Event Details
We will be joined by Adriana Laguna, who is in charge of delivering the corporate electric vehicle strategy and optimising value from the innovation portfolio at UK Power Network. She also leads the stakeholder engagement for all future energy related activities. As Senior Innovation Strategy Manager, she oversaw innovation projects on electrification of transport, small scale generation, storage and energy efficiency. She also led the delivery of Smarter Network Storage, the first multipurpose grid-scale storage in the UK, a 6MW/10MWh battery.
Joined by alumna Laurence Mulliez-Hurel, '92, Chairman at Voltalia, the discussion will focus on mass electrification of infrastructure, including coverage on key trends, emerging technologies, investment ideas and transaction opportunities.
Laurence will be joined by fellow alumns and London Energy Club Committee members, Peter Gutman, '90 advisor/investor Blue Bear Capital, Cornel Chirac, '12 Managing Partner, Fieldstone Energy Technology Capital and Ishaan Kapoor, '15 Managing Director, Constellation Energy, who will cover multiple perspectives ranging from investments in emerging technologies, private equity interests to commodity trading & deal structuring, as part of the electrification theme.
In addition, the London Energy Club Committee would like to share some ideas for next years' energy related events.
We look forward to seeing you at this intimate dinner, which will be the last energy related event organized by Chicago Booth this year in London.
Speaker Profiles
Adriana Laguna (Speaker)
Senior Innovation Strategy Manager, UK Power Network (UKPN)
Adriana joined UK Power Networks in 2012 to lead the commercial side of an innovative project aimed at making it easier for renewable energy to come onto the electricity network, before moving on to run a project investigating how to make London one of the world's leading cities in the move to the green economy. In 2015 she led the delivery of the first multipurpose grid scale storage in the country. She now helps lead the Innovation team, who are delivering projects that are preparing the energy distribution network for the future.
Laurence Mulliez-Hurel, '92 (Speaker)
Chairman, Voltalia
With more than 20 years of experience, Mulliez-Hurel has been a business leader and CEO in a wide range of different business sectors including banking, consumer products, energy, chemicals, and industrials. She has lived in four different countries and led businesses in more than 30 countries.
Mulliez-Hurel is currently chairman of Voltalia, a €500 million market capitalization producer of renewable-based power quoted on Euronext in Paris, and a nonexecutive director and chair of the audit committee at Aperam Stainless Steel, a $5 billion revenue spin-off from Arcelor Mittal, quoted in Luxembourg, Paris, and Amsterdam. She is also a nonexecutive director at SBM Offshore, a $3 billion revenue world leader in floating production and mooring systems for the oil and gas industry, and a nonexecutive director at Morgan Advanced Materials, a £1 billion revenue global engineering company applying world-class materials science to a range of products and applications.
From 2007 to 2010, Mulliez-Hurel was CEO of Castrol Industrial Lubricants and Services Worldwide, a $1.5 billion revenue business with nine plants and 2,000 employees in 37 countries. From 2010 to 2013, she was the CEO of Eoxis, a start-up producing power from wind parks and solar farms that has developed, built, operated, and financed a total of 65 megawatts in Spain, Italy, and India.
Mulliez-Hurel has a degree in finance from Sup de Co Rouen-France and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Cornel Chirac, '12 (Speaker)
Managing Partner, Fieldstone Energy Technology Capital
Cornel heads the Energy Technology practice at Fieldstone, both in advisory and investment capacity. His focus area is on energy technology innovation aiding the sustainable economy and energy transition (e.g. circular economy, energy storage, energy efficiency). Advisory projects cover M&A and capital raises for growth and mature companies while the investment activity is focused on early stage opportunities, covering both digital and electro-chemical or mechanical innovation.
In personal capacity, Cornel is an angel fund manager and early stage venture investor at London Venture Factory. His portfolio is focused on deep technology applications to traditional sectors. Cornel also leads the core investment activities and syndicates for Chicago Booth Angels and mentors for Microsoft Accelerator in the space of machine learning, blockchain, and IoT and for CyLon Cybersecurity.
In his earlier career, Cornel built and scaled two entrepreneurship ventures to exits of over $25m. After his MBA at Chicago Booth, Cornel was a strategy and deal consultant with L.E.K. in London and a corporate VC with the World Gold Council. Prior to settling in London, Cornel lived and worked in the USA for over a decade and in South-East Asia for four years.
Peter Gutman, '90 (Speaker)
advisor/investor, Blue Bear Capital
Peter is a advisor/investor in Blue Bear Capital. Previous a partner at Energea Global, a firm focused on investing in and managing distributed renewable energy generation assets in the developing markets. The primary technology focus is distributed solar, solar + storage and various fossil hybridization architectures. He has over 25 years of international experience across investment banking, operations and private equity.
Prior to Energea, Peter was a managing director at Gore Street Capital where he was responsible for their emerging markets renewable energy investment business and was also a founding member of the investment committee for Gore Street Capital's Energy Storage Fund (the first publicly listed energy storage fund in the world). Before this, Peter served as a senior advisor to Standard Chartered Bank's Principal Finance business holding several board roles. He was also global head of the energy, resources & infrastructure investment business and was responsible for defining the bank's global strategy for renewable energy and environmental finance.
Earlier in his career, he was an MD at both iFormation Group (an investment firm founded by Goldman Sachs and General Atlantic Partners) and at Goldman Sachs working across the Communications, Media & Technology group and PIA. He also worked at Lehman Brothers, Booz Allen and Arthur Anderson & Co. Peter has an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an MSc from the London School of Economics and an engineering degree from The University of Michigan.
Ishaan Kapoor, '15 (XP-84) (Speaker)
Managing Director, Constellation Energy
Ishaan Kapoor leads Exelon Corporation's origination and structured product division in Europe, and was instrumental in establishing Exelon's commercial office in the UK. In addition to structuring transactions with independent generators, renewable asset owners, private equity, and energy suppliers in the UK, Kapoor is also responsible for strategy and expansion into new geographies. Since joining Exelon Corporation in 2005, he has covered multiple and diverse roles within the organization—energy trading, investor relations, and corporate strategy.
Kapoor earned an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an MS in applied mathematics from the University of Houston, and a BA in mathematics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University. He is a CFA charter holder and formerly a Young Ambassador at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a Chicago-based think tank.