Official Opening The smarter E South America Conference

He holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration from the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU), and a Master's degree in Energy Engineering from the Federal University of Itajubá (Unifei). He also holds an Executive MBA in Administration (Management in Electric Power Companies) from Fundação Getúlio Vargas and has completed the courses Theory and Operation of a Modern National Economy (Minerva Program) at George Washington University (USA), and Scenarios - New Regulatory, Institutional and Organizational Environment of the Brazilian Energy Sector, a program jointly promoted by USP, Unifei, and Unicamp. He has 12 years of experience in engineering and electricity distribution services at Coelba. He has been working at ANEEL since 1998, having contributed to the regulation of electricity commercialization and distribution. He served as advisor to the Superintendence of Distribution Services Regulation (SRD) for 10 years. From 2012 to April 2023, he held the position of Superintendent of the SRD. In May 2023, following ANEEL's restructuring, he took over as Superintendent of the STD.

Mauro Sergio Crestani - Journalist, has covered the electrical energy sector for more than 35 years, writing stories and articles on production, transmission, distribution and use of electricity in Brazil and worldwide, covering international congresses and exhibitions in South America, Europe and the USA. Editor of Eletricidade Moderna magazine since the 1990s and FotoVolt magazine since 2015, the latter dedicated to photovoltaic solar energy, energy storage, and electromobility.

Dr. Florian Wessendorf is Managing Director of Solar Promotion GmbH and Solar Promotion International GmbH. He is responsible for the global conference program and exhibitions in North America, South America and India. He has deep expertise in the solar industry, and formerly served as Managing Director of Photovoltaic Equipment at VDMA, where he was responsible for strategic development, market research and technology scouting, advocacy and policy advice, events, PR and marketing.

He has a degree in Electrical Engineering from UFU and a master's degree in Electronic Engineering from ITA. He founded Mi Omega in October 1993 and has been at the forefront of the company's technical solutions ever since. He has been a member of the ABNT committee responsible for revising standard NBR 5410 - Low-voltage electrical installations since 1993, coordinator of the ABNT committee responsible for revising standard NBR 14039 - Medium-voltage electrical installations since 2003, member of the NBR 16384 - Safety in Electricity committee in 2020 and member of the NBR 16690 - Electrical Installations of Photovoltaic Arrangements committee since its inception. As well as heading up Mi Omega, he currently teaches courses at the Mi Omega Institute and has over 40 years' experience in the electrical sector.

Markus Vlasits started as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in Germany and has been active in the solar PV industry for 17 years in several executive positions. In 2007-2009, he was Production Manager of crystallization and wafering at Q.Cells SE, Thalheim, Germany, where he reached a vice-presidential role in Sales Operations. Moving to Brazil in 2013, he started as CEO of Yingli Green Energy do Brasil. He teamed up with fellow executives to open Faro Energy, an investment company focusing on PV generation projects for commercial concerns, and was its Sales Director until 2018. In 2019, he was an independent consultant and helped start ABSOLAR's Energy Storage Workgroup. In 2020, founded NewCharge, an engineering company focused on energy storage projects for commercial clients in Brazil. He is also active as acts as a technical consultant and advisor for projects related to energy storage. In August 2023, he was elected president of board of directors of the Brazilian Association for Energy Storage Solutions (ABSAE). Markus also organizes energy storage events and conferences, and recently co-organized an energy storage conference panel for Intersolar South America 2021 in partnership with Solar Promotion.

Professional with experience in technical standardization, working since 2008 as Superintendent of the Brazilian Electricity Committee (ABNT/CB-003) at ABNT - Brazilian Association of Technical Standards, where he also holds the positions of Member of the Deliberative Council, Vice-President of the Technical Council since 2008, and President of the same since 2020. He is Superintendent of COBEI - Brazilian Committee for Electricity, Electronics, Lighting, and Telecommunications and Secretary of the Brazilian National Committee of the IEC since 2008. Internationally, he was an Alternate Member (2005-2010) and Full Member (2011-2016) of SMB - Standardization Management Board of IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission, standing out for his strategic performance in national and international standardization bodies.

Ronaldo Koloszuk is President of ABSOLAR (Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association), 2nd Secretary Director of FIESP (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo) and Commercial Director of Solar Group.

Celso L P Mendes - Consultant, he was general manager of Klöckner-Moeller for South America and general manager of Siemens in the area of Industrial Electrical Energy Systems. For more than 30 years, he has worked in Brazil and Germany on equipment and installations for the basic and manufacturing industries. A member of the NBR 5410 EC since 1990, he has published several works on the standard. He is a Life Senior Member of the IEEE, a senior member of the VDE, and a member of the IAFSS - International Association for Fire Safety Science, London. He is a consultant on Modern Electricity and PhotoVolt, and senior advisor to the Intersolar South America congress.

Rafael Cunha is an Electrical Engineer from the Federal University of Santa Catarina and writes the 'Electric Vehicles' column for FotoVolt magazine. He has several years' experience in projects for industrial installations, as well as in projects to implement an electrical work safety regulatory standard (NR-10) and is also a member of the study commission currently developing the NBR 17019 standard. Rafael is a co-founder of and the director of operations at movE Eletromobilidade, which provides technological solutions for managing the charging controls of electric vehicles.

Two years of experience in the private and public productive sector between 2009 and 2011. Experience in the Electric Power Sector since 2011, including two years in the private sector at a traditional consulting firm in Brasília in the field of Regulation. Admitted to public service in 2012 as an Infrastructure Analyst. Worked for six years (2012-2019) at the Special Advisory Office for Economic Affairs - ASSEC of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, actively engaged in Energy Auctions, Sectoral Funds (charges, Energy Development Account - CDE), sectoral investments, Federal Budget, and Privatizations (São Paulo Energy Company - CESP, designated distribution companies, and Eletrobras), holding Senior Management and Advisory positions. From 2019 to 2023, served as Advisor in the Department of Energy Planning of the Secretariat for Planning and Energy Development, also within the Ministry of Mines and Energy. From October 2023 to July 2025, served as General Coordinator of Transmission Planning at the Department of Transmission and Distribution Planning and Concessions and International Interconnections, under the National Secretariat for Energy Transition and Planning. Responsibilities included consolidating the Transmission Concessions Plan (POTEE), conducting transmission expansion studies, organizing transmission facility auctions, among others. In July 2025, appointed as Program Director at the National Secretariat for Energy Transition and Planning of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, also serving as Deputy to the National Secretary for Energy Transition and Planning.

Rodrigo Lopes Sauaia is co-founder and CEO of ABSOLAR (Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association), the national association representing Brazilian solar PV companies and professionals. He is co-founder and a governing board member of the GSC (Global Solar Council), a non-profit body representing regional and national solar associations on international issues. Rodrigo holds a PhD in Materials Engineering and Technology from PUC-RS (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul), a Master's degree in Renewable Energies from Loughborough University (UK), a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from USP (São Paulo University), and has collaborated with the Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (Germany) and with ETH Zürich (Switzerland).