Substation Speakers

SGT26 CONFERENCE SPEAKER LINE UP

Digital Substations Track

Thomas Sterckx

Expert

Elia

Working at Elia since 2014, with a focus on IEC61850 top-down engineering processes and tools and data modelling. Member of IEC61850 WG10, and co-editor of IEC 61850-90-30 and IEC 61850-7-6

Magnus Kristiansson

Technical Manager, Power

OMEXOM

Magnus is an Electrical Engineer based in Sundsvall, Sweden, with extensive experience in electrical transmission and power generation since 1984. Magnus has a long-standing background in implementing relay protection systems and control equipment, working with both conventional hard-wired solutions and digital systems based on IEC 61850.

Maxime Pelletier

R&D Engineer, Virtual Protection Automation & Control Programme

RTE

With 20 years of experience at RTE, Maxime Pelletier has held a variety of roles, from his beginnings as a network dispatcher to his current position as an R&D engineer specializing in PAC System virtualization. He has served as a national dispatcher, managed PAC maintenance teams in Lyon, and founded the RTE FabLab. Deeply committed to technical innovation and the energy transition, Maxime is passionate about teamwork and ongoing learning, and continues to take on new challenges for the future of the French power grid.

Christophe CAMELIS

Systems Expert

Enedis

Christophe Camelis is a PACS Expert, specialising in digital substations, IEC 61850 ecosystems, and PACS virtualisation. At Enedis, the main DSO in France, he leads key activities related to PCCV (Protection and Control Command Virtualised), the next generation of PACS for primary substations. He currently leads the IEC 61850-90-32 Task Force and chairs the French WG on IEC 61850 and cybersecurity. He has 20 years of experience in IEC 61850 PACS acquired within PACS suppliers, with strong involvement in system architecture, modelling, configuration, communication, and testing.

Mika Loukkalahti

Leading Expert

Helen Electricity Network

Mika Loukkalahti, born in Finland in 1969, earned his M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Tampere University of Technology in 1996. He began his career at Helsinki Energy (Helen) in 1997 as a Protection Engineer, later focusing on substation and network automation as well as power supply reliability. Currently, he leads technological and planning principle development at Helen Electricity Network Ltd. Mika has been involved with the CIGRE B5 Committee and has contributed to several CIGRE working groups and international technical papers, also giving presentations both domestically and internationally. He is married with two children and enjoys orienteering and cross-country skiing.

René Wassink

Technical Solution Lead

Alliander

René holds a background in electrical engineering, followed by a career spanning software development, project management, and consulting. Over the past 20 years, he has worked across all facets of substation automation, with deep expertise in centralized protection and control. Since 2018, he has been with Alliander as Epic Owner, Product Owner, and Technical Solution Lead for the OT-Hub, focussing on enhanced visibility of the primary grid.

Wim De Maesschalck

Expert Assets & Grid Architecture - MV Substations

Fluvius

Wim graduated as a Master in Electro-mechanical Engineering at Ghent University in 2005.

Wim has been working at Fluvius for 20 years; first as a technologist on various assets in the Methods & Materials department. Since 2016 Wim is working as the Expert MV substations in the Assets & Grid Architecture department focusing on managing the functional requirements & asset policies for MV switchgears and primary / secondary substations (installation concepts, maintenance policies, grid concepts) and coordinating the implementation of these policies.

Davide Raposo

Innovation Project Manager

E-REDES

Davide Raposo is passionate about delivering impactful solutions through innovation and collaboration. With experience in managing cross-disciplinary projects, fostering innovation across global teams and aligning technology with long-term business goals, he brings a practical and insightful perspective to technical challenges. Based in Lisbon, Davide enjoys dynamic environments, collaborating with R&D institutions, scouting for startups for disruptive potential and engaging in conferences and innovation events where he can grow his network. He currently works as an Innovation Project Manager at E-REDES.

Erik Wejander

Project Leader Digital Substation

Svenska kraftnät

Erik Wejander leads the development of Svk’s new process bus based transmission substation concept aimed at simplifying substation implementation projects and leveraging the benefits of IEC61850 information model and process bus based functions. Erik has experience from many substation projects in Sweden and abroad, and also leads the development of IEC61850 for the Generation Domain as convenor of IEC TC57/WG18. At Svk Erik helps to interconnect different business areas to gain the benefits of using IEC61850, process bus networks, and SCL files.

Vincent AUDEBERT

5G, IoT & Telecom Expert

EDF

Vincent Audebert is working for more than 30 years in the EDF Group were he hold different positions inside R&D (Research engineer), Electricity Distribution Division (Telecommunication Expert), Telecommunication using BPL subsidiary (COO) and then Energy Services subsidiary (COO). Since 2011, he is back in the R&D where his main concern is to apply 5G and Internet of Things technologies to Utility business, with a focus on Smart Grids.

He is EDF representative at the LoRa Alliance, 3GPP, EUTC and EUWENA. He is also member of CIGRE and IEEE.

He is co-author of 3 patents and received the EPRI technology transfer award in 2015 for his work on OpenADR.

Tomasz Rodziewicz

Head of Innovation & New Technologies

TAURON Dystrybucja S.A.

Experienced manager and expert in the power sector. Responsible for driving innovation, research, and development initiatives, with a focus on smart grids, digital twins, e-mobility, energy storage systems, microgrids, and enhancing grid resilience with renewable energy sources. Tomasz Rodziewicz has supervised a diverse portfolio of projects in collaboration with both local and international partners.

Co-author of TAURON’s Intelligent Grid Infrastructure study and Strategic Research Agenda. Co-author of the study for Polish Electricity Committee “Digital Twin of the European Electricity Grid”.

Head of Innovation Committee at Polish DSOs association. Member of International Task Force on Digitalisation of Energy Action Plan at EU DSO.