Energy has been at the top of the political agenda for the last 12 months. Climate change, prices and security are just some of the major challenges faced by our sector, which are creating a new Balance of Power. One thing is certain, there is only one way forward: working together to enable unprecedented levels of clean and renewable electricity, transforming the past years’ challenges into opportunities to achieve Europe’s energy transition and security.
Don’t miss the chance to discuss with top policymakers and industry leaders at #PowerSummit23 :
All this and much more at #PowerSummit23
Commissioner for Energy
2019-present
Member of the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament), Chairman of the Estonian Centre
Party faction and Leader of the Estonian NATO Parliamentary Assembly Delegation
2019
Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure
2016-2019
Member of the Riigikogu and Chairman of the Estonian Centre Party faction (as of 2009)
2007-2016
Secretary-General of the Estonian Centre Party
2003-2007
Research Assistant, NATO Parliamentary Assembly
2003
Advisor to the Mayor of Tallinn
2001-2002
Advisor of Tallinn City Council
1999
Consultant, European Documentation Centre of the University of Tartu
1998-1999
Master’s degree in Political Science, University College London
2003
Degree in History, University of Tartu
Leonhard Birnbaum was born in Ludwigshafen, Germany, on February 19, 1967. He studied chemical engineering in Karlsruhe. After a subsequent period of academic work at the Karlsruhe Research Centre, he obtained a doctorate from the University of Cottbus.
Leonhard Birnbaum began his professional career as a management consultant at McKinsey in Düsseldorf. After holding various positions – including at McKinsey’s off ice in Houston, USA – he was Senior Partner for the energy and industrial sector. In 2008, he joined RWE AG and was appointed to the Board of Management the same year. He served as Chief Strategy Officer and as RWE Group’s Chief Commercial Officer until 2013.
In 2013, Leonhard Birnbaum was appointed as member of the Board of Management of E.ON SE and took on a variety of responsibilities within the Board. From 2018 until 2021 he was responsible for the innogy integration project. From 2019 to 2020, he was also Chairman of the Board of Management of innogy SE.
In 2021, Leonhard Birnbaum was appointed to his current role as CEO of E.ON SE. In this position, he is responsible for E.ON Group’s Communications & Political Affairs, Corporate Audit, Culture & Performance, Group and Executive HR, HSE & Sustainability, Legal, Compliance & Security, Strategy & Innovation and Nuclear Coordination.
Leonhard Birnbaum is President of Eurelectric, the European Electricity Association, Vice-President of the Executive Committee of BDEW, the German Association of Energy and Water Industries, a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and, and Vice Chair of the World Energy Council.
Leonhard Birnbaum is married and has two daughters.
Catherine MacGregor joined the ENGIE group on 1 January 2021 as Chief Executive Officer. She has spent her entire professional career working in the energy sector.
From 2019 to 2020, she was a member of TechnipFMC Executive Committee and the head of Technip Energies, hosting the engineering activities. She was in charge of the entity’s IPO.
Previous to these positions, she has worked 23 years at Schlumberger, the world’s leading provider of reservoir characterization, drilling, production and processing technologies for the oil and gas industry. She occupied a number of roles in various geographies (Republic of Congo, the US, Malaysia, …): from Director of Business Entities (Wireline, Reservoir Characterization, Drilling, …) to Regional Division (Europe and Africa).
Wytse Kaastra leads Accenture’s Sustainability Services in Europe and is also the European Utilities lead. With approximately 26 years of experience in the Energy and Utilities arena he is an expert in the European energy sector. Experience ranges from strategic growth and transformation strategies as well as large scale execution & implementation programs across Europe. Projects spanning both the business side as well as the execution with digital, AI & cloud technologies.
Over the past couple of years much focus has been on Energy Transition related services such as Renewables, smart grids, eMobility, Green Hydrogen, Energy management, digital Decentralized & Decarbonized energy solutions and Flexibility services.
Prior to joining Accenture in 1997, Wytse started his career at ExxonMobil as an economist in the downstream area. Wytse holds a master degree in Economics from Wageningen University in The Netherlands.
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