Energy Ireland 2025 Conference Programme

Focusing on implementation and delivery

Day 1 Wednesday 11th June 2025

08.15 REGISTRATION AND MORNING COFFEE

    09.00 Chair's welcome and introduction:
    • J Owen Lewis, Chair
      IIEA Working Group on Climate and Energy


    09.05 IRELAND’S ENERGY FUTURE
    • MINISTERIAL ADDRESS: Ireland’s energy policy priorities
      Darragh O’Brien TD, Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy (Invited)
    • MINISTERIAL ADDRESS: The path to net zero energy
      Caoimhe Archibald MLA, Minister for the Economy Northern Ireland
    • A regulatory framework for a secure, decarbonised energy system
      Tanya Harrington, Commissioner
      Commission for Regulation of Utilities
    • A cleaner energy future: the transition to a low carbon grid
      Cathal Marley, Chief Executive
      EirGrid
    • Creating a cleaner energy future for Ireland
      Declan Meally, Director of Business, Public Sector and Transport
      Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
    • Question & answer session / Panel discussion

    11.00 COFFEE/ EXHIBITION NETWORKING BREAK

      11.30 IRELAND’S ENERGY TRANSITION IN A FRACTURED WORLD
      • The return of Trump: Implications for EU climate and energy policy
        Cecilia Trasi, Research Analyst
        Bruegel
      • Redefining energy security in the age of electricity
        Cillian O'Donoghue, Policy Director
        Eurelectric

      PANEL DISCUSSION: IRELAND’S ENERGY TRANSITION IN A FRACTURED WORLD
      • Ronan Galwey, Interim CEO, Gas Networks Ireland
      • Stephen Gallagher, Managing Director, SSE Airtricity
      • Denis O’Sullivan, Assets Director, Bord Gáis Energy
      • Cecilia Trasi, Research Analyst, Bruegel
      • Cillian O'Donoghue, Policy Director, Eurelectric

      13:00 LUNCH AND EXHIBITION NETWORKING BREAK

      14:00 MEETING THE CHALLENGES IN DELIVERING THE ENERGY TRANSITION
      • CHAIR:
        Úna Nic Giolla Choille
      • Regulatory challenges in delivering the energy transition
        John French, Chief Executive
        Utility Regulator
      • Legal aspects of implementing regulation and project delivery
        Niamh McGovern, Partner
        Arthur Cox
      • Financing Ireland’s energy transition
        Linda Clake, Deputy Director, Corporate Finance
        Goodbody
      • Meeting the challenges in delivering Ireland’s energy transition
        Colm O’Neill, Partner
        KPMG
      • Meeting the challenges of moving to our zero e-mission future
        Dara Lynott, CEO
        Electricity Association of Ireland
      • Question & answer session / Panel discussion

        14:00 DEVELOPING IRELAND’S OFFSHORE ENERGY RESOURCES
        • CHAIR:
          Neil Walker, Director
          Walker Energy Consulting
        • A regulatory framework for developing Ireland’s offshore energy resources
          Laura Brien, CEO
          Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA)
        • Regulatory framework for offshore wind development
          Richard Murphy, Partner
          Pinsent Masons
        • Environmental considerations in offshore wind licensing
          Caroline Roche, Offshore Environment & Consents Manager
          Energia
        • Offshore renewable energy: emerging technologies
          Aisling Greene, Head of Offshore Environment and Future Development
          Department of Environment, Climate and Communications
        • Question & answer session / Panel discussion

        16.30 ENERGY IRELAND DRINKS RECEPTION

        Day 2: Thursday 12th June 2025

        08.30 REGISTRATION AND MORNING COFFEE

          09.00 Séischomhrá

          • Paddy Hayes, Chief Executive
            ESB

          • In dialogue with


          • Jude Webber, Ireland Correspondent
            Financial Times
          09:30 ELECTRICITY NETWORK AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
          • CHAIR:
            Stacy Feldmann, Senior Regulatory Manager
            SSE

          • Electricity market design: 24/7 PPAs and implications of REMA for Irish market
            Andy Kelly, Director
            AFRY
          • Price Review 6 for electricity networks
            Fergal Mulligan, Commissioner
            Commission for Regulation for Utilities
          • Higher Ground: long duration storage and the energy transition
            Paddy Larkin, Chief Executive Officer
            Mutual Energy
          • Solar energy development in Ireland: opportunities and challenges
            Eva Barrett, Director of Policy and Regulation
            Irish Solar Energy Association
          • Question & answer session / Panel discussion

            09:30 GAS MARKET AND NETWORK
            • CHAIR:
              Úna Nic Giolla Choille

            • Biomethane: Towards a carbon-neutral gas network
              Karen Doyle, Head of Business Development
              Gas Networks Ireland
            • Unlocking European biogas and biomethane
              Marzia Sesini, Research Team Leader
              Florence School of Regulation
            • The role of green hydrogen in Ireland’s future energy mix
              Aodhan McAleer, Hydrogen and Gas Storage Manager
              ESB
            • Turning waste into renewable natural gas
              James Manley, Country Manager Ireland
              Cycle0
            • Question & answer session / Panel discussion

            11.00 COFFEE/ EXHIBITION NETWORKING BREAK

            11:30 ELECTRICITY NETWORK AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT
            • CHAIR:
              Stacy Feldmann, Senior Regulatory Manager
              SSE

            • Future grid: looking beyond the 2030 network plan
              David Noronha, Head of Future Networks and Strategic Offshore Planning
              EirGrid
            • The critical role of the active customer in driving the energy transition
              David Cashman, Business Consulting Director
              EY Ireland
            • Battery energy storage systems
              Senior representative,
              Huawei
            • Electricity interconnection: supporting the development of renewable sources
              Simon Ludlam, Chief Executive Officer
              MaresConnect Interconnector
            • Small can be beautiful: small modular nuclear reactors
              Tony Roulstone, Department of Engineering
              University of Cambridge
            • Question & answer session / Panel discussion

            11:30 SUSTAINABLE HEAT AND HEAT NETWORKS
            • CHAIR:
              Pauline O’Reilly, CEO
              Irish District Energy Association

            • Decarbonising Ireland’s heat demand
              Brian Carroll, Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency Built Environment, Retrofit and Heat Policy
              Department of Environment, Climate and Communications
            • Accelerating the deployment of thermal energy storage to support the grid
              John O’Shea, Heat & Electricity Lead
              Codema
            • The role of cogeneration in delivering sustainable heat
              Alexandra Tudoroiu-Lakavičė, Head of Policy
              The European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration
            • Decarbonising the residential heating sector
              Philip Hannon, Chief Executive
              Alliance for Zero Carbon Heating
            • Implementing a geothermal energy project
              Sara Lynch, Head of Sustainability
              Queen’s University Belfast (Invited)
            • Question & answer session / Panel discussion

            13.00 LUNCH AND EXHIBITION NETWORKING BREAK

              14.00 THE AI REVOLUTION AND THE ENERGY SECTOR
              • CHAIR:
                Ciara O’Brien, Business & Technology Journalist
                Irish Times (Invited)
              • The AI revolution in the energy sector
                Speaker TBC
              • Ireland’s energy demand and data centres
                Paul Deane, Energy Researcher
                University College Cork
              • AI as a tool for the energy sector
                Craig O’Mahony, Energy & Utilities Lead, Ireland
                Amazon Web Services

              PANEL DISCUSSION: AI AND THE ENERGY SECTOR
              • Paul Deane, Energy Researcher, University College Cork
              • Michael McCarthy, Director, Cloud Infrastructure Ireland
              • Craig O’Mahony, Energy & Utilities Lead, Ireland, Amazon Web Services
              • Question & answer session / Panel discussion

              16.00 Conference close