RE-Source Southeast 2023

380+
attendees

50+
speakers

30+
countries

1:1
networking

Testimonials

RE-Source Southeast is the perfect place for buyers and sellers of renewable electricity to meet and discuss opportunities for RES sourcing in our region. The 2023 event was a great success, and I look forward to next year’s version!

Re-Source Southeast 2023 is the most significant event in the field of corporate renewable energy sourcing in the region. It brings valuable insights and practical experience from leading industry players, as well as the networking opportunity to meet more than 300 investors, developers, energy traders, service providers and partners in one place.

The atmosphere of RE-Source Southeast is consistently remarkable! Gathering industry leaders, clients, and regulators in one venue to delve into the latest renewable energy topics is not only motivational but also rejuvenating and enlightening.

Exceptional networking event combined with informative panel discussions. Excellent opportunity to share best practices and experience with wide range of professionals.

RE-Source Southeast 2023 was a great, very useful and very professionally organized event! This year the forum managed to significantly exceed our expectations. I am looking forward to utilizing successfully all new contacts, knowledge and ideas, acquired during the conference.

RE-Source Southeast Conference 2023

RE-Source Southeast is the main event dedicated to corporate sourcing of renewable energy in Southeast Europe. It brings together industrial and corporate consumers, project developers, electricity traders and renewable power producers.

As the industry zooms in on decarbonisation paths that also offer affordable and secure energy supplies, RE-Source Southeast 2023 will bring together local and international developers, traders and corporate buyers to share good practices, discuss challenges and opportunities and outline future trends and developments.

2023 Key Topics:

PPAs Structure & Pricing
Business Strategies
RES Policy & Markets
Regional Updates
Energy Trading
Grid & Storage
Heating & Cooling

Agenda

Day 1 - May 18th

8:30 - 9:00 WELCOME Coffee & Registration

Forum John Atanasov, Sofia Tech Park

9:00 - 9:25 Opening remarks & Keynote speech

Bruce Douglas, Eurelectric

9:30 - 10:30 Corporate procurement of renewable energy from a regional perspective

Policies encouraging renewables have always lagged behind the market in SEE but the high energy prices and volatility on the market pushed policy makers to take swift action.

Greece is a clear leader, revising upwards its 2030 renewable energy target to 28 GW of new renewables plus 8 GW of energy storage.

Romania announced plans to lift the share of renewables in the power mix to 34%, in other words targeting 10 GW of new capacity by the end of the decade.

Bulgaria is still working out its long-term energy plans but a ‘silent’ revolution is taking place with a boom of self-consumption projects in the C&I sector and plenty of utility-scale projects in the pipeline, some of which are already starting to come online. The country added close to 400 MW new solar power projects in 2022 with a view of 700 MW more coming up this year.

Türkiye’s renewable electricity generation has nearly tripled in the last decade and the National Energy Plan for 2035 reveals an ambition to boost solar power capacity by five times and triple the wind power capacity.

The opening panel will gather representatives of the RES associations in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Türkiye to share their views on policy developments, planned new investments, incentives and challenges for corporate procurement of renewable energy in the region.

Moderator: Daniel Dang, Director Business Development at SolarPower Europe, RE-Source Platform

Participants:

Nikola Gazdov, Association for Production, Storage and Trading of Electricity (APSTE)
Miglena Stoilova, Bulgarian Wind Energy Association (BGWEA)
Irene Mihai, Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA)
Dimitris Varlamis, Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Companies (HELAPCO)
Halil Demirdağ, Turkish Photovoltaic Industry Association (GENSED)

10:35 -11:00 Coffee break

11:00 - 11:55 Focus on Bulgaria: New elections, new energy strategy?

Despite raised green ambitions in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Bulgaria is yet to adopt key legislation to accelerate renewables development and grid-integration. This panel will explore the views of key policy makers on cutting red tape and supporting investments and corporate procurement of renewable energy.

Moderator: Nikola Gazdov, APSTE

Participants:

Angelin Tsachev, Executive Director at Electricity System Operator (ESO)
Ivan Ivanov, Chairman of Bulgaria’s Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC)
Vladislav Panev, Member of Energy Commission in Parliament
Radoslav Ribarski, Member of Energy Commission in Parliament
Delyan Dobrev, Member of Energy Commission in Parliament

12:00 - 12:55 Аchieving better return on investment for RES projects. Planning and procuring strategies, quality checks and key success factors.

Leading developers, original equipment manufacturers, EPC contractors and service providers will join us for this panel to discuss latest technological advances, supply chains, price trends and quality checks as well as lessons learned on how to ensure the best return on investment for RES projects. We will talk frankly about risks and how these can be mitigated. What the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan could mean for SEE markets and renewable energy buyers? How do we ensure quality and longevity of renewable energy assets?

Moderator: Arthur Claire, Head of Technology, Sinovoltaics

Participants:

Alex Sekulovic, Chief Operating and Financial Officer, CWP Europe
Maria Merdzhanova, Head of Sales Northern Europe, UK & Ireland, Jinko Solar
Vladimir Tabutov, CEO, hec solar
Martin Iliev, Managing Director, WPD Bulgaria
Sam Zheng, Managing Director, Huawei Digital Power South Balkans, Photomate
Radoslav Mikov, Partner, WolfTheiss

13:00 - 14:00 Lunch

14:00 - 15:00 Taming uncertainty in energy trading. PPA pricing & hedging strategies.

While self-consumption and on-site generation is still the prevailing choice for SEE corporates, the PPA market has the potential to catch up fast, as first deals have already been announced in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania and most recently in Serbia and North Macedonia too. Across Europe, high market prices tempted power producers to shift towards short-term PPAs and more active energy trading strategies with a rising focus on short-term hedges. Last year, over 160 corporate PPAs were signed in Europe for a total of 8.4 GW of renewable energy assets. Does the SEE region benefit from this trend and what PPA pricing & hedging strategies can be applied?

Experienced European traders and developers are coming to this panel to share key insights and strategic views on the SEE power market.

Moderator: Maria Popova, Director Carbon Neutrality and Renewable Electricity, European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET)

Participants:

Konstantin Konstantinov, CEO, Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX)
Dr Evangelos Gazis, Market Lead for South Eastern Europe, Aurora Research
Ivan Velev, Portfolio Manager, ACT Commodities
Milena Videnova, Managing Director, Axpo Bulgaria
Severin Vartigov, Country Manager Bulgaria, Enery
Mats Lundin, Country Manager Romania, Emergy
Dimitar Bartov, Managing Director, Synergon Energy

15:05 - 16:00 Sustainable financing for RES projects

This panel will gather leading corporations and financial institutions to discuss the role of the EU’s Green Taxonomy and environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in fueling renewable energy development in Southeastern Europe. What drives demand for renewable energy on the buyer’s side? How do developers and corporates structure a bankable PPA? Is there a secret recipe for success when securing financing for self-consumption projects?

Moderator: Rositsa Chopeva, CEO, xFigure Finance

Participants:

Svetlin Pislenski, Associate Director, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Atanas Ivanov, Public Sector Lending, Central and South East Europe Department, European Investment Bank (EIB)
Patrick Zeitinger, Member of the Supervisory Board, ProCredit Bank Bulgaria
Matej Kruspan, Chief Commercial Officer, Rezolv Energy
Petar Georgiev, Managing Partner, Renewable Energy Insurance Broker (REIB)

16:00 - 16:30 Coffee break

16:30 - 17:30 Industry decarbonisation paths - what it takes to make a net zero strategy work in SEE

The panel will gather companies from different industry sectors to discuss the challenges of implementing renewable energy solutions as a way to achieve climate neutrality and energy security at the same time. Different approaches will be presented – from steel production to sustainable tourism, and from on-site generation to corporate PPAs.We will discuss what drives corporate policies and targets for renewable energy and what is the difference of being ESG compliant, climate neutral, net zero or carbon negative.

Moderator: Stefano Miriello, Policy and Business Development Advisor, RE-Source Platform

Participants:

Ema Popova, Industry Lead Southeast Europe, Microsoft
Rumen Karamihalev, Managing Director for Eastern Europe, Ovako, part of Nippon Steel Group
Yoanna Ilchovska, Legal and Regulatory Manager, Cetin, part of PPF Group
Dimitar Stanev, Deputy Director Business Development, Albena seaside resort
Nicholas Bitsios, Head of Brussels Office, Mytilineos

17:30 - 20:00 Networking cocktail

Day 2 - May 19th

9:00 - 9:30 Welcome coffee

9:30 - 10:30 No transition without transmission…, distribution, and storage.

Providing renewable energy at the lowest cost for customers requires integral planning of electricity networks and new market rules to incentivise investments in smart grid congestion management and distributed flexibility. The panelists here will discuss the role of digitalisation, smart grids and energy storage for grid stability and security in a RES dominated power mix. What regulatory changes are needed to incentivise and accelerate grid investments in SEE and how to take the most of different energy storage technologies.

Moderator: Mariyana Yaneva, Policy & Communications Director, APSTE

Participants:

Dimitar Zarchev, Member of the Board of Directors of ENSTO-E and Director of the National Dispatch Center, ESO
Martin Georgiev, Executive Director National Electricity Company (NEK)
Peter Nemcek, Chief Technology Officer, CyberGrid
Anna Dimitrova, Head of Department Energy Policy, Environment and Innovation, EVN
Rosa Milano, Senior Sales Manager, EMEA Growing markets, Fluence
Teodor Bobochikov, CEO, Entra Energy
Faysal Pirmohamed, Senior Engineer Energy Storage, DNV

10:30 - 11:30 The other half. Sector coupling and renewable energy corporate sourcing beyond electricity.

Heat, accounting for close to 50% of energy consumption in the industry, is the next big challenge in the corporate decarbonization journey, particularly for industrial users who use a lot of heat – often in the form of stream, and who have committed to ambitious decarbonization goals. Electrifying vehicle fleets has its own barriers and challenges.

This session will explore the potential of heat-pumps, hydrogen, EVs and other novel approaches to tackling “the other half” challenge, offering market intelligence, practical tips and real-life examples from pioneers in the fields.

Moderator: Annie Scanlan, Policy & Impact Director, RE-Source Platform

Participants:

Christian Pho Duc, Chief Technology Officer, Smartenergy (hydrogen)
Christophe Lits, Market Analyst, SolarPower Europe (PV and heat pumps)
Milena Tsoleva, Head of Project Management Department, ESO (EV fleets and charging infrastructure)

11:30 - 11:45 Closing remarks and Farewell