energy transition.

Maria holds an MSc in Energy Management and Environmental Protection, jointly awarded by the National Technical University of Athens and the University of Piraeus, and a Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens.

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.

Friðrik Már Baldursson is a CERRE Research Fellow and Professor of Economics at the Reykjavik University Business School where he formerly served as the Dean.

He has extensive experience of economic analysis from a decade of service as Head of Economic Research and Managing Director at the National Economic Institute of Iceland as well as from various consultancy projects.

He has been active in public service in various roles, including the Supervisory Board of the Central Bank of Iceland. In October 2008, he led negotiations with the IMF on Iceland’s behalf.

Prof. Baldursson holds a PhD in Applied Statistics and Probability from Columbia University as well as an MSc in Economics.

Christine is Team Lead, Transition Tracking and Analysis at the International Energy Agency (IEA).

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.

Clara Poletti is Commissioner of the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment (ARERA), Chair of the Board of Regulators of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and ARERA delegate at the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER).

She has more than twenty years of experience in the field. As far back as 1997, she contributed to the start-up of the Italian independent energy regulator. Since then, she has worked on the regulation of energy, water and waste management services at both national and European levels.

From 2007 to 2011, she was Director of the Bocconi University Research Centre on Energy and Environment (IEFE). She was also a founding joint academic director at the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE). She is a member of the Advisory Council Executive Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and associate researcher of the Cambridge Energy Policy Research Group.

She is the author of numerous scientific articles.

¹Member of the Strategic Committee

Olivier Franz is a regulatory expert focusing on energy markets and energy networks, with additional knowledge in financial regulation. Recently, telco regulation has become part of his portfolio, particularly in the FttX environment. He teaches energy economics and regulatory economics at various institutions, including TU Berlin. During his tenure within innogy (now merged with E.ON), smart metering was a significant aspect of his work. Recently, he has also been actively involved in E-Mobility-related projects.

Arancha Boden is the Head of European and International Affairs and European Senior Policy Officer at GRDF. Prior to this role, she spent five years as the Territorial Director for the Aquitaine region.

Throughout her diverse career in the energy sector, Arancha has held various management positions focused on developing new markets, business models, and products, as well as engaging in lobbying efforts across different energy markets amidst significant regulatory changes. Her professional journey has taken her across multiple countries, including Spain, France, Germany, and Canada, and has seen her contribute to renowned companies such as Dalkia, Cepsa, EDF, Engie, Hilo a subsidiary of HydroQuebec, and GRDF.

Alessandro Lazzarini is a senior engineer with several years of experience in the fields of long-term energy scenario envisioning and power grid development planning. Involved since 2019 in analysing and addressing the challenges posed by climate changes to the Italian Transmission System Operator, Terna, He has contributed to the development of an innovative, probabilistic and forward-looking methodology aimed at assessing the level of resilience of the power grid to extreme weather events, in order to identify the interventions needed to reduce both the vulnerability of the grid infrastructures and the expected energy not served (EENS) to the end-users. He has also contributed to the identification and planning of new grid reinforcements evaluated with the Resilience Methodology and to the draft of the first Terna’s Resilience Plan, in which are collected all the initiatives planned by Terna to increase the transmission network resilience to extreme weather events.