Hamburg Offshore Wind Conference 2022

Head of the Offshore Development, TenneT
Saskia Jaarsma is Head of the Offshore Development team within TenneT's unit Large Projects Offshore. The objective of Large Projects Offshore is to safely and sustainably develop, build and operate the offshore grid in Germany and The Netherlands, at the lowest cost for society. The Offshore Development team is responsible for developing new policies, concepts and offshore grid innovations in Germany and The Netherlands; developing this into feasible roadmaps for new offshore grid projects; as well as partnering with other offshore stakeholders like TSO’s, OWF developers and NGO's.

Before joining TenneT in 2015, Saskia worked for DNV GL and KEMA as a principal consultant in the electricity transmission and distribution sector. In 2001, she graduated from the Technical University of Eindhoven, completing the MSc study "Energy technology and Policy" (related to Industrial Sciences).

Vice President Grid Access, Siemens Energy
Andreas Barth is leading the Grid Access business at Siemens Energy and has more than 25 years of experience at Siemens and in the energy sector. Andreas started as a project manager for traction converters, then headed service and service engineering and was part of various cross-divisional projects within Siemens AG and the energy sector. The amount of renewable energy generation worldwide increases and Andreas has been in this business from the beginning on.

Managing Director, Ørsted Germany
Jörg Kubitza is Managing Director of Ørsted in Germany. Kubitza built up his expertise in offshore wind during his time at Mitsubishi Power Systems and later at MHI Vestas. During the merger of Vestas Offshore and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kubitza was part of the transaction and post-merger integration team in 2013. As Head of Strategy and Corporate Development he supported the successful expansion in Germany and APAC from 2014 until 2016. As Managing Director at CEZ A/S he was responsible for the German renewable energy business until the end of 2019. During this time he was significantly involved in the development of the renewable energy business in Germany and France as Head of Strategy. Another station in his career was the DeWind Group. Jörg Kubitza has a degree in law as well as mediator.

Development Offshore Wind Germany, RWE Renewables
Jens Meyer-Holtz is working for the Offshore Wind Development Germany of RWE Renewables in a leading position taking responsibility for the early development, bidding and successful delivery of development projects to FID as well as getting in touch with important stakeholders and policymakers. Jens has a track-record of over 18 years in offshore-wind starting with Essent and joining RWE more than 11 years ago. With his long track record Jens knows the offshore wind business from its early beginnings and was able to collect experience from the very early business development, FID, construction and successful delivery of large projects into operation. Jens has a degree in civil engineering.

Managing Director, Iberdrola Germany
Iris Stempfle has been CEO and Country Director of Iberdrola Germany since the beginning of 2021.

After completing her Master's degree in Scandinavian studies, political science and economics, she started as Senior Advisor - Lead Europe at the Norwegian Chamber of Foreign Trade (Innovation Norway).

Further appointments included a Project Manager role in Grid Affairs at EnBW, General Manager of Fred. Olsen Windcarrier and CEO of the Joint Ventures United Wind Logistics.

In 2008, she published a book titled "The Promotion of Renewable Energies in Liberalised Electricity Markets: A Harmonised Quota Model for Scandinavia?".

Head of Department Management of the Sea, Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH)
Dr Nico Nolte studied law and, after postgraduate studies at the University of London and a legal traineeship in Osnabrück and Brussels, began his professional involvement in energy policy projects at an association of the regional energy industry in Hanover. At the end of 2000, he joined the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration in Berlin and moved to BSH in Hamburg in the summer of 2002.

Since 2017, Dr Nolte has been heading the then newly created department “Management of the Sea”.  In his area of responsibility, Dr. Nolte greatly appreciates the versatility of his work in combination with planning tasks, especially in terms of approving structures in the offshore sector, and particularly the interdisciplinary work on legal, marine biological and technical issues. Dr Nico Nolte is also a lecturer at the University of Hamburg for "National Public Law of the Sea".

Senator, President of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Innovation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
After training as a high-voltage electrician and studying computer science at the B.I.B. University of Applied Sciences in Paderborn, Michael Westhagemann held various positions at Nixdorf Computer AG, including responsibility for the introduction and approval of IT and communication systems. His roles also included a variety of activities in Asia. From 1992 to 2017, he had various managerial roles at Siemens AG, most recently as CEO Region North based in Hamburg, and in 2017 he became an independent business consultant for innovation and technology.

From 01.11.2018 to 10.06.2020 he was the Senator and President of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport and Innovation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and since then the Senator and President of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Innovation of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

Michael Westhagemann is also Deputy Member of the Bundesrat (Federal Council) as representative for the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, member of the Economic Committee and member of the Ministers of Economic Affairs conference.