Leadership

Peter Terium

CEO of ENOWA

Peter Terium is leading the Energy, Water and Food sector of NEOM, where he is building an Energy System 100 % based on Renewable Energy and a sustainable water and food system. The production and export of green hydrogen will become one of the core activities for NEOM’s energy sector.

As CEO of innogy SE from 2016 till 2017, Peter embodied the transition of the energy industry. A Dutch top executive with a strong pan-European background transforming the German DAX listed company RWE (50 BB Euro turnover, > 60.000 employees). Moving away from its business model of capital intensive energy generation by creating a new company, innogy, operating in the as yet unknown world of energy management.

When innogy was founded it immediately became Germany’s most valuable energy Company. It is an innovative and excellent branded company which is well prepared for the challenges of the decentralised and digitised modern energy market.

He was CEO of RWE AG from 2012 to 2016 and from 2009 to 2011, he was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Essent, the leading Dutch energy utility acquired by RWE in 2009.

His career spans 15 years of experience in the energy industry.

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Gavin van Tonder

Executive Director of Water

Gavin van Tonder brings a truly global outlook on water utilities, challenges and solutions to his role as Executive Director of Water at NEOM, having worked for over two decades in some of the world’s largest markets, including Australia, China, India, Singapore and the UK.

At NEOM, he is charged with developing a greenfield water infrastructure, implementing leading-edge, high-recovery desalination and wastewater technologies. They include zero liquid discharge strategies that eliminate liquid waste and maximize water efficiency when managing wastewater. In addition, he is leading plans for the creation of a smart water distribution and transmission network for NEOM.

Van Tonder’s career includes having held senior engineering, field service and C-suite positions with water utilities and companies around the globe. His expertise spans energy and utilities sectors, including oil, gas and water, focusing on innovative, smart solutions, systems and products that deliver efficiency and performance.

Having initially set out in the water industry in 2001, van Tonder’s career took him to global giant Schlumberger, where he fulfilled a range of field service and engineering roles in locations including London, Mumbai, Shenzhen, Singapore and Vietnam.

His work at Itron in France and Austin, Texas, saw him become President of the Water Division – a role that saw him assume responsibility for the sector's global strategy, management and growth.

Van Tonder has started factories, facilities and water infrastructure from the ground up in China, India, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and Mexico, and he presently serves on water technology company advisory boards in Europe and the Americas. He has also served on boards in China, Indonesia, India, and Australia.

He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

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Jens Madrian

Executive Director of Energy

As NEOM’s Executive Director of Energy, Jens Madrian is responsible for designing and delivering an integrated market design and sustainable energy system from scratch, based on the latest technology and 100% renewable energy at the lowest cost.

He also oversees all strategic, commercial and operational matters regarding wind and solar, power transmission, flexibility and storage, regulation, portfolio management, energy market analytics, venture investments and innovative technologies within NEOM’s Energy sector.

Prior to joining NEOM, Madrian was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Commercial Officer at the UK-based energy technology start up Reactive Technologies. During this time, he was instrumental in building and driving strategic, financial and commercial performance and growth in the company’s global operations, delivering data technology solutions to promote the global renewable energy transition.

Within more than two decades of experience in the energy, infrastructure and technology sectors, Madrian worked for the multinational energy giant RWE across Europe as Managing Director before eventually becoming the Chief Financial Officer of RWE npower, one of Britain’s leading energy companies.

He has been appointed as Member of the Board of Advisors of the Virtual Institute of Smart Energy in Germany and of the Accounting for Sustainability Advisory Council (A4S), established by HRH the Prince of Wales to promote ESG investment standards leading to a global net zero carbon pathway. He is also a non-executive director and an angel investor in many high-growth data-based technology start-ups.

Madrian holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Munster, Germany. Given his long-standing industry reputation in promoting renewables and energy technology, he was appointed as an honorary fellow of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford in its Integrating Renewable Energy Programme in 2018.

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Roland Kaeppner

Executive Director of Hydrogen and Green Fuels

As Executive Director of Hydrogen and Green Fuels within NEOM’s Energy sector, Roland Kaeppner leads all hydrogen and clean fuels initiatives and activities. In doing so, he is supporting NEOM in its ambition to be the first at-scale region to be powered by 100% renewable and sustainable energy, guided by ambitions for regenerative development.

With 15 years’ global experience in hydrogen and green fuels, Kaeppner has been an advocate for a future hydrogen economy for more than a decade. Prior to joining NEOM, he was Executive Vice President for Energy Storage and Hydrogen at thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions, where he established and led their electrochemical green hydrogen production and redox flow battery technology businesses.

Kaeppner was previously Executive Member of the Board and CEO of Germany and Asia Pacific at McPhy Energy S.A., developing their innovative hydrogen portfolio and preparing the company for an IPO. Before that, he spent 13 years with Siemens Industrial Solutions in their industrial plant engineering business. In this role, he developed their Hydrogen PEM Electrolyzers business.

Kaeppner holds degrees in Engineering from Polytechnic Aalen, the University of Manchester and the Management Center St.Gallen.

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Frank Brichau

Executive Director of Customer and Digital, Energy

As Executive Director of Customer and Digital in NEOM’s Energy sector, Frank Brichau is responsible for creating the final distribution leg of the low-cost grid of renewable energy, which will be integrated into the commercial and residential communities. The customers of this grid will be engaged via seamless services in the domains of utilities and beyond, both in the real world and the digital space.

Prior to joining NEOM, Brichau was the Chief Commercial Officer of Essent Benelux, a Dutch energy company. During this time, he engaged in mergers and acquisitions and leveraged existing businesses to successfully expand Essent’s non-commodity energy business, taking the company from a pure commodity player toward a total energy solutions company. Before that, he served as the Chief Executive Officer at Essent Belgium, a challenger in the national electricity and gas market.

Brichau has more than two decades of experience in the energy sector, having spent nearly 16 years at Shell, where amongst other roles he served as a Logistics Director at Shell Europe and as a Mergers and Acquisitions Deal Executive at Shell International.

Having navigated the complexities of energy businesses and customers in northwest Europe, Brichau hopes to harness the opportunities of NEOM to drive innovation in energy systems, meet the evolving energy needs of the world and fulfil the customer expectations of the digital natives that will populate NEOM in the future.

He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Sciences and a Master of Civil Engineering in Electromechanics from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium.

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Andreas Stoerzel

Executive Director of Corporate Development

As Executive Director of Corporate Development, Andreas Stoerzel is responsible for shaping ENOWA strategy and strategic decisions, maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, driving organizational excellence as well as sourcing and executing strategic partnerships.

Prior to joining NEOM, Stoerzel spent 18 years at RWE Group, Germany’s largest power producer and a world leader in renewables. Holding several executive positions, he served as the CEO of innogy Middle East & North Africa, RWE’s renewables subsidiary in the Middle East.

Stoerzel worked across RWE’s power generation, distribution and retail companies in Germany and the United Kingdom as well as in RWE’s headquarters. During this time, Stoerzel held roles in Commercial Management, Corporate Development and Mergers & Acquisitions.

Since 2016, Stoerzel serves as Senior Independent Director of Samruk Energy, Kazakhstan’s largest energy producer.

In his early career, Stoerzel spent time at Arthur D. Little, an international management consultancy, as well as BP, a British multinational oil and gas company, and E.ON, a European energy company based in Germany, where he developed upstream oil and gas investments in North America, South America and West Africa.

Stoerzel holds a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Wyoming in the United States, an MBA from the Open University in the United Kingdom, and a Master of Science in geophysics from the University of Frankfurt in Germany.

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Thorsten Schwarz

Executive Director of Power System Engineering, Energy

As the Executive Director of Power System Engineering in NEOM’s Energy sector, Thorsten Schwarz is responsible for designing an electrical grid that can integrate distributed and bulk solar PV and wind farms, while being at par with global benchmarks on cost and reliability.

With more than two decades of experience in the technology and energy sector, Schwarz will be pushing the technological envelope at NEOM to create a first-of-its-kind power system that operates on a renewable energy system. He will also be setting up structures and resources to build, maintain and manage the grid at the lowest possible cost and within an ambitious schedule.

Prior to joining NEOM, Schwarz spent six years at GE Grid Solutions, a global leader in electrical transmission and distribution solutions. Holding several executive positions, he served as Managing Director and Commercial Leader across France, Germany, Central Europe and Eastern Europe. Between 2009 and 2014, Schwarz served as a Managing Director at General Cable, now Prysmian Group, working on HV onshore and offshore cables and projects. He was also Sales Director at NUKEM Group, where he was responsible for nuclear waste management solutions.

In his early career, Schwarz was the Vice President of Marketing and Sales Coordination at RWE Solutions and an analyst at DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG.

He serves on the board of several organizations, such as CIGRE, a non-profit organization in the field of high voltage electricity; ZVEI, the German electrical and electronic engineering industry association; and the FGE Research Association Energy at Aachen University.

Schwarz holds a Global Executive MBA from INSEAD and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Stuttgart.

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Guillaume Baudet

Director of Finance – Energy, Water and Food

Guillaume Baudet joins NEOM as the Director of Finance for the Energy, Water and Food sectors with 25 years of experience in the field of finance and asset management. At NEOM, he is responsible for providing sector heads with financial guidance and support to develop activities, deliver financial performance and report on financial indicators while organizing and structuring the financial activities across sectors.

Guillaume acquired the majority of his experience in the automotive industry as well as the power and water generation industries across Europe, North America and, most significantly, the Middle East. Prior to joining NEOM, he was the Finance Director in charge of investments, financing and treasury at Engie Solutions in Paris, where he played a key role in providing tailored solutions to support zero-carbon transition.

While serving as the CEO at Sohar Power Company (SPC), one of the largest power generation and water desalination plants in Oman, Guillaume managed the delivery of the operational and financial commitments of the project, led a contract extension and plant modification project, conducted debt refinancing and improved workforce localization. He also acted as CFO during his tenure at SPC, increasing the profitability of the company.

Before his time at SPC, Guillaume held CFO positions at Hidd Power Company (HPC), an independent power and water producer in Bahrain; at GDF Suez Energy MENA, a global leading energy player, in Dubai; and at Valeo, a leading global player in the automotive industry, in France, Mexico and Italy.

Guillaume holds a Master of Management and Finance from the Institut Superieur du Commerce Business School in Paris and a two-year degree in Business Administration and Finance and Accounting from the University of Toulon in France.

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