Dr. Enrique Garralaga

Job Title: Managing Director
Company: SMA Altenso GmbH
Country: Germany

With over 20 years' experience in the renewables space, Dr.-Ing. Garralaga is the co-founder and managing director of SMA Altenso GmbH where he has directly overseen over 2 GW of BESS projects and over 1 GW of hydrogen projects. Previously he worked for SMA Solar Technology AG as responsible for the business development and strategy of the business unit hybrid and storage, at Siemens AG as Program Manager Photovoltaics and also as head of the thin-film solar cell research department at Insitut für Solarenergieforschung Hameln (ISFH). He has also worked as consultant to multiple companies and lecturer in all continents and worked in over 1 GW of PV project deliveries. Enrique holds a PhD in Engineering from the Univ. of Kiel, a MSc in Renewable Energy from Northumbria University in Newcastle (UK), a MSc in Physics from Univ of Paderborn (Germany) and a MSc in Physics from Univ of Zaragoza (Spain).

June 23, 2026Blackout in the Iberian Peninsula: Summary of Events, Analysis and Consequences for Other Power Grids

Sessions

Joint Session

Inverter-Dominated Power Grids - How do we Overcome our Dependency on Turning Masses of Fossil Power Plants?

Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 09:30 am - 11:00 am

ICM München Room 13 A

The share of renewable energies in European power systems is steadily increasing: Germany has already achieved approximately 60 percent, and most of the renewable energy is provided by the volatile sources wind and solar. This is the bright side of the story, but conventional power plants, which have been responsible for grid stability until now, are also being shut down. A further increase in renewable shares requires a shift in the paradigm towards grids operating safely and reliably with power electronic assets. In this context, energy storage systems with grid-forming inverters play a key role, and this session is dedicated to technological solutions, the development and adaptation of grid codes, market incentives and, as well as best practices. Additionally, we will ask whether the way in which grid stability was coordinated in the era of turning masses from momentum reserve to FCR, aFRR and mFRR is still appropriate for inverter-dominated grids.