Between Rearm EU and Repower EU - What Strategic Role Does Hydrogen Play for Europe?

Michael Gauglitz is Vice President for Business Development at ST Engineering Energy Solutions GmbH, a full‑service energy technology company advancing climate resilience. Since joining in 2023, he has helped establish its Germany operations and develop the flagship HubGen hydrogen electrolyser. A strong advocate for hydrogen's role in bridging energy gaps, he focuses on practical, technology‑neutral solutions that strengthen energy resilience. He leads strategic partnerships across the energy value chain to deliver impactful solutions. Previously, Michael Gauglitz held senior leadership roles at The Linde Group across sales, strategy and business development in Europe and North Africa. He holds a business engineering degree and an MBA from the University of St. Gallen.

Timo Bollerhey is the creator of the H2Global mechanism and co-founder of the H2Global Foundation. Within the H2Global framework, he serves as CEO of HINT.CO GmbH and Lead Strategist for H2Global. With nearly 25 years of experience in investment and financial markets, particularly in emerging markets, Timo is a recognized expert in his field. Before launching H2Global, he was a director at the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Brazil, where he focused on blended finance strategies and mobilizing institutional investors towards alternative assets. Prior to that, he served as Division Manager at the African Development Bank (AfDB), fostering collaboration and co-financing with strategic private and public-sector partners. Between 2011 and 2016, Timo was Director of Business Development at Allianz Global Investors, leading client coverage and advisory for African institutional investors. Earlier in his career, he headed financial institutions and sovereigns for Africa and the Middle East at Raiffeisen Bank International in Vienna and served as Chief Representative Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa at UniCredit Group in Johannesburg. Since January 2024, Timo has also been nominated as Deputy Chair of the CertifHy Steering Committee.

Cornelius is a well-respected leader and investor in the renewable energy industry and built several successful clean energy businesses and start-ups within Middle East and Africa. He has extensive board level experience from 10 years in Deutsche Bank (among others, youngest board member in Deutsche Bank Italy Group) and several leading renewable energy organizations and associations via pro bono work as well as different startup companies.By building the international shareholder and partner network of Dii (Desertec Industrial Initiative), he was at the forefront of the renewable energy revolution in North Africa and the Middle East. A keen entrepreneur and investor in emerging markets with recognitions such as 'Solar Pioneer 2015' for the Middle East or the Visionary CleanTech Influencer of The Year 2022 by World Cleantech Awards. He is lecturing at several universities including St. Gallen and is a regular speaker at international conferences. He holds an MBA (Dipl. Kaufmann) from University of Passau, and speaks German, English, Italian, French and Russian.His experience ranges from M&A transactions, asset management, developing utility scale renewable energy projects (including mid-market with private PPAs), pay-as-you-go solar to energy efficiency, including ESCO projects and new business models. Some of the projects and companies were executed in challenging settings or countries. He has led sizable organizations both in startup environments and blue-chip companies and has raised funds from angel investments to USD 100m+ projects with institutional investors. 'I am glad to be able to work in renewable energy which is also my passion - we can genuinely make an impact with many different things and help people, to make our planet a better place. Having new challenges every day is fantastic and many more mountains to be climbed!'Executive management and boards of a variety of companies in emission-free technologies, as well as investment funds, seek his advice.

Jürgen Pfeiffer is a moderator, host, and master of ceremonies specializing in the energy transition, green hydrogen, and the fuel cell and hydrogen industry. He hosts and produces edutainment formats such as 'GREEN PLUS CLEAN' and 'PFEIFFER FRAGT,' and is the presenter of the podcast THE HYDROGEN ELEVATOR. As a sought-after conference host, he leads high-level panels at international trade fairs and congresses, including events organized by the European Commission and HYDROGEN EUROPE in Brussels, as well as leading conferences such as WINDENERGY HAMBURG, HYDROGEN EXPO, and the HYDROGEN DIALOGUE SUMMIT + EXPO. Jürgen Pfeiffer has more than 20 years of media experience, including as a Berlin correspondent for RTL Nachtjournal and as editor-in-chief of the program 'Forum der Europäer' at ARTE Television in Paris.

Stefan works at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Europe's second largest port hosting the largest petrochemical cluster, in the Sustainable Transition team where he is focusing mainly on hydrogen and CO2 and in particular the connection of the port with the German hinterland. He also holds a sherpa role to the President of the Belgian Hydrogen, Mr. Tom Hautekiet. Before he was already active for 2,5 years in the hydrogen sector at WaterstofNet, a nonprofit organization that founded and coordinated a hydrogen cluster of 180 Dutch and Belgian companies active in the BeNeLux. In this role, he co-founded the Belgian Hydrogen Council (BHC) in 2022. Stefan was in charge of public affairs and international relations for both WaterstofNet and the BHC. In 2020 he started his career at the Belgian Steel Industry Association, where he followed up European and Belgian climate and energy policy for two years. Stefan graduated in 2016 as a Master of Laws and subsequently completed a Master's degree in International Relations and Diplomacy at the University of Antwerp. In 2021 he followed the Postgraduate Diploma in Climate and Energy at the same university.

Shena Britzen is a recognized expert in large-scale projects and leads the company-wide Hydrogen Program at Rheinmetall. In this role, she has been responsible for strategic developments in green hydrogen and synthetic fuels (e-fuels) for over five years-covering both industrial applications and resilient military supply solutions. Before her current position, she served as Global Program Lead for the Australian major project LAND 400 Phase 2. In total, she brings over 16 years of experience at Rheinmetall, and more than a decade of leadership experience as an officer in the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). Academically, she combines technical and business expertise: she holds a degree in Energy and Automation Engineering from the University of the Bundeswehr Munich and a Master of Science in Major Programme Management from the prestigious Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, which she completed with distinction.

Member of the European Parliament from Lower Saxony. Chair of the Committee on International Trade (INTA). Member of the SPD and the IG Metall trade union since 1974.Born on 14 November 1955 in Oldenburg, raised and educated in Varel, Friesland district. His parents were self-employed gas station owners. Father of two children. Lives in the Hanover region.

Henrich von Kopp-Colomb, Head of Customer Solutions of the leading transmission system operator Open Grid Europe (OGE), has many years of experience in the gas industry. After holding positions as a business lawyer at Ruhrgas and E.ON Gastransport, as well as in E.ON's COO division for Trading & Optimisation, where he coordinated trading-related changes across the E.ON Group, he returned to OGE in 2011. There, he moved into the customer department, which he has led since 2017. He is responsible for key customer topics in gas market development, including the Cooperation Agreement of all German gas network operators as well as the establishment and operation of an entry-exit booking system in the OGE network as part of the integrated German gas market area, closely connected to neighbouring European markets via 16 cross-border interconnection points. Change and transformation are central to his work, for example in the ongoing conversion of the OGE grid from L-gas to H-gas, through his role on the advisory board of Trading Hub Europe not only during the crisis years from 2022 onwards, and currently in the operationalisation of OGE's share of the hydrogen core network.