On the occasion of EREF’s annual General Assembly held on 15th April in Freising /
Germany, Dr. Nikos Vassilakos has been unanimously elected new President of the European
Renewable Energy Federation (EREF). He succeeds Peter Danielsson who’s second term as
President ended according to the Federation’s statutes after four years of very successful
work.
Nikos Vassilakos has been actively engaged in EREF’s activities since its foundation back in
2000 and served as its Vice President since 2004.
His commitment to promoting renewable energies and his professional experience in the
sector which he gained as Managing Director of Network Consulting Group, a highly
specialised consultancy firm for national and international projects and scientific studies in
the renewable energies sector, and in his position as Director of the Greek Association of
Renewable Energy Producers, make him a most suitable person to take up this challenging
position.
“This year is a crucial year for the renewable industries’ sector. The implementation of the
2020 targets set by the European Council last year is a huge challenge for the European
legislator and stakeholders alike, but in particular for the renewable industry. We definitely
need to get the legal framework right, in order to ensure further sustainable growth of
renewable energies and security of supply. I am very much looking forward to continue our
work with the European Institutions and to meet this challenge. EREF will continue to ask for
clear safeguards and further development of the most successful national policies, meaning
the feed-in mechanisms. There is no way for us to accept an EU 27 wide green certificate
trading mechanism to the detriment of these national systems” , stressed Nikos Vassilakos.
Although the new RES directive will be one of the top priorities of EREF in the coming
months, Nikos Vassilakos declared that also other issues such as grid enforcement and
priority grid access for independent RES producers will be high on his agenda. “We need to
further strengthen the voice of Europe’s independent power producers and support them in
their efforts to reach a level playing field in the European energy market”.
Mr. Vassilakos’ presidency work will be supported by the three Vice-presidents Peter
Danielsson (SERO - Sweden), Antonio Sá da Costa (APREN- Portugal) and Rainer Hinrich-
Rahlwes (BEE- Germany) and the other Board Members: Peter Ahmels (BWE- Germany),
Claudia Grotz (BWE, Germany), Daniel Soreau (EAF-France), Jean Michel Germa (FEEFrance),
Preben Maegaard (Folkecenter, Denmark), Claudius da Costa Gomez (Fachverband
Biogas e.V.-Germany), Patrik Krizanský (ZVES- Slovakia) and industry representative Klaus
Hofmann (Schott AG - Germany).