Dr. Tania Rödiger-Vorwerk

Job Title: Head of Sub-Department
Company: Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Germany

Dr. Tania Vorwerk is a senior development policy expert with a focus on sustainable development, energy, environment and infrastructure. She studied Law and Scandinavian Studies in Freiburg and Munich and holds a PhD in European Environmental Law. Prior to joining the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2002, she worked in the private sector, including as a senior consultant at the international management consultancy Kienbaum, and served as Head of International Affairs and Protocol for the City of Bonn. At the BMZ, she has held several leadership roles, including Director for Strategy and Policy Planning and Deputy Director General for Environment and Infrastructure. In this capacity, she represented the BMZ in key international processes, including as "Sherpa" supporting former Federal President Horst Köhler on the UN High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda under UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Currently, Tania heads the Deputy Subdirectorate for General Climate, Environment and Health at the BMZ.

June 23, 2026Welcome & Introduction

Sessions

Session

Off-Grid to the Rescue: Rebuilding with Mini-Grids

Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 4:30pm–6:00pm

ICM - Room 14 C

In this urgent and forward-looking session of the Intersolar Europe Conference, we bring together voices from the frontlines of decentralized energy: representatives from Syria, Ukraine and Ethiopia - spanning immediate crisis response and longer-term energy market development - alongside practitioners who build and operate these systems at scale. What unites all perspectives is a shared insight: decentralized renewable energy proves its reliability precisely where conventional grids are absent, destroyed or isolated - from war-torn regions to island communities cut off from mainland supply.The initial focus is on the immediate, life-saving needs: hospitals, schools and water supply systems. We then move to the medium-term goal - interconnecting mini-grids, rebuilding resilient infrastructure, creating new jobs and livelihoods. A central question runs through both phases: how do we train local workforces through vocational training, apprenticeships and certification programs, so that rebuilding is not only about hardware, but about people and enduring capacity?Join us to examine how off-grid solar transitions from emergency stop-gap to the sustainable backbone of recovery and growth.