Global & European Decarbonization Strategies: Challenges & Solutions on Solar's Path to Become the World's Major Power Source

Vegard Vollset is Vice President and is leading the EMEA part of Rystad Energy's Renewable & Power Research team, with more than a decade of experience working within the energy industry. He has broad experience in energy modeling, M&A, and strategy work, and has worked closely with clients spanning the entire energy sector, from renewable energy companies and service companies to governmental organizations, investors, and NGOs. Prior to joining Rystad Energy, Vegard worked in Engie, Total Energies, and Equinor. He holds an MSc degree from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim and an MSc degree from the University of Stavanger.

Juan Rivier, Electronic Engineer and Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering by Comillas University, is currently Head of Global Regulation within Iberdrola Renewables, with a global responsibility (geographies and renewable technologies) on Renewables Regulation. He is a SolarPowerEurope and WindEurope Board Director. He has now more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector, beginning as an academic during 15 years at the Institute for Technological Research (IIT) of Comillas University, and joining Iberdrola in 2007 where he has been global responsible for Renewables Regulation and also global responsible for renewables PPA structuring.

Sonia Dunlop is CEO of the Global Solar Council, the world solar PV trade association, which represents the whole value chain and every region and market segment in the world. She previously worked for Solar Power Europe, Solar Energy UK and the RE-Source Platform. For five years she was part of the Senior Management Team of global climate politics think tank Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G) and worked for the COP26 Glasgow organising team in the UK government. She also spent five years in the European Parliament in Brussels working on renewables. She has expertise in solar PV, development finance, renewables policy, digitalisation of energy, Multilateral Development Banks climate finance and corporate Power Purchase Agreements. Sonia speaks fluent English, French and Italian as well as basic Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese, has two children and is based in London.

Walburga Hemetsberger is the CEO of SolarPower Europe since 2019. She has over 20 years of professional experience in Brussels, working for a utility, trade association, the European Parliament and the European Commission. Walburga spent most of her career in the energy sector, covering in particular renewable energies and hydrogen.

Co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) at the Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association (ABSOLAR - Associação Brasileira de Energia Solar Fotovoltaica), the national association representing companies and professionals from all segments of the solar PV value chain with operations in Brazil. Co-founder and member of the board of directors at the Global Solar Council (GSC), the global entity unifying and representing the solar power sector at the international level. Has a Ph.D. with honours in Engineering and Materials Technology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), with international collaboration at the Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (Fraunhofer ISE, Germany), M.Sc. with honours in Renewable Energy from the EUREC Master Program, with international collaboration at the ETH Zürich (Switzerland), and B.Sc. with honours in Chemistry from the University of São Paulo (Brazil).

Michael is Executive Advisor to the CEO and a member of the leadership team. Alongside his business development work, Michael heads SolarPower Europe's award-winning market intelligence team. He is lead author of the annually published Global Market Outlook and EU Market Outlook, and works closely with Policy Analyst Raffaele operating the Solar & Storage workstream. Michael has been working in solar for over 20 years. After co-founding Photon-Magazine in 1996, he served in various positions within the Photon group, primarily as Editor-in-Chief of Photon International. In 2014, Michael started MISCHCO, a company offering strategy consulting and communication services to solar companies. In 2016, TaiyangNews, a digital news platform for the solar industry that Michael founded, went online. Michael studied Geology/Palaeontology at Bonn University, Geology at RWTH Aachen, and Mineralogy at Frankfurt University. He speaks German and English.