With over 30 years of experience in industrial management and renewable energy technologies, Antonio Duarte has built a distinguished career in engineering and sustainability. Holding a foundation in electrical engineering and a Master's in Production Engineering, he has dedicated his efforts to advancing innovative and sustainable energy solutions.

His professional journey includes leading multidisciplinary projects, contributing to cutting-edge R&D initiatives, and earning recognition as a thought leader in renewable energy. Specializing in floating photovoltaic systems, smart grids, and clean energy technologies, his work emphasizes operational feasibility, efficiency, and environmental sustainability.

In addition to industry contributions, he has served as a teacher, researcher, and laboratory leader, combining academic excellence with practical impact. A strong commitment to addressing global climate challenges drives his focus on fostering collaboration among industrial leaders, EPCs, investors, and other stakeholders.

Currently, his efforts center on driving the growth of renewable energy systems, particularly in floating solar development. By championing innovation and global partnerships, he continues to advance clean energy solutions and sustainability worldwide.

Pedro Miguel Albuquerque: Project Manager for New Technologies and Special Projects at the Renewable Generation Assets Platform at EDP, Pedro is currently working in several projects of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) Hybridization, including Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and Floating Solar in Hydro Power Plants.

Pedro was the responsible for the Engineering Coordination in the implementation the Floating PV System with Battery in Alqueva Hydro Power Plant, and consultant in the Battery pipeline of projects in Azores islands. Pedro holds a Master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering – Power Systems from NOVA School of Science and Technology – Lisbon.

Andrés is CEO of ISIGENERE, the pioneering company in floating solar systems since 2008 when their first floating solar system was installed in Alicante (Spain). Andrés is leading the growth of the company in utility scale and self-consumption projects while continuing innovating by creating new and better versions of ISIFLOATING, its floating solar system, recognized in the industry for its high-quality, durability, safety, adaptability and total low cost of ownership.

Before ISIGENERE Andrés worked in Aquanima, a procurement services company owned by Santander Bank, the largest Eurozone bank at its time, where he led the growth of the company from 1 country and managing 80 million euros, to 11 countries and 8000 million euros.

Previous to Santander, he worked in the consultancy McKinsey & Company where he advised clients in strategy and technology projects.

Andrés studied Computer Science and holds an MBA by the Kellogg Graduate School of Business in USA.

William Otto is an expert on floater dynamics. In unsheltered waters, waves lead to motions of anything that floats.

This is exactly the topic of William’s R&D.

As a senior Project Manager in the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN), he has been in the lead of many large research projects on the dynamics of Offshore Solar.

Together with leading system developers as Oceans of Energy, SolarDuck and Bluewater, William has assessed and improved the wave induced dynamics of a wide variety of Offshore Solar concepts.

Gerben Hieminga is a seasoned economist at ING Bank, specializing in the economics of energy transition and energy markets.

With a deep passion for achieving a net zero economy, Gerben focuses on how technology and policy interventions can drive this critical transition.

His research delves into the complexities of energy markets and the challenges faced by hard-to-abate sectors, such as sustainable fuels.

Gerben holds degrees in both economics and building engineering. He resides and works in Amsterdam.

Aurélien CROQ is the CEO of SolarinBlue, pioneering offshore floating solar to free solar PV from land-use competition. Aurélien CROQ is a French engineer who graduated from Ecole Polytechnique. SolarinBlue inaugurated in 2023 the first offshore floating solar farm in France and the Mediterranean Sea. SolarinBlue's technology enables the decarbonation of electricity for ports, islands and offshore wind & solar co-locations

TBA

Vincent Grumetz graduated from a mechanical engineering university and an international business school, enabling him to be a sales expert in technical industries. In 2006, he started working for Airmat Technology as an Export Sales Manager.

In 2011 he joined Pronal (in rubber products industry) where he became the International Sales Director.

Looking for new challenges, more in line with his spirit and convictions, in 2020, he joined Ciel & Terre as EMEA Managing Director to follow and accelerate the growth of floating solar markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa

Mason Bell is the Anchor Lead at Sperra, where he drives the development of next-generation concrete anchoring solutions for floating renewable energy systems.

With a degree in civil engineering and a professional focus on offshore infrastructure, Mason leads the design, prototyping, and commercialization of concrete gravity, torpedo, suction, and hybrid anchors for applications across floating solar, offshore wind, and wave energy.

His work combines structural and geotechnical engineering with advanced manufacturing methods such as 3D concrete printing, helping reduce costs, lower emissions, and enable local fabrication.

Over the course of his career, Mason has led complex R&D projects, secured public grant funding, and built strategic partnerships across government, academia, and industry.

He is passionate about scaling practical, resilient infrastructure that accelerates the clean energy transition worldwide.

Oscar Sainz is the CTO of BlueNewables, leading the technical development of offshore renewable energy solutions with a focus on floating solar PV and hybrid offshore systems.

He has broad offshore engineering experience across both floating solar and offshore wind projects, supporting the design, integration, and delivery of complex marine energy assets.

Oscar is an inventor and co-inventor on several patents related to offshore renewable technologies.

He is currently overseeing the development and installation of a 1 MW offshore floating solar PV demonstrator in the Port of Valencia, scheduled for commissioning in 2026.

Alvaro de Gruijter is a researcher at Eurac Research (Italy) within the Institute of Renewable Energies, a private research centre with over 600 collaborators, 26 laboratories and facilities and over 100 EU projects currently ongoing.

He specialises in Integrated Photovoltaics (IPV) systems.

His expertise spans AgriPV, Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), and Floating Photovoltaic (FPV) technologies.

He holds a MSc. in Sustainable Energy Technology from TU Delft with specialisations in solar systems, wind turbine design, and energy storage, as well as a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Twente.

At Eurac Research, he focuses on advancing the performance and reliability of IPV systems through indoor testing, outdoor experimental validation and project design and commissioning of floating systems, with a focus on Alpine environmental effects.

With a hands-on background in renewable energy project engineering in the offshore sector (Oceans of Energy), Alvaro brings practical expertise in translating research findings into IPV up-scaled solutions.

Maarten Dörenkämper is a researcher in PV applications at TNO, with one of his main focus areas being the performance of Floating PV systems.

His work covers both inland water installations and offshore environments, where he investigates electrical performance, thermal behaviour, and overall system behaviour through field experiments, modelling, and data‑driven analysis.

Active in the FPV domain since 2018, Maarten has contributed to multiple national and international FPV research projects and has authored several scientific publications in this field.

Maarten holds a Master’s degree in Solar Energy Engineering from the University of Freiburg, Germany.

Marie-Laure Bertet is responsible for marketing and business development of BASF's plastic additives business for the plastic industry in the EMEA region, including construction and infrastructure.

She leads business development for light stabilizers used to protect plastic pontoons used in floating-solar applications.

She holds an engineering degree in formulation chemistry from ITECH Lyon in France and has over 20 years’ experience marketing plastic additives and pigments for the European plastic industry with BASF and Ciba Specialty Chemicals.

Her expertise is in collaborating across the plastics value chain to develop innovative solutions and create new business opportunities.

BSc in Aerospace Engineering and MSc in CFD, Carlos has dedicated his work to the development of numerical models for marine renewable energy projects, from offshore wind to floating PV.

He has 5 years’ experience working with different numerical models including CFD in industry and academic institutions, with a heavy focus on fluid-structure interaction and large-scale FPV arrays. At TYPSA, his career focus is project management for FPV projects in combination with the development of numerical models for renewable energy projects.

In Floating PV, Carlos has contributed as Project Manager to several projects. Some highlights are the technology screening and selection process for a 25 MW FPV plant in Eastern France, including detailed numerical simulation of aerodynamic behavior and mooring loads, and the management of the basic engineering and technology selection process for a FPV project with complex siting in a reservoir in Northern Spain. In 2024, Carlos spoke at the bi-annual congress of the Spanish branch of PIANC (ATPYC – Asociación Técnica de Puertos y Costas), presenting the work done by TYPSA on a Wave Energy Converter design.

This conference attracted more than 300 attendees and was focused on sustainability for the port industry, including renewable energy applications. In 2025, he was awarded the Modesto Vigueras award for his work on the application of CFD modelling in floating structures.

This award is given by the Spanish branch of PIANC (ATPYC) to outstanding work related to maritime projects. This work was presented during the annual board of directors of the association as well.

Konstantin is a research assistant at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, the largest solar research institute in Europe. He did his BSc. in Environmental Sciences and MSc. in Hydrology at the University of Freiburg. Since joining Fraunhofer ISE, he has been working almost exclusively on Floating PV, conducting GIS-based potential analyses and hydrological investigations related to Floating PV. Here, the impact of the technology on water ecology, thermal stratification and mixing is investigated. He was also working on the application for the largest FPV research project in Germany, which was successfully launched last month.

Sacha is an experienced advisor and research coordinator at Deltares with demonstrated history of working in the research industry. Sustainable energy is a current theme in the Deltares research strategy. Sacha is currently undertaking a research project trying to answer the questions: how do solar parks on water affect the functioning of the water system and how does it affect the quality of water and water-related nature? Knowledge of this, contained in tools and knowledge rules, helps the water manager to set requirements in a permit and provides companies with tools for the design of a sustainable park with minimal ecological impact. This research is done is strong cooperation with experts from other knowledge institutes, governments, private companies and NGOs.

Djanani is a Senior Consultant with DNV offering risk advisory and technical advisory services across floating renewables (Floating solar, wind, wave and tidal), Oil & Gas and Marine sectors.

She holds a Master of Engineering in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from Strathclyde University and has diverse project experience with floating renewables feasibility, concept development, stability, structural and mooring design, risk assessments and cost optimisation, failure risk estimations, due diligence, certification, technology qualification, O&M support, integrity management, testing and deployment.

Her broader offshore expertise includes provision of regulatory support, incident investigations, safety and reliability studies, marine engineering support and marine assurance for various floating structures.

She also regularly contributes to the development of several industry and DNV standards/guidance for floating offshore structures, floating wind and FPV

Even Hjetland (Principal Development Engineer at Fred. Olsen 1848) graduated in 2009 with an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and University of California, Santa Barbara.

He has over 16 years of experience developing and operating renewable energy technologies in marine environments and is now heading the technical team developing the marine FPV system Brizo at Fred. Olsen 1848

Pieter Jan Jordaens joined Sirris (the Belgian collective technology center – www.sirris.be ) in 2010 in the role of project leader to manage the Offshore Wind Infrastructure (OWI) project lead by Sirris, VUB and a group of Belgian companies active in the early days of offshore wind power.

The goal of this 5.5milj€ project was to set-up state-of-the-art R&D test and monitoring infrastructure in the field of offshore wind energy to support technology developments.   

Since then he has been responsible to initiate, set-up and roll-out the operations of the (offshore) wind energy RD&I department at Sirris and it’s supporting services in different roles (project engineer, senior engineer, business developer, cluster manager, program manager).

Currently he takes up the role of program manager Energy Transition which on top of on & offshore wind topics also covers RD&I projects linked to energy storage and green hydrogen. Pieter Jan also acts as operating officer of OWI-Lab (www.owi-lab.be), a joint collaboration between Sirris, VUB and UGent to support (offshore) wind RD&I activities in Belgium as expertise center.

During the past years PJ has set-up the large climatic test facility for wind turbine components in Antwerp, supported the structural health monitoring (SHM) RD&I trajectory of OWI-Lab in partnership with VUB, and together with UGent managed the IBN Offshore Energy Cluster in which between 2007-2020 more than 20 large RD&I project linked to offshore wind energy were set-up.

Before joining Sirris, Pieter Jan obtained a Master's degree in ElectroMechanical Engineering at KU Leuven. He also joined the International Postgraduate Program in Entrepreneurial Engineering after his Master.

PJ is also the president of Technovation Hub vzw, a platform initiating and supporting hi-tech engineering student projects initiated by KU Leuven.

PJ is also board member of Seacoop CVBA, a cooperative venture aiming for civil participation on the upcoming Belgian offshore wind tender.

He also serves as board member in the Belgian Hydrogen Council.

Oscar Delbeke is a PhD researcher at KU Leuven/EnergyVille, working at the electrical engineering research group ESAT-ELECTA.

He has been researching the electrical engineering aspects of offshore floating PV for four years now.

His work is mainly focused on the combination of floating PV with offshore wind as part of hybrid offshore solar-wind farms. Before joining the team of prof. Johan Driesen, he graduated as an electromechanical engineer from Ghent University in 2021, obtaining his master’s degree in mechanical energy engineering with a minor in sustainable development.

Next to his research, Oscar is deeply involved in CIGRE, the international council on large electric systems, as chairman of the CIGRE Belgium Next Generation Network and the vice-president of the CIGRE Belgium National Committee.

Wim Nowé MSc is the managing director of Profloating since 2022.

He had positions as Innovation director, R&D manager and Project engineer in plastic and steel production and greenhouse construction and automation.

In the current position he is leading Profloating in challenging projects and markets.

Carl Petter Lehne is the COO of Ocean Sun, the Norwegian technology company behind the patented membrane‑based floating solar solution designed for all types of water bodies, from calm reservoirs to exposed coastal areas and challenging environments.

With a background in Marine Technology and Geotechnical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, he combines deep technical insight with global operational leadership.

At Ocean Sun, Carl Petter is responsible for the global project portfolio and project delivery, spanning several continents and remote island installations.

Ocean Sun’s unique water‑cooled membrane platform, engineered for high efficiency, low material use, and proven seaworthiness even in demanding conditions - enables scalable, cost‑effective renewable energy where traditional solutions meet challenges.

Driven by a commitment to expanding clean, resilient energy worldwide, Carl Petter is helping position Ocean Sun as a leading force in the next generation of floating solar systems for reservoirs, lakes, ports, islands, and offshore locations.

Gerhard has 20 years of experience across various industries in the energy sector. He started out is career in the power system protection, from distribution to generator protection and later ended up in the nuclear power industry working on fuel manufacturing processes.

This introduced him to working with and in hazardous environments, which led him towards renewable energy, electrolysis and green hydrogen.

Between 2010 and 2020 he was involved in green hydrogen production technologies research and was responsible for delivering several small-scale solar powered green hydrogen production demonstration systems.

He joined Lightsourcebp in January 2023 supporting the Innovation team on various projects. One area of responsibility includes floating solar, including offshore floating solar, and providing support to the broader company for floating solar.

Lionel Daras is Portfolio Manager France at Velto Renewables, where he oversees the technical, contractual, and operational performance of a diversified portfolio of wind and solar assets, including the largest floating solar PV assets in Europe with an installed capacity of 74.3 MW.

With 20 years of international experience in the construction and operation of renewable energy and large‑scale infrastructure projects, Lionel has led complex developments across Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

His track record includes utility‑scale solar plants in Mali and Mauritius, multiple wind farms across France, and floating‑solar product development for France’s first large‑scale floating PV power plant in Piolenc.

His expertise spans the full project lifecycle, from design and EPC contracting to construction management, commissioning, and long‑term operations.

Passionate about the climate‑energy dual challenge, Lionel regularly contributes to awareness initiatives within his professional and academic networks.

He graduated from ESTP Paris, completed an Erasmus program in Water & Environment in Budapest, and obtained his PMP certification in 2015.

Simon Stark is a seasoned professional in the fields of ocean energy and innovation. As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at DMEC, a leading knowledge center and accelerator for offshore renewable energy innovations, he is at the forefront of advancing sustainable energy solutions.

He has dedicated his career to collaborating with developers and market players to drive the commercial and technical development of companies in the sector.

Simon is leading a dynamic team that specializes in modeling offshore multi-use projects, harnessing the power of innovative offshore hybrid parks and the future of the European energy system and market.

Lars is the owner and CEO of Seaflex. This company have worked in the business of mooring systems specifically for more than 40 years.

Lars has devoted a majority of his adult life in this business. Lars education was focused on Economics during the 70ies and he later became a sales representative for IBM selling intermediate computers.

Anas Khalil is a Civil Project Engineer at GroenLeven (Dutch subsidiary of BayWa r.e.) in the Netherlands, with experience in renewable energy, floating solar projects, and civil construction.

He has worked on anchoring systems, geotechnical coordination, and site execution for complex infrastructure projects.

His work focuses on practical engineering solutions for sustainable energy developments.

Rui L. P. de Lima holds a Master's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Coimbra, specializing in Hydraulics, Water Resources, and the Environment, with experimental thesis work conducted at Texas Tech University.

After brief roles at a Portuguese water authority and Blue21 in the Netherlands, he began researching how floating structures affect water quality and ecosystems using underwater drones equipped with sensors and cameras.

Since 2015, Rui has been with Indymo, a Dutch start-up developing unmanned vehicle applications for water systems.

Working closely with Dutch water authorities, he has conducted water quality monitoring campaigns at hundreds of sites across the Netherlands, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America.

He also spent time at Saxion University of Applied Sciences, working on novel AUV prototypes with autonomous navigation capabilities.

Rui is currently also a researcher at Hanze University of Applied Sciences and a PhD candidate at Utrecht University, where his research focuses on aquatic drones and their environmental applications for monitoring impacts of floating structures. He has published in several journals and presented at multiple international conferences.

Is the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Group Leader of the Solar Research Lab at the University of Malta.

He holds a Ph.D in Physics from the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

His major expertise is in the characterization and engineering of semiconductor and solar materials, and on solar systems, including offshore solar.

He has published extensively and holds 11 patents and two patent applications in process, on semiconductor/solar materials and systems.

His current research interests are in photovoltaics systems and materials and other renewable energy technologies.

He is involved in several funded research projects including Solaqua, a project to study and develop offshore solar energy for which a startup is being formed.

He has also just finished a 4-year term as Chairman of the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) scientific committee and has served on the boards of several local companies.

Luciano also has a passion for heritage and environmental issues and he is a Council member of Din L-Art Helwa (The National Trust of Malta).

Carmen has more than 20 years’ experience in the development and financing of power projects across Europe, Latin-American, Asia and Africa.

Prior to joining Cygnum Capital, she worked for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and has extensive experience in the development, construction and commissioning of greenfield wind farms and solar power plants at Iberdrola and Gamesa.

Tine has built a 20‑year career in renewable energy engineering. In early 2026, she founded Seavolt as an independent spin‑out.

Her work on offshore solar started in 2019, when she initiated and led the innovation project that later grew into Seavolt.

Under her leadership, the technology was developed and successfully tested at sea within an industrial consortium.

Today, as founder and CEO, she focuses on bringing offshore solar towards commercial deployment.

After a study Business Economics at Groningen University, Harold started his career in banking at Friesland Bank in 1996. Since then, he has worked in commercial, risk management, special asset management and general management roles with several Dutch banks. In 2017, Harold joined Triodos Bank as Teammanager and Relationship Manager of the Renewable Energy Team. Harold is responsible for all Triodos’ activities in the renewables sector in the Netherlands, for business development and for knowledge management in this sector. Within the renewable energy team, Harold is the expert of solar-PV technology in general and in special in floating solar

Johnny Meit (MBA) has been active since 2017 in business development and sales at Oceans of Energy

He has a background in Energy Science (MSc Utrecht University) and in Business Administration (MSc University of Amsterdam) and has previously been active in venture capital in the energy sector.

Furthermore, Johnny Meit is project manager in joint industry projects incl.

BAMBOO, EU-SCORES, and SENSE-Hub. Amongst others, this has resulted in funding of the first in the world offshore solar farm systems and the sales of the first commercial offshore solar farm in an offshore wind farm, installed in Summer 2025 for clients Shell and Eneco (in the Crosswind consortium).

TBA

Shaan Potayya is a Finance & Investment Director at Qair, where he leads the structuring and financing of renewable energy investments across Africa and the Indian Ocean.

He has overseen over USD 700m of transactions spanning solar, wind, battery storage, refinancing and M&A across multiple jurisdictions.

With over 12 years of experience in project finance, corporate finance and infrastructure investments, he has worked extensively with governments, DFIs, MDBs, commercial banks and private investors.

Shaan holds an Executive Master of Finance from HEC Paris.

Bas Prinssen is a dedicated specialist in the renewable energy sector, driven by a commitment to the global sustainable energy transition and a strategic vision to reduce dependency on oil and gas.

With a technical foundation in Mechanical Engineering, he possess a unique ability to bridge complex hardware challenges with large-scale project execution.

A seasoned expert in international energy infrastructure, Bas has successfully managed over 200MWp of project capacity and spearheaded international tenders exceeding 300MWp.

They are characterized by a "continuous improvement" mindset—always seeking to restructure and optimize existing systems while building the collaborative partnerships necessary to solve the industry’s most pressing challenges.

Currently, Bas operates as an independent consultant under EOS-Power, where they have been commissioned by Profloating to lead business development across the EMEA region.

In this role, they focus on scaling floating solar solutions and driving the expansion of innovative energy technologies from their base in Zeist, the Netherlands.