Henrich von Kopp-Colomb

Job Title
Head of Customer Solutions
Company
Open Grid Europe GmbH
Country
Germany

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.

June 24, 2026Panel Discussion

June 25, 2026Building a European Hydrogen Network as a Foundation for European Resilience - first Experience and Recommendations

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

Thursday, June 25, 2026, 10:00am–11:30am

ICM - Room 14 B

Please note that this session will be conducted in English. Europe is fighting for its position in the global hydrogen race. Caught between the Green Deal and geopolitical tensions, the EU needs to find a balance. How can we achieve technological sovereignty while diversifying our sources of imports? The second day of the conference is dedicated to the big strategic questions of the European and global hydrogen economies, from the competitiveness of European electrolyzers with those from Asian manufacturers to the question of a European H2 Local and international partnerships. The discussions will show how Europe can keep its industrial basis and build new partnerships while asserting local hydrogen technology against the superiority of the Far East. Why? Hydrogen is not only a climate-neutral energy carrier, it is also becoming a geopolitical power factor in the context of global political and economic upheaval. At the start of the second conference day, we will ask key questions about Europe's energy supply and discuss the need for a policy fostering greater energy autonomy, such as: How can hydrogen be positioned as a European sovereignty project balancing the objectives of ReArm EU and RePower EU? How can we achieve technological sovereignty while diversifying our sources of imports? What practical steps are needed to geopolitically bolster the hydrogen economy in Europe? And will reinforcing national and European defenses help speed up the establishment of key markets and infrastructure for climate-neutral hydrogen?

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