Mexico Power & Renewables Forum

Raquel Bierzwinsky advises clients in the areas of project development and finance, international finance and mergers & acquisitions, with a particular emphasis in Mexico and Latin America. Ms. Bierzwinsky represents project developers, sponsors, commercial lenders, and multilateral and bilateral agencies in the structuring and negotiation of complex, multijurisdictional energy and infrastructure project financings, as well as in acquisitions and dispositions of projects.

She recently advised Enel Green Power S.p.A. on the sale of a majority stake in a 1.7 GW portfolio of eight renewable energy projects, including 1 GW of solar projects under construction and .7 GW of wind projects, of which three are operating and two are under construction. Her recent experience also includes advising the Inter-American Investment corporation (IIC), International Finance corporation (IFC), The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Banobras and Bancomext as senior lenders in the US$235 million financing of the 150 MW Solem 1 and 140 MW Solem 2 solar PV projects, located in Aguascalientes, Mexico, which are the first solar projects under Mexico's long-term clean energy auctions to obtain project financing.

Ms. Bierzwinsky is admitted to practice law in Mexico and New York.

Rafael Belda Marin joined the ENGIE group in 2017 as Renewable and Infrastructure Director. During his more than 17 years of professional experience he has been leading infrastructure and energy assets both in Europe and LATAM, with direct participation in their development, structuring, execution and operation.

In recent years he has been focused on the promissing Mexican energy sector triggered by new energy Reform acting as ABENGOA's México Business Development Director. Throughout his carrer, he has served leading positions with CINTRA, Iberdrola and Acciona. Rafael holds an MsC. Civil Engineer by Universidad
Politécnica de Valencia. He obtained an MBA from IESE Business School and has specialized in corporate finance, financial modelling, capital markets and
liquidity risk with several modules at Wharton, CEIBS and IEB.

Eduardo Piquero has over ten years of experience in carbon markets worldwide. He is the director of MEXICO2, the Mexican Carbon Platform designed to bring together Mexican carbon projects and local companies. Under the recently passed Fiscal Reform, that imposes a carbon tax, companies can cover the tax using Mexican Certified Emissions Reductions.

He has previously worked for the United Nations Environment Programme and carbon developers MGM International and South Pole Carbon, where he designed the first large scale Programme of Activities worldwide based on renewable energy.

Eduardo is Argentinean and has lived in Mexico for the past seven years. He is a political scientist with a master’s in state science.

Before joining Atlas Renewable Energy, Camilo worked at SunEdison for two years, most recently holding the position of GM for Mexico.

Prior to that time, Camilo accumulated more than 10 years of M&A experience throughout LatAm, including six years as BD Director for ContourGlobal for Latin America.

Camilo holds a bachelor degree in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia and a MBA from INSEAD in France and Asia.

Mr. Katzew is the founder and CEO of Zuma Energia, the leading Mexican Independent Power Producer Zuma holds in operation more than 800 MWs of renewable energy projects, wind and solar, across Mexico. Zuma was recognized in 2017 by S&P Platts with the global “Raising Star” award for the energy sector, amongst other recognitions. For over 15 years, Mr. Katzew’s career has been dedicated to leadership roles in the financing, construction, development and management of renewable energy projects across multiple countries. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an Honors BA in Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. Adrián is committed to make a significant contribution to the energy transition into sustainable and cost competitive renewable energy resources, and to enable a future where the renewable energy industry is a relevant engine for investment, economic growth and job creation. He has participated and lead the development of multiple policy initiatives and dialogues with the authorities related to the energy industry.

Pablo Otin is the CEO and co-founder of POWERTIS, a utility-scale solar developer aiming to lead the transaction to corporate PPA and bilateral markets in selected EU and Latin America markets. Pablo’s professional background includes developing of 2+ GW of renewable projects in EU and the US, as well as pioneering solar development in several countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Pablo garners extensive experience in the renewables industry –including greenfield development, M&A, finance or operations, and a proven track record in building platforms across multiple regions.

Francisco heads the business development activities of Canadian Solar Energy Group in LATAM. He has been responsible for generating a regional pipeline of over 900 MWp, mainly guided by projects awarded in government auctions – including over 480 MWp in Brazil (from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd federal auctions) and 450 MWp in Mexico (from the 1st and 3rd federal auction) among others. Francisco leads Canadian Solar investment opportunities in LATAM, designing the regional strategy, managing project analyses, structuring and acquisitions, as well as conducting closings and executions together with an over 15-employee multi-national team. His background in renewables includes PV, wind, CSP and CPV energy technologies, having guided the strategy for regional markets, auction processes and key project partners (Developers, Advisors, EPCs, Lenders, Investors…) and overseen Due Diligence, EPC/O&M contracts, financial closing and sale processes. Proven track record in solar PV since 2009, covering energy deals all over EU and LATAM markets and holding international business development positions with leading players in the renewable energy industry. Executive skills focused on the management of a 10-member team, involvement in multi-cultural atmospheres within a rapidly-changing environment and intense interaction with multi-disciplinary teams (tax, legal, financial, technical…) Key deliverables aimed at resource allocation, return assessment, risk mitigation strategies and deal closings in time-pressure contexts. Francisco holds a Master’s of Business Management from Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid.

Arturo's passion has been clean and cost effective energy solutions that can help ensure the future of our planet. In 2008 by the age of 18 installed his first PV grid tied system, which would become one of the first 5 systems installed in Mexico.

In 2011 created Ecotiza, to help optimize his installation business practices, creating the first solar software proposal tools in the Mexican Market.

Today he is a co-founder in Sunwise a SaaS platform designed to combine functions that optimize, simplify and control a Solar PV Mexican business.

Also co-founded ExelSolar, Mexico’s leading PV products and solutions wholesaler.

A member in both Mexican solar energy associations ASOLMEX and ANES.

His personal mission is to push the sustainability revolution in Mexico, to help ensure the future of our planet.

As Sr. Director of Business Development & Sales, Alejo Lopez leads NEXTracker’s business development and sales team for Mexico and Latin America. Alejo is an expert in the Latin American energy markets where he has worked extensively for over a decade.  Prior to joining NEXTracker in 2016, Alejo held the post of Country Manager for Hanwha Q CELLS in Mexico, with primary responsibilities of project development, M&A and PPA sales.  Alejo was also a key member of Siliken USA Distributed Generation managing project development and structured finance after working as an advisor with cutting-edge clean-tech ventures including Combined Power, ElectraDrive and others in Silicon Valley.
 
Alejo, a native of Argentina, started his career running large numerical models, fracking wells and poking at the Earth in what he calls being a Reservoir Engineer in Patagonia. He left the dark side after 6 years to pursue an MBA in Finance at the University of San Francisco where he graduated with honors. Alejo also holds an MSe in Petroleum Engineering from UNC Argentina and currently lives in Mexico City.

Mr. Capurro is the Chairman of Banverde and was previously CEO and founding partner of DG Energy Capital. Prior to DG Energy Capital he served as the CEO of OneKey Ventures, representing in China Larrain Vial’s USD 4.2 billion mining and energy assets portfolio for M&A, private placement and project finance transactions where he helped finance LATAM’s first titanium mining project. Moreover, Mr. Capurro worked as a financial and strategy consultant for technology companies and banks such as BBVA and Santander in Europe, the US, China and Latin America. He was the director of the Global Entrepreneurship Center & professor of entrepreneurial finance at Mayor University; he has been a guest lecturer at Babson College and Tec. de Monterrey, and is a contributor at Forbes magazine. Mr. Capurro holds a Master in Management from Babson College and Bachelor of Business & Economics from Universidad de Chile.

Guillermo es gerente del equipo de Strategy& PwC, especializado en el área de estrategia para el sector energía con más de 7 años de experiencia. Ha participado en participado en la definición de estrategia de entradas de empresas en el sector de energía en México, definición de estrategias de crecimiento del negocio de empresas en el sector eléctrico en México; ha tenido la oportunidad de apoyar a varias de las empresas que han sido adjudicadas en las pasadas subastas del sector eléctrico, así como en el análisis de los beneficios económicos, ambientales y sociales del despliegue de energías renovables en México. Recientemente ha participado asesorado a empresas en el cierre de PPAs corporativos.

Guillermo es Ingeniero Físico Industrial por el Tec de Monterrey, cuenta con maestrías en política y economía energética, y en ingeniería energética y ambiental por Sciences Po Paris y EPF, École d’Ingénieurs.

Manan Parikh is an Analyst on Americas Power & Renewables for Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables covering global downstream markets. Prior to GTM, his work has been extensively research based, centering upon alternative fuels infrastructure development and Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS) policy models for the Schatz Energy Research Center and UC Berkeley in Northern California. In California, he was also an ambassador to start-up teams within the Clean Tech Open accelerator as well as a consultant to DOE SunShot Catalyst Award winner, PVComplete. In Washington, DC he worked on biomass policy at the American Council On Renewable Energy. He is an alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry, as well as the DC-based Clean Energy Leadership Institute in its inaugural class.