Renewable gas: Policy developments and opportunities for biomethane

Aoife MacEvilly
Commissioner, Commission for Regulation of Utilities

Aoife MacEvilly has been a member of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) since October 2014 and was appointed Chairperson in February 2020. Her lead responsibilities include empowering and protecting customers, supporting active customers and communities and the future role of gas in a secure, decarbonised energy system. Aoife previously worked in the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and in the private sector. She holds a BA in European Business and German from Ulster University, a Professional Diploma in Regulatory Governance from UCD and an MA in Leadership from UCD Smurfit.

Dave Kirwan
Managing Director, Bord Gáis Energy

Dave Kirwan is Managing Director of Bord Gáis Energy. He has recently returned to the role of MD after having worked with Centrica in the UK as MD of the UK Customer Operations and latterly MD of the UK Home business. Dave was responsible for leading the Bord Gáis Energy business through the successful sale to Centrica in 2014 having worked with BGE for 15 years prior to that, where he was responsible for the launch of its Northern Ireland business, Firmus Energy, the development of the Whitegate power station and the acquisition and subsequent merger of the SWS wind business. Dave holds a BE electronics from UCD and is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland, he also holds an MBA and a doctorate in business economics (DBA) from UCC. Dave also serves on the Centrica Group Executive Committee.

Eamon Ryan TD
Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications

Eamon Ryan TD is the Minister for Climate Action, Communication Networks and Transport. He was appointed to this role in June 2020. Eamon Ryan was elected to represent Dublin Bay South in the 2020 general election. He was born in Dublin and raised in Dundrum and Dartry. He studied commerce in UCD before taking a job managing a marketing course in the university's School of Business. He went on to found a cycling tourism company, Irish Cycling Safaris, in the late 1980s and in 1996 won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. He was the founding chairperson of the Dublin Cycling Campaign and began his political career as a Dublin City Councillor for the Rathgar-Rathmines ward. He then went on to serve both as a TD for Dublin South and as a Government Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. In recent years he has worked for a European climate organisation and chaired the digital policy group in the Institute of International and European Affairs. He is currently leader of the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas.

Tanya Harrington
Chairperson, Renewable Energy Ireland

Dr Tanya Harrington is the Chairperson of Renewable Energy Ireland. Tanya is a public policy and regulatory affairs professional with over 20 years’ experience in helping organisations drive the effectiveness and performance of their policy-focused teams. Tanya currently serves as An Post’s Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer, leading the development of the Company’s comprehensive and integrated regulatory strategy and leading An Post’s engagement with government and regulatory authorities and stakeholders at international, European and domestic levels. Before joining An Post, Tanya spent six years in consultancy, advising a range of Ireland’s largest companies on matters of public policy, government affairs and economic regulation across a range of economically regulated sectors.

Brian Ó Gallachóir
Associate Vice-President of Sustainability, UCC

Brian Ó Gallachóir is Associate Vice-President of Sustainability at University College Cork, delivering on UCC’s ambitious plans to consolidate its role as a leading university of sustainability. Brian established energy systems modelling capacity in Ireland over the past 20 years and is a recognised international leader in this field, including as elected Chair of International Energy Agency Technology Collaboration Programme. His research has underpinned Irish and EU energy and climate mitigation policies and energy company strategies.

Dr Anouk Honoré
Senior Research Fellow, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

Dr Anouk Honoré is a Senior Research Fellow & Deputy Director of the Gas Research Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. At the OIES, her research focuses on gas market fundamentals in Europe with a particular emphasis on gas demand, energy and decarbonization policies in the European Union and in individual countries, power generation and the decarbonization of the heating sector.

Paul Mϋnnich
Director, Agora Energiewende

Paul Münnich works as a Project Manager at Agora Industry. His main topics are the decarbonisation of industrial heat and the transformation of the chemical industry. Before joining Agora Energiewende, he worked on the transformation of the chemical industry as a research assistant at the Chair of Technical Thermodynamics at RWTH Aachen University. Paul Münnich holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and studied in Aachen (Germany), Haifa (Israel) and Lausanne (Switzerland).

Andy Kelly
Director, AFRY

Andy Kelly leads AFRY’s commercial work in the Irish Electricity Market and has more than 15 years’ commercial experience in wholesale power and commodity markets. He has a detailed knowledge of the electricity markets in Ireland and the UK, including the impending I-SEM market and support schemes for renewable generators. Andy has a deep understanding of the commercial aspects of the electricity generation and trading markets, and extensive experience of leading strategic and commercial activities in the wholesale and renewable markets, involving a range of stakeholders.

Cathal Marley
Chief Executive Officer, Gas Networks Ireland

Cathal Marley is the Chief Executive Officer of Gas Networks Ireland, the semi-state organisation responsible for operating Ireland’s €2.7 billion, 14,664km national gas network, serving over 720,000 customers nationwide, and focused on delivering on its critical role in energy security while transitioning to transporting renewable gases through its network. He has over 20 years’ experience in the utilities and infrastructure sector, having previously worked in senior roles across the electricity and water industries. Cathal holds an MBA from the Michael Smurfit Business School, UCD, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a Board member of the IMI, a member of the DCU Governing Authority and a Board member of Swim Ireland. His early career was spent with EY in Dublin and Eastern Europe.

Colm O’Neill
Partner, KPMG

Colm O’Neill is a Partner at KPMG where he is Head of Energy, Utilities & Telecoms. He advises clients across the sectors on strategy, M&A, digital transformation, and culture development. With over 30 years’ experience, Colm has spent most of his career in industry, leading capital intensive, regulated businesses through major transformations. Most recently these included roles as chief executive of BT Ireland and Managing Director of BT’s Corporate and Public Sector business in the UK. Colm is a former Board member of Business in the Community NI and former Chair of IBEC’s TII. He is a current Board member of Young Scientist.

Niamh McGovern
Partner, Arthur Cox

Niamh McGovern is an energy and construction partner at Arthur Cox. Niamh has a broad skillset in this area and routinely advises developers, sponsors, banks and public bodies on energy projects in Ireland.

Paddy Hayes
Chief Executive, ESB

Paddy Hayes is Chief Executive of ESB, a leading Irish energy company operating throughout Ireland and the UK. ESB aims to create a brighter, low-carbon, future for the customers and communities it serves, investing in technologies, infrastructure and services to support the clean energy transition. Before his appointment as Chief Executive in 2021, Paddy headed up two of ESB’s main operating divisions as Executive Director of ESB’s Generation and Trading business and then as Managing Director of ESB Networks. He was formerly a board member of the association of European Distribution System Operators (E.DSO) and co-chair of the European Distribution-Transmission Cooperation Platform. Paddy is a Chartered Engineer with degrees in engineering from UCD and an MBA from the University of Warwick. Before moving to the energy sector in 1999, to lead the Synergen joint venture between ESB and Statoil, he worked with British Steel in the UK.

Joanne Moran
Generation Director, Energy & Power, Jacobs

Joanne Moran heads Jacobs Energy & Power Generation team in Europe, delivering projects and solutions for onshore and offshore wind, hydrogen, solar, battery storage and geothermal. She has over 20 years’ experience in the infrastructure sector, with a large proportion of this focussed on developing renewable energy projects. She previously led the Jacobs Infrastructure Growth & Sales team in Ireland.

John Reilly
Head of Renewable Energy, Bord na Móna

John Reilly is Head of Renewable Energy at Bord na Móna. He is a member of Bord na Móna’s Senior Leadership team with specific responsibility for the operation and continued development of Bord na Móna’s expanding portfolio in the Irish electricity market. His team is currently leading a €1.6 billion investment programme which will see the company add at least 1GW of new renewable assets to its fleet by 2030. John has over 20 years’ experience in the energy sector and was previously part of the senior management team at Edenderry Power, prior to its acquisition by Bord na Móna. He has worked for a number of major international utility players in the sector, such as the German utility E.ON and Fortum, a Finnish utility company. John, who is currently on the Board of the Electricity Association of Ireland, also sits on a number of policy committees across the energy sector and holds a PhD in Chemistry from UCD.

Richard Murphy
Partner, Pinsent Masons

Richard Murphy is a Partner and Head of Energy (Ireland) at Pinsent Masons LLP. His energy expertise and experience includes advising clients on a range of regulatory, advisory and transactional matters. Richard is rated as a leading individual for energy work in both Chambers UK and the Legal 500. Richard sits on the Northern Ireland Renewables Industry Group Committee (NIRIG) and is a regular speaker at energy industry events and conferences.

Andrew Hickey
Commercial Manager, Hitachi

Andrew Hickey is Commercial Manager at Hitachi Energy Ireland providing sustainable energy solutions that facilitate reliable and efficient system integration of the future digital electric grid. Andrew has 20 years of industry experience, including five years of delivering electrical systems and grid interconnection across multiple sectors. Currently focused on the energy transition to support the development of innovative grid and power quality solutions to help form the future networks.

Caroline Kuzemko
Reader in International Political Economy, University of Warwick

Caroline Kuzemko is Reader in International Political Economy at the University of Warwick. Her work explores the various roles of politics, and policy, in enabling, constraining, and shaping sustainable transformations at international, national, and local scales. Her publications include books on The Global Energy Challenge: Environment, Development and Security, and The Energy Security-Climate Nexus: Institutional Change in the UK and Beyond. She previously worked at UBS in Latin American equities.

Úna Nic Giolla Choille

Úna Nic Giolla Choille is a former Principal Officer in the Department for the Environment, Climate and Communications, heading the Electricity Regulation Division. She previously worked in the Department of Finance, in the Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas and of the Revenue Commissioners and also with the Policy Institute in Trinity College. Having a primary degree in economics and geography, she also holds a master’s degree in Public Sector Analysis, both from TCD.

Philip Hannon
Policy Director, Liquid Gas Ireland

Philip Hannon is Policy Director at Liquid Gas Ireland (LGI), the representative body for the LPG and BioLPG sector in Ireland. He leads the Association’s policy advocacy and communication efforts at national and local level, which includes reinforcing the role that lower carbon and renewable gaseous fuels play in Ireland’s decarbonisation journey, particularly for rural consumers and businesses.

He has over 25 years’ experience in corporate communications and public affairs. He was a Ministerial Special Advisor in five separate Government Departments, across two administrations. For almost a decade, he was Communications and Public Affairs Manager at the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association, the representative body for the international research based pharmaceutical industry in Ireland.

Paul Deane
Research Fellow, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork

Dr Paul Deane is a research fellow at UCC’s Environmental Research Institute and a fellow at the Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines. He is a scientific advisor to a number of international research projects on clean energy futures. His research focuses on scientific methods to understand future energy systems.

Barry Quinlan
Assistant Secretary, Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications

Barry Quinlan is the Assistant Secretary leading on Built Environment; Retrofit and Heat. Barry joined the Department in December 2021, as part of the re-organisation of energy functions in the Department, from the Department from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, where he had led the Housing and Local Government Divisions. Prior to that Barry worked in the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Justice. Working with key delivery partners and stakeholders, and within EU and global frameworks, key priority areas include: the National Retrofit Programme; and Renewable Heat Policy.

Klair Neenan
Managing Director, SSE Airtricity

Klair Neenan is Managing Director of SSE Airtricity, supplier of green energy, natural gas and energy related services to over 700,000 homes and businesses, with responsibility for leading the retail operation of SSE plc on the island of Ireland. Klair is an economics graduate with over 20 years’ experience of leading teams across customer service, corporate services and IT. Over the last 10 years, she has held various roles within SSE including two years as the company’s Head of IT Ireland. Prior to this, Klair led a number of large transformational programmes and was responsible for leading significant change across the organisation. She is also the recipient of a Women in IT Excellence award.

Catherine Sheridan
Head of Strategy, Green Rebel

Catherine Sheridan is Head of Strategy with Green Rebel. Earlier in her career, Catherine worked with public utilities in engineering and commercial roles, and more recently in communications, stakeholder engagement and energy policy. Catherine was awarded a Bachelors degree from University of Galway in 1998, Masters of Science from UCC in 2001, and titles of Chartered Engineer and Fellow of Engineers Ireland in 2009 an 2018. Her focus is on systems thinking, energy system integration and the role for Irish Supply Chain in achieving Net Zero by 2050.

Kevin O’Sullivan
Environment and Science Editor, Irish Times

Kevin O’Sullivan is the Environment and Science Editor and lead journalist reporting on climate change with The Irish Times. He served as Editor of the paper from 2011 to 2017. He joined The Irish Times in 1997 as Environmental and Food Science Correspondent. In his current role, he has a particular interest in climate solutions (especially nature-based actions); sustainability (including the pursuit of the UN SDGs), renewable energy and restoring biodiversity.

Matthew Baldwin
Deputy Director-General, DG Energy, European Commission

Matthew Baldwin was appointed as Deputy Director-General in DG ENER, the energy department of the European Commission, on 1 June 2022. There he is responsible for the Energy Platform Task Force which aims to end the EU’s dependence on Russian gas as soon as possible.

He has served in the European Commission for over 20 years. He was previously Deputy Director General in DG MOVE for 6 years, where he ran the Commission’s Horizon Europe Mission for 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, and also served as the EU coordinator for road safety and sustainable urban mobility. He was previously Director for Aviation in DG MOVE, and Director for Market Access in DG Trade.

He served in the Cabinet of President Barroso from 2007-9 as Advisor on energy, climate change, trade and development. He was Deputy Chef de Cabinet to Commissioner Lamy from 1999-2004, and Chef de Cabinet to Commissioner Hill from 2014-16.

His principal professional interests are in energy, transport, trade negotiation, and climate change.

He is of Italian and British nationality and has two grown up sons. He is passionate about cities and their potential to lead on climate change, and he is a keen but increasingly slow cyclist.

Brendan Kelly
Head of Commercial, Bord na Móna

Brendan is the Head of Commercial at Bord Na Móna Renewable Energy and is responsible for developing commercial strategies and full commercialisation of Bord Na Móna’s 2GW+ development pipeline. He is also leading the diversification strategy for the company specifically in the areas of Offshore Wind, Energy Parks, Renewable Gas, Power to X, and Flextech. Brendan has over 12 years’ experience in the Utility and Energy sector. Prior to joining Bord Na Móna, Brendan held several senior management positions with Smart Wires, an Energy Technology company, based out of the Bay Area in California. At Smart Wires, Brendan was responsible for development of the EMEA business and subsequently led the company’s business expansion into the Canadian market. Brendan also previously held senior engineering roles at EirGrid, the Irish TSO, most notably leading the design of Grid Connections for over 2GW of wind generators to the Irish system. Brendan has an Electrical Engineering background having received his Bachelors and Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from University College Dublin.

Michael Galvin

Michael is a chartered chemical engineer with extensive management, operations, business development, project delivery and commercial experience. He has over 17 years’ experience in the Energy Industry working for several multi-national corporations. Michael began his career in the Oil & Gas industry, in the production of conventional and renewable transport fuels. Michael has joined the Simply Blue Team to manage our Green Hydrogen and Sustainable Fuels portfolio, where he will develop environmentally friendly fuel production facilities of the future. His team are currently busy working on technical and commercial feasibility studies for new project concepts. His projects will focus on Power-to-X, Green H2 and biofuels. Michael and his team will continue to develop and nurture relationships with our strategic partners and stakeholders.

Darren O’Rourke

Darren O’Rourke TD was elected to the 33rd Dáil in February 2020. From 2014 to 2020, Darren served as a Councillor on Meath County Council for the Ashbourne Local Electoral Area. Darren previously worked as a Political Advisor to Sinn Féin MEP, Matt Carthy, as Policy Advisor in Leinster House and as a Laboratory Scientist in Drogheda and in Dublin. He holds a BSc in Biomedical Science, Masters degrees in Molecular Pathology and in Leadership & Management and is currently completing a PhD in Health Service Reform on a part-time basis.

William Walsh
Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland

William Walsh is Chief Executive Officer in SEAI, having previously held the position of both Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer. William joined SEAI in 2013. Prior to joining SEAI he worked for IFI where he held a number of roles including Assistant Chief Executive Officer and Director. Before this he held senior management positions in the private sector. William is a Chartered Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from Dublin City University and a Graduate Diploma in Strategy, Innovation and Change from UCD.

Muireann Lynch
Senior research Officer
Economic & Social research Institute

Muireann Lynch is a Senior Research Officer in the Economic Analysis division of the Economic and Social Research Institute. She joined the Institute in 2014. Muireann holds a degree in Mathematics and Economics from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD from the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering in UCD. She has published numerous research articles in diverse areas of energy economics and has co-authored submissions to various public consultations and Government Departments and served on policy and Department Steering Committees. Muireann is also a co-PI with the NexSys SFI-funded Partnership Programme and coordinates emerging research focused on the energy systems modelling. Muireann’s research interests include electricity market regulation, power system economics and renewable generation integration and her research methodologies include stochastic mathematical programming, optimisation and game theory.

Simon Ludlam
CEO, MaresConnect

Simon Ludlam is an experienced energy professional, currently CEO at MaresConnect, a 750MW interconnector project linking GB and Ireland. He has originated and led several interconnector projects in northwest Europe, including the €500m Greenlink interconnector and the €600m ElecLink project. Simon is the founder of Etchea Energy, a developer of energy projects supporting the green transition. He previously worked in investment banking and private equity.

Ronan Lambe
Partner, Pinsent Masons

Ronan is a Partner in the Energy & Finance team at Pinsent Masons with over 15 years of experience advising clients on a variety of energy and cleantech projects. His experience spans a range of geographies and technologies, including onshore and offshore wind, thermal, solar, storage, anaerobic digestion, hydrogen and waste to energy. He regularly acts for sponsors, developers, funders and other stakeholders on project development, acquisitions, disposals and project financings. As co-head of the Energy Networks and Regulation team at Pinsent Masons, Ronan and his colleagues are advising clients at the cutting edge of where energy projects and transactions meet policy and regulatory change.

Kerrie Sheehan
Head of Research and Technology, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland

Kerrie Sheehan is Head of Research and Technology in Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and has over 17 years’ experience in managing funded research. Kerrie oversees the SEAI offshore/ocean team, which supports offshore renewable energy national test sites, provides research funding, delivers evidence basis to inform on evolving policy, and undertakes national and international stakeholder coordination and representation.