Sasha Twining

TV & Radio Presenter

Sasha Twining is a well respected television and radio presenter.  On Sky News she co-presented high profile shows including Sunrise with Eamonn Holmes, and Sky News Today with Dermot Murnaghan. She also occasionally presented the flagship programme Sky News at Ten.

Sasha was the lead anchor for Russia Today, an international news television channel based in Moscow. She has also worked as a correspondent for ITV, and presented the catch-up service for BBC News 24.

Internationally Sasha presents for the Nine Network (Australia) and is London correspondent for both ˜Today‘ and ˜Mornings‘. On BBC ONE she was the voice of primetime entertainment for five years  and has worked for ITV1 as a continuity announcer.

Her radio work includes ˜Saturday Breakfast with Sasha Twining' for BBC Radio Solent and regular news reading stints for Sky News Radio and Heart, Magic, Real etc.

Sasha works for a number of corporate clients, hosting and facilitating large events, both in the UK and Europe. She chairs plenary discussions, manages question and answer sessions, interviews key personnel, hosts team-building events, facilitates break-out sessions, interprets live data from contemporary audience surveys (via interactive software) and hosts award ceremonies.

Sasha Twining
@SashaTwining

Torben Brabo

President, GIE & Senior Vice President, Energinet Group

Torben Brabo is CEO of the Gas TSO in Energinet, the Danish national transmission system operator for electricity and gas – which is an independent public enterprise owned by the Danish state under the Ministry of Climate, Utilities and Energy. He has 25 years of experience in the energy and gas sector in Denmark and abroad.

Prior to joining Energinet, he took part in European power and gas projects as part of the liberalisation of the Danish gas market in 2002-2004. As the current CEO in Energinet Gas TSO, Torben Brabo is highly involved in European renewable and low-carbon gas projects.

Besides of being GIE’s President, he is engaged in ENTSOG (European Network of gas TSOs) and the European gas capacity trading platform PRISMA, and promoting ERGAR. Moreover, he participates in several decarbonisation projects, such as the Green Gas Initiative and Gas for Climate. He has held a position as chairman of the board of the Danish-Swedish gas exchange ‘Gaspoint Nordic’.

Torben Brabo
@torbenbrabo

Christoph Riechmann

Director in the Frontier Economics

Christoph Riechmann is a Director in the Frontier Energy Practice. With over 25 years of consulting experience Christoph provides market design, regulation, competition, valuation, strategy and dispute support advice to clients in Europe. He has advised the European Commission, national authorities and energy companies on the regulation and decarbonisation of the gas and electricity sectors.

Christoph Riechmann

Catherine Galano

Director at Frontier Economics

Catherine Galano is a Director in Frontier’s Energy practice. Based in Paris, she advises European players across the value chain in electricity and gas(es). Catherine has twelve years' experience advising on regulation and policy, with a focus on infrastructure and the roll-out of technologies required to achieve the energy transition

Catherine Galano

Tom Howes

Advisor to the Director, Green Transition and Market regulation, DG ENER, European Commission

Tom Howes is Advisor to the Director on the green energy transition and energy market regulation, in the energy department of the European Commission.  Previously, he headed the Energy and Environment Division at the International Energy Agency, and has worked on renewable energy legislation, market and grid integration issues, energy modelling, and energy finance for the European Commission and worked for the UK and Australian governments.

Dennis Hesseling

Head of the Gas, Coal and Power Markets Division,
International Energy Agency (IEA)

Mr. Dennis Hesseling took up duties as Head of the Gas, Coal and Power Markets Division in July 2023.
From December 2012 to June 2023, Mr. Hesseling was Head of the Infrastructure, Gas & Retail Department at the EU Agency for the Co-operation of Energy Regulators (ACER) where he was responsible for the Agency’s activities in the areas of energy infrastructure, gas markets, and energy retail, and was also the Agency’s representative to the Energy Community Regulatory Board. Before joining ACER, Mr. Hesseling worked as Head of Unit in the Competition Department of the Netherland Competition Authority NMa (ACM) where he had responsibility for merger control and antitrust enforcement in the Dutch energy, telecommunications and media sectors. Prior to that, he worked in the NMa’s Energy Regulation department from 2002 onwards working mainly on gas issues. From 2000 he worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company in Brussels providing strategic and operational advice to postal companies and banks. Mr. Hesseling holds a PhD in Mathematics from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. He received additional training at McKinsey, business school IMD in Lausanne and the Dutch Programme for Prospective Top Civil Servants. Mr. Hesseling trained energy regulators and competition authorities in Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Turkey and Vietnam as well as political parties in various African countries

Dennis Jesseling
@Dehessel

Anna Slavkovská

Nafta Senior Expert on Regulatory Issuesa

Anna Slavkovská is a senior expert on regulatory issues focused on EU and Slovak national regulation. Since 2009 she is in a role of leading regulatory lawyer at NAFTA a.s. – a storage system operator active in Slovakia, Austria, Germany, and Czech Republic . In December 2022 she was appointed as a managing director of NAFTA Speicher Inzenham GmbH – a storage system operator in Germany.

Besides being focused on regulatory issues and providing support in this respect for storages within NAFTA group, she also closely cooperates with NAFTA´s commercial department giving her an insight into practical business needs of gas storages. Moreover, she is also deeply involved in NAFTA’s decarbonization projects in various fields e.g. renewable electricity production, hydrogen storage and biomethane.

Anna is also a member of IGU (International Gas Union) Storage Committee focusing on the area of storage regulations and an active representative in GIE within GSE column from 2009. Starting 2023 she is also a member of the GSE Executive Committee and a member of the  GIE Board.

Ralph Bahke

Hydrogen Area Sponsor, GIE & Managing Director, ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH

Ralph Bahke, born 1964, studied Information Technology at the Technical University of Dresden. He joined VNG – Verbundnetz Gas AG in 1994 and became responsible for the planning of automation technology. In 2001 he changed to the Gas Transportation Department where he held various senior management positions.

Between January 2006 and November 2008, Bahke worked in senior management posts of the Network Marketing Department in the newly established transmission system operator ONTRAS. Since November 2008 he has been one of the two ONTRAS managing directors, responsible for the division controlling and development.

From December 2009 to December 2015 Bahke was board member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG).

In 2011 Bahke was appointed member of the Energy Advisory Board of the German Free State of Saxony. Since December 2012 Bahke was Chairman of the board of "Vereinigung der Fernleitungsnetzbetreiber Gas e.V.", the association of German Transmission System Operators for Gas. He gave up this position in 2020 and joined GIE (Gas Infrastructure Europe) board in January 2021.

Harmen Dekker

CEO, European Biogas Association

Harmen Dekker has worked for almost 15 years within the sustainability sector and is devoted to the mitigation of climate change. With both a technical as well as a business administration background he has built his career in the water and gas sector, where he has held various management positions. 

He joins the EBA after being involved in the biogas sector for over 5 years. 

During those years, he not only focused expansion of biogas and in particular biomethane but also on the implementation of techniques such as bio-LNG, bio-Methanol, bio-Hydrogen and bioplastics. 

Harmen Dekker

Chris Logue

National Gas Transmission
Head of Markets

Chris is an engineer who has many years’ experience of working in technical and commercial roles in the UK and European energy industry.  In his current role he leads the team responsible for the market codes and commercial frameworks which underpin the industry. This includes leading the UK Future of Gas Steering Group and the Gas Markets Plan processes.

Previously Chris led National Grid Gas’s EU Policy team, playing a key role in influencing the development of European gas markets and EU Codes and ensuring that National Grid fulfilled its obligations under the 3rd Package and other EU legislation. Chris has also held managerial positions with National Grid Metering and BG Group.

Chris is also a Director of Xoserve (the central data services provider to UK gas industry) and represents National Gas in Prisma shareholder meetings. He was formally a board member of ENTSOG until National Grid left the association in Dec 2021.

Pieter van Aartsen

Company Secretary, Head Government Affairs, Gasunie

Pieter van Aartsen is the Company Secretary of Gasunie. In addition to this position, he heads the government and regulatory affairs department. Before taking up his position as GIE board member he chaired the strategy task force and represented GIE in the steering committee of GasNaturally.

Previously he worked as a policy advisor on energy, climate and the internal market in the European Parliament. He was closely involved in the negotiations between the EU institutions on the Third Energy Package and the Second Strategic Energy Review. Before relocating to Brussels he was working in the communications department of a political party and worked on several election campaigns in the Netherlands.

Pieter van Aartsen

Juan Lopez Vaquero

ACER, Policy Officer – Energy Infrastructure

Since 2014, Juan Lopez-Vaquero works as Policy Officer in the Infrastructure, Retail and Gas Department at the European Agency of the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). He deals primarily with European gas infrastructure regulation, network planning and security of supply issues. Previously, he worked for 5 years at the Spanish Energy Regulator (CNMC) in gas infrastructure regulation and gas market monitoring.
Juan holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering by Universidad Politecnica de Madrid and he has completed annual specialised programmes on the Regulation of Energy Utilities in Florence School of
Regulation and in Energy Finance and Energy Law at the Spanish Energy Institute – ENERCLUB.

Pierre Duvieusart

GRTGaz Deputy General Director

Georg Dorfleutner

RAG Energy Storage GmbH Managing Director

Early Life and Education:

Georg Dorfleutner, born in 1977 in Austria, displayed a blend of analytical prowess and linguistic skill from an early age. His academic journey began at the Bundesrealgymnasium Geblergasse in Vienna, where he completed his University Entrance Diploma (Matura) in 1995, excelling in Descriptive Geometry, Mathematics, and French. Georg's intellectual curiosity and dedication to the law led him to the Universität Wien, where he earned a Degree in Law (Mag. iur.) in 2001, specializing in Administrative Law and Private International Law.

Career Path:

Georg's professional journey is marked by a series of strategic positions that leveraged his legal expertise within the energy sector. He began as a trainee lawyer at WDR RECHTSANWÄLTE followed by DULLINGER SCHNEIDER RECHTSANWÄLTE GMBH in August 2003, honing his legal skills until December 2007. Prior to this, he had completed internships at notable institutions such as SIEMENS AG ÖSTERREICH and MAG. DAGMAR NEYER’s law firm, and also served as a trainee at the OBERLANDESGERICHT WIEN. In addition, he dedicated a year to civil service at DER WÜRFEL from June 2002 to May 2003.

In January 2008, Georg joined RAG – ROHÖL-AUFSUCHUNGS AG as a Senior Legal Counsel, where he began to integrate his legal expertise with the energy sector's operational demands. His role evolved over time, leading him to become the Vice Executive Secretary at GIE – Gas Infrastructure Europe from October 2010 to September 2011, and subsequently the European Affairs Coordinator at RAG from October 2011 to December 2012.

Leadership at RAG Energy Storage GmbH:

Georg's career reached a pinnacle in January 2013, when he was appointed as the Managing Director of RAG Energy Storage GmbH in Vienna. In this role, he has been responsible for marketing, business development, strategy, legal matters, market monitoring and evaluation, as well as regulatory affairs in the gas industry. His influence extends beyond the company, as he actively engages in lobbying within European and national associations. Georg has been serving as the Vice President of GSE since 2013, as a Board Member of GIE since 2022 and as a Board Member of the NGVA from 2016 till 2023, highlighting his significant impact on the energy sector at a European level.

Bobby Gleeson

Gas Networks Ireland Chief Operations Officer

Piotr Kuś

General Director, ENTSOG

Before joining ENTSOG in January 2022 as ENTSOG General Director, Piotr Kuś held the position of Deputy Director in the Development Division at GAZ-SYSTEM S.A., since January 2017. His main areas of responsibilities included international cooperation, institutional relations, cooperation with EU institutions and international trade organisations.

He was involved in a number of business development projects aimed at regional gas market development - both infrastructure projects in CEE region as well as LNG, booking platforms and cooperation with Energy Community. Within GAZ-SYSTEM H2 task force, he was engaged in evaluating new gases preparedness: working on readiness of the Polish gas networks, European Hydrogen Backbone, IPCEI initiatives and Hydrogen Storage Project in Poland. He represented the transmission sector in number of Partnerships for Hydrogen Economy Development and Biogas Development on National and European level.

Between 2019-2021, Piotr was GIE Board Member acting as a sponsor of the CH4 Area. Since 2016, he was a member of the GTE Executive Committee to supervise activities of future sustainable solutions in the natural gas infrastructure. Prior to that, between 2008 and 2016, Piotr was Director of the Brussels Office of GAZ-SYSTEM, in charge of managing the company’s EU affairs.

Before joining GAZ-SYSTEM in 2008, he was employed by the Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG S.A.) and was seconded to its Representative Office in Brussels.

Piotr Kuś graduated from Warsaw School of Economics.

Piotr Kuś