Esa Holttinen holds a M.Sc. Degree in Technical Physics and has 30 years’ experience in wind power project development and construction, business development and business management. He is currently based in Oxford and steering AFRY’s wind business in the UK and Irish markets and coordinating the AFRY offshore and onshore wind business development globally. His project experience covers over 20 countries on 5 continents, and he specializes in business strategies of wind power producers and project developers, Due Diligence and M&A processes, and contractual structuring of wind farm projects.

Heidi Paalatie, M.Econ. in Corporate Environmental Management, is Director of Operations in Finnish Wind Power Association. She has been with the association over ten years with wide range of responsibilities within public relations, advocacy, and communications. FWPA is the leading industry association for wind power in Finland. The association is a key player, when it comes to providing information and forming the future of the industry in Finland.

As Commercial Manager Offshore Heavy Lifting, Jorrit de Boer is responsible for the commercial management of offshore heavy lifting works, from business development to contract signature. He’s been working in the Offshore Wind industry for over 10 years. Trained as a lawyer he started out as a legal counsel/contracts manager, commercial project management to my current commercial management role. In his current role he focuses on Offshore Wind Developments in the North- and the Baltic-Sea, market developments and strategic asset development. In his spare time he has a strong connection to the sea through surfing, sailing and spending time at the beach with his family.

Mattia Cecchinato is advisor for climate and energy policies, offshore wind regulation, technology & operations, and maritime spatial planning. He also cooridnates the relations with maritime stakeholders, including aviation and defence-related strategies, nature protection and conservation in offshore wind farms, and ports development.

Jarkko Toivola returned to authority side February 2021 from private sector position as Director/Vice President at Alfons Håkans Ltd. Capt. Toivola is now in the same position which he also held in Finnish Transport and Infrastructure Agency’s predecessor Finnish Transport Agency 2011-2016.

In these state agencies he has been the authority in charge for arranging and operating icebreaking and winternavigation for Finnish ports. Before joining FTA 2011 he worked from eighties for Neste Shipping in various maritime positions.

Capt. Toivola has sailed on all size vessels year around in the Baltic and international trade, including several years in Greenland traffic, and sailed as a master since 1992 until 2009.

With nearly 20 years of experience in global Energy & Power sector, Matilda Machacek has steadily progressed from various engineering to leadership, managerial and board membership positions. She holds an MSc in International Project Management, a BSc in Mechanical Engineering, and is currently Vice President for RWE Renewables’ Offshore Development portfolio in the Nordics. She previously spent 15 years at Equinor, and since 2010, worked in their Renewable Energy Division (UK), focusing on strategy, business development, acquisitions and divestitures as well as being Director of Equinor Wind UK. Some of the key project involvements include: Dogger Bank offshore wind project (amongst the world’s largest), Sheringham Shoal (UK), Arkona-Becken (Germany), Hywind (UK) bid preparation projects and country entry in new markets.

Matilda Machacek is currently Vice President Offshore Development for RWE Renewables responsible for Offshore Wind development activities in the Nordics since 2021.

Markku Tuominen is the Project Manager for Metsähallitus 6 GW tender processes in 2023 and 2024. Last year Markku acted as Project Manager for Project Kvarken (1.3 GW) where Metsähallitus sold the project rights to Vattenfall. In his position as Metsähallitus’ Wind Power Manager Markku is responsible for developing business operations relating to renewable energy projects and interaction with stakeholders as well as leading Metsähallitus’ transactions. Markku has gained strong experience in wind power projects’ legal matters as he previously worked as senior legal counsel in Metsähallitus legal team.

Manu Grönlund is the Project Director for the Tahkoluoto Offshore Wind Farm Extension Project. He has 15 years’ experience in EPC deliveries of complex offshore structures for Oil&Gas and Renewable Energy industry. He has a strong background in heavy offshore structures construction from working in several roles, ranging from Design Engineer to CEO at a Finnish Offshore construction yard. In his current role at Suomen Hyötytuuli, he will be leading the execution of the Tahkoluoto extension project consisting of 40 offshore turbines designed for the harsh icy conditions of the Baltic Sea.

Anni Mikkonen is the CEO of the Finnish Wind Power Association since 2009. During her time the association and the importance of wind power in the Finnish energy sector have increased significantly.  Anni is leading wind power experts in Finland. She holds a master’s decrees in Environmental Sciences (MSc) and  in Corporate Environmental Management (M. Econ).

Ralf Häggblom is a Project manager in Åland government / Sunnanvind. His task is to enable Åland offshore.

Petteri Mäkelä specialises in environmental impact assessments and the environmental aspects of planning and permitting. He has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering and his thesis addressed air quality measurements.

In his work as Environmental Engineer at Suomen Hyötytuuli Oy, Petteri is in charge of issues related to the environmental and nature aspects of permitting in wind power projects. He was instrumental in creating the bird radar for the Tahkoluoto offshore wind farm.

Petteri is well versed in birdlife, particularly in bird radar technology and monitoring and analysing birds. He has over 30 years’ experience in birding through his active roles in bird associations and fieldwork.

David Stevenson is the Head of Offshore Renewables Policy & Supply Chain, within the Scottish Government’s Directorate for Offshore Wind. His main activities include responsible for managing the relationship with the offshore wind, wave & tidal developers and supply chain, and other private and public sector project stakeholders with a view to maximising the economic content of offshore renewables projects in Scotland. David is a member of the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) and a board member of the Floating Offshore Wind UK Taskforce.

Maria Tikanmäki is a research team leader in VTT Technical Research Centre Ltd. Her expertise is on ice research and offshore wind power in freezing sea areas. She has 15 years’ experience in the field. During that time, she has worked with several research and commercial projects related to offshore wind farms.

Erik Strand Tellefsen is a Norwegian citizen located in Oslo. MSc in Mechanical Engineering from NTNU Trondheim and MBA from Edinburgh Business School. Thirty-five years experience in high-level management positions in Norsk Hydro and Equinor in development, execution and operation of large oil- and gas developments in Norway, UK and Russia. Project Manager for Green Flexible Baseload in the Nordic offshore wind company Njordr Offshore Wind AB (NOW).

Guido Schild, Senior Strategy and Business Developer Offshore Wind at Vattenfall, currently leads the commercial analysis in mergers and acquisition processes, focussed on market development activities in Finland, Netherlands and Belgium. Building on his legal background, he has previously worked in stakeholder engagement, encouraging progress on a clean and healthy North Sea through marine protection and spatial planning, working with government, industry and civic society to enable the offshore energy transition through risk mitigation and optimizing opportunities.