Peter Baillie

MANAGING DIRECTOR, ENERGIA RENEWABLES

Peter Baillie is Managing Director of Energia Renewables with a 21% onshore wind market share in Ireland. He has 33 years experience in utilities and leads Energia Group’s development and construction of renewable projects in Ireland. Since 2009, Peter has been responsible for the delivery of 390MW across 20 windfarms, 74MW in construction windfarms and is delivering Energia’s development across the renewable spectrum, including onshore and offshore wind development, large scale solar farms, battery storage and Energia’s ground breaking 1MW green hydrogen production at Long Mountain windfarm.

Paul McCormack

A research & innovation specialist Paul has many years of extensive skills and experience in developing, leading and delivering international projects. As a Green Hydrogen proponent Paul is passionate about tackling the climate crisis, generating energy security and building resilient communities with hydrogen as the catalyst for change.

A founding member of Hydrogen Ireland Paul is currently leading several international projects including GenComm, H2AZEL and H2CAT, Paul is helping accelerate the EU clean hydrogen journey, develop innovative sector coupling opportunities, establish alternative pathways to net zero and stimulating industry to pivot to new green economy models

His vision is to rise to our energy challenges and use this opportunity to; ensure green hydrogen is commodified, build a stronger resilient global green economy, deliver global energy security and ensure a just transition for all.

Andrea Ahern

Andrea is passionate about the key role that hydrogen and its derivatives can play in delivering a balanced pathway to net zero. She is currently VP of Net-Zero Projects IE for Belfast-based CATAGEN, a net-zero technologies company. CATAGEN wants to be part of a Sustainable Aviation Fuel demonstrator project on the island of Ireland, as it built a prototype e-fuel machine in 2022 with UK Government funding. The machine successfully demonstrated the production of e-fuels.

Previously Andrea was Portfolio Director at EIH2, a Cork Green Hydrogen company, where she was responsible for developing and delivering EIH2’s offtake strategy for its GW-scale hydrogen projects. As Gas Networks Ireland’s Hydrogen Programme Manager, Dr Ahern represented the company on the Government’s Hydrogen Working Group and played a key role in the organisation of the first Hydrogen Ireland Conference (2022).

Denise Horgan

Denise is a project manager with Gas Networks Ireland and has over 15 years’ experience delivering complex business and transformation projects in the utilities industry. As part of the GNI’s Hydrogen Programme team, she is currently focused on governance and alignment of GNI’s hydrogen activities towards decarbonisation of the gas network by 2050.

Garrett Monaghan

Garrett Monaghan has consistently been one of the most active renewables and project finance lawyers in Ireland and works across several inter-related disciplines including energy, project finance, corporate/M&A and private equity. Garrett specialises in the development, acquisition, disposal and funding of energy and infrastructure assets.

In addition to renewables and infrastructure, Garrett has worked on early phase hydrogen-related projects including offshore wind and green ammonia production. Garrett has also worked in-house within investment banking and energy trading (extending to gas, power, green certificates and commodities trading).

Catherine Joyce O’Caollai

Catherine works as Policy Manager, Future Opportunities, in ESB Generation & Trading and has worked in the climate and energy policy area for over 10 years. This has involved assessing the impact of regulatory and policy proposals on existing and future business opportunities. Prior to ESB, Catherine worked in Indaver, Ibec, UK Parliament and the European Parliament.

Simon Nesbitt

Simon is the Mott MacDonald Hydrogen Lead for Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland (NIS) and has taken a leading role in delivery of strategic planning projects for hydrogen. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer with over twenty years’ experience in multiple sectors including Energy, Transport, Water and the Built Environment across the full project life-cycle. Simon has worked in roles as Client, Contractor and Consultant in the UK and Australia.

James Carton

Dr James Carton is Assistant Professor in Sustainable Energy in Dublin City University, Ireland. Dr Carton’s research focus is energy sustainability & green Hydrogen deployment through techno-economic modelling, Power-to-X and renewable energy storage research.

Dr Carton is founder of Hydrogen Ireland Association, academic advisor to Hydrogen Mobility Ireland & hydrogen expert to the United Nations-ECE.

Dr Carton is Principal Lead of HyLight a 25 industry partner & government of Ireland SFI funded project with the Irish Marine Renewable energy institute to investigate the role of hydrogen to support decarbonisation on the island of Ireland.

Dr Carton has also been awarded EU project funding for HySkills to inform and up-skill technicians and first responders about hydrogen technology to allow our workforce and economy to take advantage of the opportunities Ireland has to develop cleaner, greener technologies in the fight against climate change.

Meadhbh Connolly

Meadhbh Connolly is Manager, Future Opportunities in ESB Generation & Trading, responsible for monitoring horizon level technology developments and policy trends to identify and assess the potential impact on energy markets and future investment opportunities. She has a particular focus on the role of renewable H2 in delivering “Net Zero 2040”, a core part of ESB's new Strategy. Meadhbh has 30 years’ experience working as a professional engineer in a wide range of roles within ESB Generation & Trading, ESB National Grid and ESB International.

Loretta Joyce

Loretta joined the CRU in 2016 and was appointed Director of Energy Safety in 2023. Loretta previously held roles in the CRU as Compliance and Enforcement Senior Manager, Gas Safety Framework Manager and Safety Supervisory Body Manager. She has also worked as an Inspector in the Environmental Protection Agency and Waste Enforcement Manager on behalf of local authorities. Loretta holds a B.Sc in Biotechnology and Master’s in Environmental Protection as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management. The CRU’s Energy Safety Division holds a key oversight role in protecting public safety and the prevention of major accidents in Ireland’s energy sector. Loretta is responsible for overseeing energy safety regulation in the gas sector (networks, supply, storage, use and liquefied petroleum gas distribution), petroleum sector (upstream onshore and offshore exploration and extraction), and of gas installers and electrical contractors.

Paul Monaghan

Paul Monaghan is the Group Head of Sustainability for Mannok and has led the development of the company’s ambitious 2030 Vision, its sustainability roadmap to the end of the decade. With a wealth of experience in a variety of technical support and leadership roles in the fields of Environmental Sustainability, Health & Safety, Paul is passionate about overcoming the decarbonisation challenge faced by the construction and manufacturing industries. He believes in the power of collaboration to achieve the end goal, and actively works in partnership with a multitude of sustainability focused bodies and industry organisations to further advance the decarbonisation drive.

-          25 years’ experience working in manufacturing across a range of sectors.

-          MSc & PgD in Science disciplines.

-          Certified under the Cambridge University Sustainability Leadership Programme.

-          Sit on steering committees involved in academic research/developing national policy in the areas of Hydrogen & Carbon Capture.

-          Professional member of Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) and Institute of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability (ICRS).

-          Chair of a local Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) – Recently launched our Energy Master Plan with Sligo County Council & SEAI.

Jackie Keaney

Jackie is Policy & Commercial Director of Indaver in Ireland & UK and has worked with the company for over 25 years focusing on policy, communications & business development. She  is also a Vice President of CEWEP eu and President of CEWEP Ireland where she contributes to the development of circular economy, energy and net zero carbon policy at an EU and national level.

Indaver has been operating Ireland’s first waste-to-energy facility since 2011 and has advanced plans to develop further facilities on the Island of Ireland as well as in England and Scotland. The company is committed to playing a leading role in the transition to a circular economy and in achieving net-zero targets. As well as recovering valuable materials and producing energy from non-recyclable waste, Indaver’s modern waste management solutions are enabling and delivering a range of wider net-zero bene­fits. For example, the company is developing a 10MW electrolyser at the Meath waste-to-energy facility and identifying sustainable routes to market for the hydrogen produced.

Dr Bodo Groß

Bodo has more than 25 years of work experience, mostly in strategic positions in several research institutes such as the Saarland University, the Institute for New Materials and the IZES gGmbH. He studied chemistry at Saarland University in Saarbrücken. After gaining his PhD in this field of proton conducting ceramics he joins the Leibnitz institute for New Materials. Then he worked in a post doc position at Saarlands University in the department of physical chemistry. In September 2000 he joins the IZES gGmbH – Institute for future energy and material flow systems. In 2007 he becomes the leader of the department of technical innovations. Since October 2023 he is seconded part time to the Saarland Hydrogen Agency.

Jayne Brady

Jayne took up the post as Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service in September 2021, the first female and external appointment in its 100 year history. As part of this role she is the most senior adviser to the First Minister and the deputy First Minister and Secretary to the Northern Ireland Executive.

An engineer at heart with extensive, board experience and a track record of success that transcends blue-chip corporations, start-ups and funding ecosystems.

She has over twenty years’ leadership experience and a diverse skillset including venture capital, due diligence, corporate governance, setting strategy, leading teams, technical ownership and finance across complex organisational structures internationally.

Recent roles include Digital Innovation Commissioner, Partner in Venture Capital firm with £100Mn+ funds under management and co-founder of an Award winning Artificial Intelligence start-up. 

She was also a member of the UK Government’s Innovation Expert Group which developed its 2021 Innovation Strategy and was appointed an Entrepreneurial Expert for Oxford University in 2020.

She is deeply committed to delivering economic and social development through harnessing innovation and was recognised for services to the economy with both an MBE (2018) and honorary doctorate (2019). She has a passion for supporting young people and was a counsellor for Childline and board member for Young Enterprise NI.

Jayne has a strong, established professional network and is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Irish Academy of Engineers. She has three children, twin girls and a son.

Richard Rodgers

Richard Rodgers is Head of Energy, Department for the Economy, with over 30 years’ experience in the energy industry - British Gas for 8, Phoenix Natural Gas for 12, as MD (International) at Eaga for 5 years, responsible for the delivery of fuel poverty programmes for Governments across the world, Strategic Advisor (Energy) at the Strategic Investment Board for 4 years and for the past 4 years as Head of Energy in the Department for the Economy, leading the development and in the delivery of the Northern Ireland Energy Strategy.

Richard was also a non-executive director on the Board of the Utility Regulator for 8 years (until March 2019).

Ruth Scott

TV Presenter, Radio Presenter, Event host & Facilitator at a broad spectrum of events. 

With many successful events under her belt for clients including IBM, Bank Of Ireland, The British Council For Offices, International Epilepsy Congress, Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards, Women in Tech & Dublin Chamber,

Her warm and easy presenting style and wonderful ability to inform and communicate important conference messages to an audience transfers flawlessly into the corporate sector.

In recent years, she has presented TV and Radio Shows including Ireland AM, The Elaine Show, after almost 20 years with RTE 2fm, Ruth now presents her own show 5 nights a week on Ireland’s Classic Hits Radio. 

Praveen Kumar Selvam

I am an enthusiastic doctoral student with a strong passion for advancing the field of hydrogen production. My current research focuses on developing high entropy materials as electrocatalysts to generate hydrogen from anion exchange membrane (AEM) saline water electrolyzers. My academic journey began with a bachelor's degree in nanoscience and technology, followed by a master's degree in green energy technology. During this period, I gained extensive experience through internships, as well as through my bachelor's and master's projects. One notable achievement during my master's program was the publication of my research project titled "High entropy metal oxide@graphene oxide composite as electrocatalyst for green hydrogen generation using anion exchange membrane seawater electrolyzer" in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. Currently, I am pursuing my Ph.D. at the University of Galway as part of the European-funded project known as "ANion Exchange Membrane Electrolysis from Low-grade water sources (ANEMEL)."

Cian Moran

Cian Moran is a final year PhD Researcher working alongside Professor Rory Monaghan as part of the Erin Research Group (https://sites.google.com/view/erinresearchgroup/home). His work examines the role of hydrogen and electrofuels in energy system decarbonisation, with a particular interest in integration with the electricity and gas networks. Cian’s work on techno-economic analysis of hydrogen production, storage, and distribution has been published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.  Before undertaking his PhD, Cian worked with award-winning smart grid technology company VIOTAS. Cian is also a co-founder and member of Galway Energy Co-operative.

Emma McKenna

Emma McKenna is a specialist in the field of Net Zero and the circular economy. She currently works as the Head of Net Zero at Innovate UK KTN, where she oversees a range of programs aimed at driving innovation and supporting the transition to a Net Zero and circular economy. In addition to this role, Emma manages KTN's Net Zero 2030 program, which is an internal initiative to achieve Net Zero emissions within the organisation by 2030.

Emma has a wealth of experience in the Net Zero and circular economy innovation ecosystem. She has worked on numerous award-winning programs, including ReLondon's business support program which provided guidance to small and medium-sized enterprises on how to adopt and implement circular innovation. She also played a key role in the design and delivery of the city of Peterborough's Smart City program, which was named World Smart City of the Year in 2015.

Gillian Kinsella

Gillian is Senior Policy Manager with Bord Gáis Energy. She leads on a variety of EU and national policy developments for Bord Gáis Energy, with a particular focus on hydrogen. Gillian has over 10 years’ experience in the energy sector covering a variety of regulatory and policy roles. Prior to joining Bord Gáis Energy, Gillian worked in environmental policy in Offshore Energies UK. Gillian is currently co-chair of Hydrogen Ireland’s Policy & Advocacy Working Group.

Paul Schutze

Paul is a Senior Project Development Manager with Bord na Móna. Being a member of the Commercial Team within the Renewable Energy business unit he is responsible for developing Bord na Móna’s business strategy for green hydrogen. This strategy sets out short, medium and long term targets on how to best utilise Bord na Móna's landbank and renewable energy projects to produce and supply green hydrogen to the market. Developing the Mt Lucas Hydrogen Project, Bord na Móna was awarded planning consent for the project, which made it the first green hydrogen project with planning consent in the Republic of Ireland.

Prior to joining the Bord na Móna team, Paul was working as a Senior Project Manager for EirGrid, connecting a range of renewable energy projects to the electricity grid and submitted a planning application for the 10MW hydrogen project for Indaver Ireland.

Paul is providing guest lectures on “Business Development for Green Hydrogen Projects” at DCU and is currently the chair person for the Wind Energy Ireland Hydrogen Production Working Group.

Gearóid FitzGerald

Gearóid FitzGerald is the hydrogen commercial manager with Gas Networks Ireland and is responsible for the programme management and advocacy for the development of hydrogen clusters, repurposing of the existing network to transport hydrogen in the future.

Seán Keogh

Seán Keogh is the Principal Inspector of the Gas, Utilities and Docks Group in the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI). He has a BEng in Chemical Engineering from Queens University in Belfast and a MSC from University College Dublin.

Seán joined HSENI in 2009 after 10 years working in industry. During his time with HSENI Seán has worked across a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, food production and agriculture. Over the past 4 years he has been the lead inspector responsible for the application of health and safety regulation in the gas industry in Northern Ireland.

Paul Lennon

Paul is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and Head of Asset Management at Gas Networks Ireland (GNI).  He has over 20 years asset management experience within the Oil, Gas and Water industries.  The Asset Management function in GNI is responsible for ensuring the safe, reliable, and efficient lifecycle management of the gas network and for its strategic development.  It is GNI’s vision to become a net zero emission gas network by 2050 by transitioning to renewable gases such as biomethane and Hydrogen.  Paul and his team are currently performing a technical assessment of the gas network and developing a transition plan to determine what works will be required to ready the gas network for Hydrogen blends and ultimately up to 100% Hydrogen.

Haresankar Jayasankar

Mr. Haresh (Haresankar) Jayashankar, a distinguished Mechanical Engineer from Sri Lanka, is currently pursuing his Structured PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Galway under the guidance of Dr Rory Monaghan. An alumnus of the University of Ruhuna, he was awarded a Gold Medal for his outstanding achievements in Mechanical Engineering. In recognition of his excellence, Haresh was also honored with two IMechE awards: the Frederic Barnes Waldron Best Student Award and the Project Award. During the initial stages of his research at the University of Galway, Haresh focused on the Techno-economic Analysis for Carbon Capture and Transport in Ireland.

Aodhan McAleer, ESB

Aodhán McAleer is the Hydrogen & Energy Storage Manager and leads ESB’s hydrogen team to deliver the Hydrogen Economy as a pathway to the decarbonisation of Heavy Transport, Industry, Power Generation and as an Energy Storage solution for our future net-zero energy system.  Aodhán is especially focused on delivering ESB’s strategy of Net-Zero by 2040 which will include solving the large scale energy storage challenge using sub-sea geological solutions, the development of clusters/hubs as part of Ireland’s Hydrogen Valley and the deployment of physical hydrogen infrastructure including electrolysers, refueling stations, fuel cells and other forms of zero-carbon dispatchable generation. Aodhán has held a wide range of roles in the ESB include Future Opportunities Manager, Generation Station I-SEM Manager, Operation Manager (Moneypoint), Plant Manager (Donegal Hydro Stations) and Energy Trading.

SARAH KENNINGHAM

Sarah Kenningham is Second Secretary Economic & Prosperity at the British Embassy Dublin where she leads on UK-Ireland climate and energy cooperation. Policy areas in her remit include energy security and renewables; energy efficiency and the built environment; transport decarbonisation; sustainable agriculture; nature and biodiversity protection.  She has been working on British-Irish relations in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office since 2019, on loan from the Cabinet Office. Sarah joined the UK civil service in 2017 from the voluntary sector where she worked on poverty and human rights issues in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Philippines.

Sile Brennan

Sile Brennan joined the Hydrogen Safety Engineering and Research Centre (HySAFER) at Ulster in 2007. In this time, she has contributed to a range of collaborative projects in hydrogen safety, both in R&D and in education and training. She recently coordinated the FCH JU HyResponder project a European train the trainer programme for responders in Hydrogen Safety.

She has previously participated in the European project HyIndoor involving pre-normative research on the indoor use of hydrogen and fuel cell systems, and the European H2FC infrastructure project where she coordinated the European technical school on hydrogen and fuel cells. Her research interests are in CFD modelling of hydrogen releases and fires, and hydrogen methane blends.

Éanna McCarthy

Dr. Éanna McCarthy is a post-doctoral researcher in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Dublin City University. His PhD work was in laser, chemical vapour, and wet chemical deposition of films and nanostructures for field emission, and as a post-doc he has worked extensively on laser processing, material science, and nanomaterials.

Ruta Baltause

16 years’ work experience in the European Commission, in area of energy policy and legislation

Including:

• 2014 - 2015 - support to the EU Presidency in the Council;

• 2017-2022 – support to Ukraine on energy market- and legislation development.

Armando Botello

Armando is responsible for the BOC UK & Ireland business in addition to being Business President for Linde in Northern Europe. Armando joined Praxair Mexico in 1991 and transferred to Praxair US in 2008, holding several senior roles within that organisation, including President of Praxair Puerto Rico and Vice President for the Western Region, before taking up the role of Linde Business President Region Europe North in 2021. Armando has a degree in Chemical Metallurgical Engineering and an Executive MBA.

In his new UK & Ireland role, Armando aims to build on the company's strong history of success and ensure that BOC continues to be a leading figure for decarbonisation technologies, in particular, the role hydrogen will play in the energy transition.

Colum O’Connell

A resident of Valentia Island, Colum is actively engaged in several community development programs. Colum is a Director for Valentia Island Development Company (VIDCo) which was formed by a group of people from Valentia Island who were interested in promoting the Island and helping it to be developed in a sustainable way and to make it a better place for future generations to live, work and play. One of the key focus areas of VIDCo is is to maximise the potential of the sustainable energy transition to Valentia’s benefit. Out of this, Valentia Island Energy Co-op was formed with a focus on three main areas

1. Retrofitting the islands homes and buildings to a more sustainable standard

2. Delivery of STEM education program on sustainable energy

3. Development of hydrogen based renewable energy systems

Colum is Chairman of Valentia Energy Co-op.

Jason Hannon

Author of Irelands National Hydrogen Strategy. Responsible for the development and implementation of hydrogen policy and the study of energy systems integration.

Robbert Lagerwejj

Robbert represents the Project Finance department of Rabobank. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Rabobank is a global financial service provider with product offerings ranging from payment account for private individuals to investment banking services for the largest corporations. Rabobank has a strong position in the Project Finance market and particularly in renewable energy generation in Europe and North America. Robbert has been working with clients in the energy and utility sectors for over 10 years and currently focusses on structuring and financing energy transition related infrastructure projects, including hydrogen, in the Western European market.

Luke Gilroy

Graduated from Dublin City University in 2022 with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Sustainability Engineering.

Deeply interested in sustainability, in particular promoting the acceptance of sustainable technologies and practices across industries and among the general public.

Currently working as a Research Engineer on the RESR Project, a joint hydrogen storage project taking place between Dublin City University and University College Dublin.

Dr Matthew Elliot

Dr Matthew Elliott is a Principal Technologist at CATAGEN, providing technical oversight for all research and development activities. With a track record in delivering multifaceted technology development, Matthew’s current projects include those supported by the DESNZ H2BECCS and Red Diesel Replacement funds, where Matthew is driving development of the ClimaHtech Compressor, E-Fuel Gen and BIOHGEN technologies. Academically, Matthew has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast, focusing on investigating potential performance improvement of mixed-flow turbines through relaxed mechanical constraints, along with a Master of Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast. 

Dr Andrew Woods

Andrew is the founder and driving force behind CATAGEN, a successful spin-out from Queen’s University, Belfast (QUB). Completing a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Automotive Catalysis, he leveraged his expertise to establish the CATAGEN business, building upon technology originally developed at QUB. 

During his time at QUB, Andrew collaborated closely with Professor Roy Douglas, pioneering a ground-breaking and cost-effective method for testing catalytic converters, crucial for cleaning up tailpipe emissions. CATAGEN initially focused on supplying test equipment to two major vehicle manufacturers. Building on this success, Dr Woods spearheaded a significant research and development initiative aimed at scaling the technology for broader applications and in 2017, Andrew launched a service-based business model, leading to remarkable growth for CATAGEN. The company’s rapid expansion earned recognition from Deloitte naming CATAGEN one of Ireland’s fastest growing businesses in 2019, 2020 and 2023. CATAGEN also stood as Northern Ireland representative on Tech Nation’s Net Zero Cohort in 2021 and 2022. 

In 2019 Andrew developed a highly scalable and disruptive business strategy based on learnings he accumulated in entrepreneurship development courses at MIT and Stanford Universities. As a result, and utilising the team’s ingenuity, talent, and united sense of purpose to ‘clean and decarbonise the air’, CATAGEN developed ClimaHtech - 5 x cutting-edge Net Zero technologies - and has won 7 x UK Government Funding Awards from Department of Energy Security and Net Zero. These advancements include renewable hydrogen production, e-Fuel production, carbon capture and hydrogen compression technologies. These significantly disruptive technologies have put the company on a path to be a truly scalable, global net zero technologies company that has true impact on climate targets. In recognition of Andrew’s success, he is a finalist in EY Entrepreneur of the YearTM 2023.

Daniel Fraile

Daniel Fraile is Chief Policy Officer at Hydrogen Europe where he leads the policy work of the association. He has 18 years of experience on energy policy, renewables energy technologies and international cooperation. He is an engineer with a masters on telecommunications and a Masters in renewable energy.  Today, he is leading the Hydrogen Europe policy work, leading a team of analysts and policy specialists. Before, Daniel had been Director of Market Intelligence at WindEurope, where he worked for 7 years leading the market research and leading several policy topics such as system integration and hydrogen. Previously, Daniel has worked on strategic management consulting in the Power to gas sector, has worked for the European photovoltaic industry association, for the environmental NGO CAN-Europe and for the Spanish utility Iberdrola.

Dr Andrew Woods

Andrew is the founder and driving force behind CATAGEN, a successful spin-out from Queen’s University, Belfast (QUB). Completing a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Automotive Catalysis, he leveraged his expertise to establish the CATAGEN business, building upon technology originally developed at QUB. 

During his time at QUB, Andrew collaborated closely with Professor Roy Douglas, pioneering a ground-breaking and cost-effective method for testing catalytic converters, crucial for cleaning up tailpipe emissions. CATAGEN initially focused on supplying test equipment to two major vehicle manufacturers. Building on this success, Dr Woods spearheaded a significant research and development initiative aimed at scaling the technology for broader applications and in 2017, Andrew launched a service-based business model, leading to remarkable growth for CATAGEN. The company’s rapid expansion earned recognition from Deloitte naming CATAGEN one of Ireland’s fastest growing businesses in 2019, 2020 and 2023. CATAGEN also stood as Northern Ireland representative on Tech Nation’s Net Zero Cohort in 2021 and 2022. 

In 2019 Andrew developed a highly scalable and disruptive business strategy based on learnings he accumulated in entrepreneurship development courses at MIT and Stanford Universities. As a result, and utilising the team’s ingenuity, talent, and united sense of purpose to ‘clean and decarbonise the air’, CATAGEN developed ClimaHtech - 5 x cutting-edge Net Zero technologies - and has won 7 x UK Government Funding Awards from Department of Energy Security and Net Zero. These advancements include renewable hydrogen production, e-Fuel production, carbon capture and hydrogen compression technologies. These significantly disruptive technologies have put the company on a path to be a truly scalable, global net zero technologies company that has true impact on climate targets. In recognition of Andrew’s success, he is a finalist in EY Entrepreneur of the YearTM 2023.

Fatemeh Dadashidooki

Fatemeh is a PhD researcher at University of Galway working on the outlook for electro-fuels and H2-enriched biofuels within the HyLIGHT project. She is passionate about the global energy transition and sustainability, and she has been pursuing this passion since when she joined the master’s program in energy and environment at École Polytechnique (Paris) in 2018. She studied management, entrepreneurship and innovation at ESADE Business School (Barcelona) and she worked at ENGIE Global Markets in France with the sustainability and innovation team before joining the HyLIGHT project.

Derek Scully

Derek was appointed Head of Corporate Affairs at Energia Group in 2020, having joined the Group in 2010 and his work is focussed on supporting the Group’s €3bn Positive Energy investment programme.  Energia Group is a modern utility contributing significantly to the energy transition across the island of Ireland.  The Group’s offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, battery storage and hydrogen projects will play a significant role in the achievement of Ireland’s 2030 targets and in the wider decarbonisation of the energy system.

Derek has a MA in Economics from University College Dublin and a Barrister-at-Law Degree from King’s Inns. 

Alan Reid

Alan completed his studies at Queen’s University Belfast in 1994 and embarked on his engineering journey in Tetbury, England, joining the renowned PowerScreen team. Over the subsequent 15 years, Alan amassed a wealth of experience across diverse roles and companies in the industry. Recognizing the potential of his expertise in Manufacturing Engineering, he transitioned to an academic role. Fifteen years ago, he began imparting his knowledge as a lecturer at Northern Regional College.

In his current capacity as Innovation Manager, Alan oversees a team of Technical Consultants. This team is responsible for projects funded by Connected, in collaboration with entities like InnovateUs, Innovation Vouchers, Innovation Boost, KTPs, and other cost recovery initiatives.

Today, Alan is poised to highlight the collaborative efforts undertaken by colleges to launch the Hydrogen Training Academy (HTA). This initiative, in alliance with Mid and East Antrim Council, is geared towards providing accredited training in hydrogen technologies. A pivotal aspect of this training is to equip individuals with skills vital for the transition to green power, thereby playing a significant role in decarbonizing the energy sector.

Catherine Sheridan

Catherine  Sheridan is a chartered engineer and a passionate advocate for systems thinking in the transition to Net Zero 2050.  Ryze Hydrogen together with Wrightbus and Hygen are working to establish an Energy System Integration centre of excellence at Ballymena and are working closely with supply chain partners and customers to ensure the energy transition enables economic benefits for the island of Ireland. 

Martin Farrell

Martin is a project development manager at Walls Mechanical Services. Martin has over 25 years management experience in the gas industry in both distribution and transmission projects. As part of the future, Walls Mechanical Services are involved in a number of innovation projects to try decarbonise the industrial commercial sector by displacing fossil fuels with a greener energy such as hydrogen and biomethane.

Rachel Sankannawar

As Invest NI’s Head of Green Economy Development, Rachel focuses on empowering NI businesses to fully optimise the opportunities emerging in the green economy, and to support business decarbonisation in the drive towards net zero. With over ten years experience across private and public sector, Rachel advises on strategic direction for the development of solutions, capability and technologies needed to tackle climate change and advance a green economy in NI.

Dr Moira Lewis

Moira is a Senior Process Safety Consultant with Gexcon UK. She has 10 years’ professional experience in the provision of consultancy services to the operators of Seveso/COMAH establishments including preparation of Safety Reports, chemical risk assessments, hazard identification, consequence modelling, quantitative risk assessment, development of safety management and emergency response systems.

Mark Teevan

Mark is part of the Business Development team at UK Hydrogen refuelling specialist, Element 2 and leads on BD for Ireland. Element 2 sees a future large-scale market for hydrogen as a fuel for commercial vehicles and is in the early stages of building out a network of refueling stations across Ireland and the UK. Prior to this he held many senior positions with Toyota in Ireland, most recently as Director of Strategy, Innovation and Corporate Affairs and before that as Commercial Director.

While at Toyota Mark led the formation of the organisation, Hydrogen Mobility Ireland, https://h2irl.com . In addition to his role at Element 2, Mark is a Partner at advisory firm Prime Advantage Capital Partners and is also Entrepreneur & Investor in Residence @ The Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College.

Peter Cunningham

Peter Cunningham is the Head of New Ventures for SSE Thermal responsible for growing the business in Ireland. His focus is the delivery of reliable, clean, flexible and dispatchable plant that will help to power Ireland to 2030 and beyond. Peter was previously Head of Onshore Wind Development for Airtricity in Ireland. Prior to joining SSE, he worked with EY, BayWa and most recently as an Investment Manager with the Temporis Aurora Fund. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from UCD and is a Chartered Engineer.

Elena Mosca

2nd Year Master's student in Energy and Nuclear Engineering | Politecnico di Torino Specializing in Renewable Energy Systems Currently collaborating with the Erin Research Group at the National University of Galway on my Master's thesis, investigating the potential of green hydrogen production

Email: s303495@studenti.polito.it

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elena-mosca-9847a6267

Geetha Srinivasan

Dr. Geetha Srinivasan as an applied chemist with 22 years of research experience is passionate about sustainable chemistry, currently with PETRONAS as a Principal Scientist in R&D Chemistry. Richly experienced in leading and directing research and development at the interface between academia and industry with a strong innovation record of technologies.

Recipient of several awards including the outstanding women in science award from L’Oréal-UNESCO-Royal Society in 2012 for her work on ionic liquids in biomedical applications. This was followed by three Institute of Chemical Engineering – IChemE awards and Don Nicklin Medal in 2013 as a key researcher in an environmental mitigation project dealing with toxic heavy metal removal from petrochemical streams, showcased by RSC as one of the 175 faces of Chemistry, recipient of Rising Star in Science and Engineering Category Award UK in 2018.

She has mentored and supervised numerous doctorates at different stages of their careers.

Professional recognition includes Elected Member Appointment in the Royal Society of Chemistry Industry and Technology Division in 2020, International Editorial Member for ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, and Associate Editor in Green Chemistry Reviews and Letters. Geetha is a Chartered Chemist (CChem), Chartered Scientist (CSci), Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC).

Besides chemistry, Geetha is a diversity and inclusivity champion.

Ian Williamson

Ian Williamson is a technically astute, commercial hydrogen specialist who is recognised by the sector as a leading voice in advocating the strengths using hydrogen.  He has spent most of his 30+ year career involved with hydrogen. He has developed and managed all facets of the future hydrogen market for Air Products - including large scale SMRs, hydrogen distribution by trailer and pipeline, to the energy applications involving both fuelling stations and fuel cells. He has been CEO of one of the few British fuel cell companies (AFC Energy) and understands the complexities of applying all fuel cell technologies. He has also recently worked with two leading European electrolysis companies who are developing multiple MW range technologies. He still leads the European Hydrogen Association and is a board member of the Irish Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association. Ian’s affiliations speak for themselves in positioning him as an expert in terms of Hydrogen technology.

Peter Lynch

Peter has worked for UK Export Finance for 32 years, in a range of roles, including Underwriting, Banking and Corporate Risk, Policy and Country Risk. Formerly the Business Manager for Construction and then Oil & Gas, he moved over to Renewables & Transition in 2021 and has been the lead for offshore wind projects as well as other sectors, and has worked on a number of major project financings. With a recent change of role to Deputy Head, Peter is responsible for all sectors in the renewable landscape, and will seek to develop the UK offering for projects large and small to meet the challenges and provide support for viable transactions with a UK element.

Tony O’Reilly

Tony O’Reilly is CEO and a Founder of dCarbonX.  A graduate of Brown University, Tony has +30 years C-suite experience ranging from large, multi-site international businesses to start-ups in industries ranging from oil and gas exploration to mining, to consumer media and luxury goods, to environmental technology and financial services.  Prior to co-founding dCarbonX in 2020, Tony was CEO of Providence Resources Plc from 2005 to 2019, CEO of Wedgwood from 2001 to 2005 and prior to that, Tony was Chairman and CEO of ARCON.  Tony was also co-founder of two start-ups, Zenergy and Lockwood, which were respectively involved in high temperature superconductivity (HTS) technology and funds management.

Keith Whiriskey

Keith has fifteen years of experience in European climate policy, industrial decarbonisation, and the delivery of large low carbon projects. In 2022, Keith joined Enterprise Irelands Sustainability, Renewable Energy & Agritech department providing planning and investment supports to help business reduce emissions and increase competitiveness

Dr Danielle Stewart

Danielle is responsible for the development and delivery of National Gas Transmission’s hydrogen transition strategy and infrastructure development programmes. National Gas owns and operates the national gas transmission network in Great Britain, delivering energy to where it is needed across the country.

Danielle has over 12 years’ energy sector experience and contributes to multiple collaborative UK and European innovation programmes for a clean energy transition. She is a chartered engineer, holds a PhD in physics and an MBA specialising in sustainability, and is the recipient of several industry awards. 

Emmet Lagan

A Director-level electrical engineer with over twenty years' experience working in the Power and Energy sector, fifteen of which has been within Renewables generation . A business leader with successful merger and acquisition experience. Emmet leads on new technologies within Lagan Energy Engineer. Having spent 10 years in SSE renewables in asset management and Electrical engineering capacity, Emmet uses this experience to identify opportunities in the renewables and data centre sector to introduce new technologies such as hydrogen. This has lead to Lagan Energy Engineering being appointed as principal to a number of flagship Hydrogen demonstration projects such as the Long Mountain hydrogen project, The Energia/Translink Hydrogen refuelling project and the Mannok Hydrogen Valley.