Quo Vadis Energy Storage? Key Developments, Challenges and Future Paths for Europes Battery Manufacturing and Integration

Lars manages Fluence's Marketing and Policy Team in the EMEA region providing leadership to the company's strategic communication with customers, policy makers, media and the general public across Europe. As part of his role he is directly responsible for policy and regulatory efforts on the EU level and oversees the companies policy work on the country's level. Before taking over the Marketing and Policy Department, Lars held different roles in Fluence on policy as well as on market and business development. Before joining Fluence, Lars worked for 8 years at Aggreko and Younicos (acquisition in 2017) on storage policy and market development globally, with a specific focus on storage-renewable hybrid assets. Before joining the clean energy sector, Lars worked at the political communication think tank, and as a communication specialist for the European Parliament.

Mr Clerens studied law at the University of Saarbrücken and the University of Mainz. Since 1996, he has worked as a consultant for a private company specialising in European Affairs in Brussels. In his capacity as Brussels Representative of different European associations, he has been involved in the climate and energy field since 2003. He has managed the EASE office in Brussels as Secretary General since its establishment in September 2011. Since then, EASE has grown from the initial 13 founding members to over 70 and is still growing rapidly.

Industrial Engineer with more than 20 years of international experience across the energy sector, with a strong focus on battery energy storage (BESS), project development and market strategy. Currently, as Energy Storage Project Manager at Iberdrola, driving the identification and development of large scale BESS projects, shaping business cases and guiding strategic decisions for several international markets. With a background built through leadership roles in the UK, Latvia, Mexico, the U.S., and Spain, I've worked in complex engineering settings while partnering with major stakeholders across the sector. I draw on this technical foundation and a pragmatic, commercially oriented approach to support the transition toward more flexible, renewable powered energy systems.

Céline is heading up PowerCo's business development activities for Energy Storage Solutions. She is responsible for the global strategic positioning, product & solution road map and initiatives of the business unit, as well as for market & regulatory analysis, cooperations & partnerships, and new business models. Céline has more than 15 years of experience in the energy sector with an early focus on renewables. Prior to joining PowerCo, she managed a multi-gigawatt offshore wind development portfolio in the UK. Her expertise also spans onshore wind and solar PV pipeline transactions and investment management across Europe and North America. Céline holds a Master in Business Administration / Economics from Mannheim University, Germany and EGADE del Téc de Monterrey, México.