Plenary Keynote Speakers

I’m Deputy Director in Mission Control at DESNZ, leading delivery of the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan – our roadmap to a clean power system by 2030. That means driving deployment of renewables like wind and solar, boosting energy storage, consumer-led flexibility and upgrading the grid. I work across DESNZ and other departments to remove barriers and keep progress on track.

I bring over 18 years in the energy sector, covering policy, projects and programmes. Before my DESNZ role, I led Scotland’s draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, shaped Scottish Governments wholesale market reform work, and  played a key role in the delivery of the  Scottish Governments Heat in Buildings Strategy and £1.8bn Low Carbon Heat programme.

I’ve also worked on community energy schemes, microgrid research and international collaborations, including Community Energy Malawi. I hold a BSc in Medical Microbiology, an MSc in Environmental Protection and Management from the University of Edinburgh and a PG in Renewables from the University of East London.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Sterner is a leading expert in energy storage, hydrogen, and Power-to-X technologies, teaching at OTH Regensburg and heading the FENES Research Center. A key figure in the energy transition, he is an inventor of Power-to-Gas, namesake of Power-to-X and lead author of the Handbook of Energy Storage in SpringerNature.

With over 1200 keynotes given, he is a dedicated advisor to the German government (National Hydrogen Council) and the European Commission (FCH JU). He actively volunteers with VDI, VDE, and the IPCC. Recognised as one of Germany’s most innovative scientists, he also published a bestseller „Out of the climate crisis - into the energy solutions“. He is a trained electrician, an award-winning scientist, and a committed musician and composer and father of 3 kids.

Kathryn Toghill is Professor of Sustainable Electrochemistry and Energy Materials at Lancaster University UK. Her research concerns long duration electrochemical energy storage technologies, especially flow batteries and synthetic e-fuels, with a focus on sustainable approaches and fundamental electrochemistry. She founded and continues to chair the UK Flow Battery Network (now supported by the Faraday Institution) hosting annual research and industry symposia, and contributing to international flow battery and energy storage events.

Gioia holds the Rankine Chair in Energy Engineering at the University of Glasgow, where she is Director of the Glasgow Centre for Sustainable Energy, Associate Director of the Centre for Sustainable Solutions and Deputy Head of the Energy and Sustainability Research Cluster. Until June 2018, she was Professor and Head of the Geo-Energy Engineering Centre at Cranfield University. Between 2011-2016, she held the Endowed Chair and Professorship in Geothermal Energy Systems at Clausthal University of Technology, Germany, where she was also the Director of the Institute of Petroleum Engineering. Before that, she spent six years in the USA, becoming a tenured Associate Professor at Texas A&M University. Prior to joining academia, she gained industrial experience with several of the energy Majors. Gioia is Vice-Chairperson of the Bureau of the Expert Group on Resource Management of the United Nations Commission for Europe, Co-Chair of its Renewables Working Group and Chair of its Geothermal Sub-Group.  She serves on the Board of the Scottish Partnership in Energy and Engineering Research & Innovation and the Directorate of Scottish Carbon Capture and Sequestration. She served on the 2020-2023 Board of Directors of the International Geothermal Association.

Professor Nigel Brandon OBE FREng FRS is Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Professor of Sustainable Development in Energy. He was previously the Faculty’s Vice Dean (Research), Founding Director of the Sustainable Gas Institute, and Founding Director of the Energy Futures Lab. 

He is a founder of Ceres Power, a FTSE listed fuel cell company spun out from Imperial College in 2000, RFC Power, a flow battery company spun out from Imperial College in 2018, and M-SPIN, a company developing & manufacturing low cost high surface area materials for electrolysers, fuel cells and batteries, in 2024. 

Measures of esteem include: Castner Medal, Society of Chemical Industry (2024); Christian Friedrich Schönbein Gold Medal of Honour (2024); Horizon Prize , Royal Society of Chemistry (2023); Freedom of the City of London (2021); Francis Bacon Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2014); Baker Medal, Institute of Civil Engineering (2011); Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal (2007). 

Professor Brandon received an OBE in 2011 for services to UK-China science and is a fellow of the following institutions: the Royal Society (2021); Royal Academy of Engineering (2008); City and Guilds of London Institute (2008); Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (2006); Energy Institute (2006). He was recognised as an International Member of the US National Academy of Engineering in 2022.