GESS I: Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies

Current position:

Emilienne Tingwey joined the Renewables Academy (RENAC) AG in Berlin in 2010 and started off as a project assistant in the international know-how transfer project TREE (Transfer Renewable Energy & Efficiency). After managing various tailor-made courses offered by RENAC and carrying out solar training exercises, she is presently the project director of all face-to face training programmes at RENAC. She is head of the Green Energy Summer School, an annual study event offered by RENAC.

Professional experience:

Emilienne is a certified TüV trainer and trains people on how to carry out renewable energy training seminars and helps others to develop training programmes in renewable energy.Additionally, she is really keen to empower women and youth in the RE sector through training. With RENAC she carried out the APEC project ‘Empowering women as managers of the Renewable Energy‘ on behalf of the United States Department of Energy. Through training and mentoring, the project helped to increase the contribution of women to RE development in APEC economies. She was also in charge of a GIZ sponsored project in Cameroon: Transfer of renewable energy knowledge through the usage of solar photovoltaic to provide energy (electricity) to a local health centre: an off-grid system was installed in a local health centre and thereby training some youth in the community.

Education:

Emilienne Tingwey holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences and a Masters in Environmental and Resource Management from the Brandenburg Technical University (BTU) in Cottbus (April 2009). Born in Cameroon, Dr. Emilienne Tingwey grew up and studied in Cameroon right up to her bachelor’s degree before moving to Germany. She speaks fluent English, French, Pidgin, Moghamo and German.

Current position:
Albrecht Tiedemann is a director at the Renewables Academy (RENAC) AG since 2009. He manages the CapREG Program “Capacity Development on Renewable Energy and Grid Integration” for Professionals from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador working in the public and private energy sector. He is responsible for Blended e-Learning seminars (renewable energy and grid integration) and works as a trainer for wind energy (resource assessment, technology, hybrid wind/PV micro grids and wind farm economics) and for grid integration of renewables (balancing power and capacity credit calculation, short term power forecast for wind and solar). Mr Tiedemann moderates and chairs panel discussions, workshops, seminars and conferences.

Professional experience:
From 2003 to 2009 he was Project Director at the German Energy Agency (dena) GmbH and there he worked as a Consultant for the German Federal Ministry of Economics & Technology, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the European Commission and enterprises in the energy sector. Furthermore, he was the Chairman of Offshore Wind Standing Committee of the Federal government and the coastal Länder as well of the Forum Offshore Wind Energy and Nature Conservation. Mr. Tiedemann has been executively involved in the integration of renewable energies into the German energy supply system and in conducting strategic analysis for the German energy sector (German grid-study I and II until 2020 and 2030).
From 1989 to 2003 he worked as scientific assistant for the Federal Environmental Agency of Germany where he was responsible for developing environmental friendly technologies.

Education:
He holds a degree as “Engineer of Environmental Protection Technology” from the Technical University Berlin.

Current position:

Since 2016, Alexander Boensch has been a project director in RENAC’s Green Banking team. Before joining the team, Alexander worked with RENAC as an external consultant providing seminars, course design concepts, and e-learning content for 8 years.

Professional experience:

Alexander is an experienced financial economist working in the banking and finance industry with a sector focus on energy since 2003. As a financial consultant for renewable energy project developers, financial investors, and public utilities, he was responsible for structured and corporate finance, risk and treasury management, capital procurement, bank marketing, and M&A activities. Alexander has been involved in renewable energy projects with an installed capacity of more than 1 GW and successfully raised capital of more than EUR 2 billion. In addition to his work in renewable energy finance consulting and training, he is a lecturer for academic courses on corporate finance, capital markets, and renewable energy economics at various academic institutions.

Education:

Alexander Boensch has a master’s degree (M.A.) in International Economics and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, Finance and Strategic Management.

Current position:

Katie De Albuquerque is head of the Solar Energy & Energy Efficiency Division at RENAC. She works with and supports a team of 10 professionals to manage capacity-building projects, develop training materials, and deliver training courses that cover PV, solar thermal, and energy efficiency topics for target audiences, including installers, engineers, decision-makers, and bankers.

Professional experience:

Before joining RENAC, Katie worked as a freelancer on a range of projects. She provided technical assistance during the construction and commissioning phases of commercial PV plants, setting up, renewable energy training centres, and delivering training. Before moving to Berlin, Katie worked at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, UK, designing, installing, and operating small-scale renewable energy systems. She also provided consultancy services and taught on various master’s degree courses. Before this, she worked as a building services engineer for the engineering company Arup.

Education:

Katie received her master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

Current position:

Martin Schnauss has worked in the renewable energy sector for more than 30 years. He is a freelance engineer and external consultant for RENAC, developing training materials and conducting seminars and train-the-trainer programmes.

Professional experience:

Martin is an expert on solar thermal and PV systems with extensive planning and construction experience. He provides technical support and has expertise in monitoring and research, system optimisation, and computer simulation. He shares his knowledge in several publications, including in magazines, technical literature, and training courses.

Before joining RENAC, he was an engineer at the Technical University of Berlin and several solar engineering companies. As a consultant, he worked for the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar) and as a short-term expert for GIZ. Martin regularly gives presentations at national and international conferences and leads seminars on renewable energy technologies with a focus on solar thermal technology.

Education:

Martin received his electrical engineering diploma from the Technical University of Berlin.

Current position:

Volker Jaensch is head of the Bioenergy, Renewable Energy, and Energy Efficiency Finance Division at RENAC. Since joining RENAC in 2010, Volker has implemented and managed bioenergy, wind energy, and green banking training programmes and projects. He has also been responsible for designing and creating renewable energy training centres, such as at Earth University in Costa Rica.

Professional experience:

Before RENAC, Volker was a project manager at Veolia Environment and Gamesa Energia, where he gained ten years of professional experience in project development, due diligence, finance, and implementation of renewable energy projects with a focus on biomass and wind energy. He was also involved in renewable energy policy frameworks at the German Energy Agency (dena). Furthermore, Volker worked in developing and implementing sustainable carbon credit-generating projects (according to the Kyoto Protocol and the Gold Standard) in developing countries.

Education:

Volker received his MBA in 2001 from South Bank University London. He also holds a degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Applied Science Gießen.