Cornelius is a well-respected leader and investor in the renewable energy industry and built several successful clean energy businesses and start-ups within the Middle East and Africa. He has extensive board level experience from 10 years in Deutsche Bank (among others, youngest board member in Deutsche Bank Italy Group) and several leading renewable energy organizations and associations via pro bono work as well as different startup companies. By building the international shareholder and partner network of Dii (Desertec Industrial Initiative), he was at the forefront of the renewable energy revolution in North Africa and the Middle East. A keen entrepreneur and investor in emerging markets with recognitions such as “Solar Pioneer 2015” for the Middle East or the Visionary CleanTech Influencer of The Year 2022 by World Cleantech Awards. He is lecturing at several universities including St. Gallen and is a regular speaker at international conferences. He holds an MBA (Dipl. Kaufmann) from University of Passau, and speaks German, English, Italian, French and Russian. His experience ranges from M&A transactions, asset management, developing utility scale renewable energy projects (including mid-market with private PPAs), pay-as-you-go solar to energy efficiency, including ESCO projects and new business models. Some of the projects and companies were executed in challenging settings or countries. He has led sizable organizations both in startup environments and blue-chip companies and has raised funds from angel investments to USD 100m+ projects with institutional investors.

Daria Nochevnik has spent the last decade working in energy and climate policy and regulatory affairs presently as Director for Policy and Partnerships with the Hydrogen Council, a global coalition of CEOs representing over 140 industrial leaders in hydrogen around the world committed to accelerating the transition to net-zero in line with the climate targets set by the Paris Agreement.
In her current role with the Council Ms Nochevnik is leading the work on hydrogen policy and sustainability, as well as partnerships with global intergovernmental organisations, including the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE).
Prior to joining the Council, Ms Nochevnik held strategic advisory roles in the sector working with policymakers and industry on the enabling regulatory frameworks for hydrogen, energy market regulation, as well as carbon pricing mechanisms and certification systems. In the past decade she worked with the European Federation of Energy Traders where she led Carbon Neutrality Strategy working on the evolution of energy and carbon market design in the EU.

Javier Cavada was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Mitsubishi Power, from January 2022. Dr Cavada’s mission is to expand Mitsubishi Power’s business in the region, accelerate decarbonization and provide total solutions that empower its customers to affordably and reliably combat climate change.

With more than 20 years of global experience in the energy sector, primarily in senior executive roles, Dr Cavada has led companies through all phases of corporate development and growth. Before joining Mitsubishi Power, he was President and CEO of Highview Power, developing and leading the long duration energy storage industry. Prior to that, he spent 17 years with Wärtsilä Corporation serving as President of the energy division and member of the executive board, leading its transformation into renewables integrator including energy storage.

Dr Cavada received his doctorate Cum Laude (With Highest Honors) in Industrial Engineering from the University of Cantabria, Spain in 2012, where he held a professorship at the School of Industrial Engineering and Telecommunications, and was recognized as Distinguished Alumnus in 2015, joining a group of 20 distinguished alumni along the 50 years of history of the University.
All of this has ultimately led to Dr Cavada becoming a renowned and award-winning leader who successfully moves large companies forward in the energy transition.

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis has been working at Hydrogen Europe since 2016. He currently holds the position of CEO of the association. He previously covered roles in the planning department of the Foreign Office of Germany, at Infineon Technologies and was Member of the European Parliament (2004-2014) inter alia in the ITRE Committee (Industry, Technology, Research and Energy) where he could contribute to lay the cornerstone for the first and the second Joint Undertaking on hydrogen and fuel cells. He was awarded Hydrogen Person of the Year at the World Hydrogen Awards 2022, “as a major player promoting hydrogen in Europe and world-wide, accelerating collaboration and industry development”. Jorgo was born in Duisburg, Germany. He holds German and Greek nationality, and a degree in political science from the University of Bonn.

As of February 1, 2020 Marieke Abbink (MSc) is appointed CEO of New Energy Coalition. Previously Abbink was director of the board of the Dutch RBO Foundation, an organization that deals with issues at the interface of education and the labour market. Before that, she held various management and director positions in public and private organisations. As CEO of New Energy Coalition, Abbink is member of the advisory board of German Energy Cluster Oldenburg OLEC and member of the advisory board of Next Airport (GAE) . In her spare time she is a member of the Supervisory Board of the Groningen sports council (Huis voor de Sport) and member of the national programme council of the NCP NLQF, the Dutch qualifications framework for education.