The Institute's current executive committee, (whose term ends in June 2027), is as follows:
· Chairman, Mr. Costis Stambolis
· Deputy-Chairman, Mr. Constantinos Theofylaktos
· General Secretary, Mr. Nikos Sofianos
· Member, Mr. Anastassios Tosios
· Member, Mr. Theodore Terzopoulos
· Member, Mr. Christodoulos (Christos) Dimas
· Member, Ms. Sofia Politopoulou
· Ex Officio Member, Prof. Pandelis Biskas
Mr. Costis Stambolis is the Executve Director for the above period.
Τhe following four partners were appointed as alternate members of the Executive Committee:
• Mr. Yiannis Grigoriou
• Mrs. Evgenia Giannini
• Mr. Mihailo Mihailovic
• Dr. Halil Yurdakul Yigitguden
Cvs from Executive Committee
Costis Stambolis is a founding partner of the Institute while he currently serves as Chairrman and Executive Director. He also serves as a full member of the Greek government’s standing committee on Energy and Climate Change (NECP). Costis has over forty years’ experience in the broad energy sector having worked under various capacities on renewables (solar and wind), natural gas, energy market analysis and energy policy.
He holds graduate and postgraduate degrees in Architecture, from the RIBA and from Architectural Association in London and from the Said Business School at Oxford University. He is also the founder and managing editor of Energia.gr, Greece’s foremost energy portal.
Constantinos Theofylaktos is IENE’s Deputy Chairman. He is a USA trained Mechanical Engineer with an BSc and MSc from the University of Evansville, Indianna, and has 33 years’ experience in the energy sector and in the study, design and supervision of energy efficient systems for any type of building and for industry. Constantinos’s special interests includes Energy Policy, Energy Efficiency, RES and cogeneration of Heat and Power. He s currently the President of Greece’s Association for Cogeneration, HACHP.
He has served as chairman and CEO of the Centre of Renewable Energy Sources (CRES) and he has extensive experience in EU-ad EBRD-funded energy projects in SE Europe, Asia and Russia.
Nikolaos Sofianos (Mphil Development Studies, University of Glasgow, Scotland) has been worked for IENE for ten years (2007 - 2017) firstly as a Researcher and later as Research Coordinator of the Institute. He is a graduate of the department of History and Philosophy of Science of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens while he holds a master’s degree in Economic Development from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He has carried out extensive research into Renewable Energy Sources and their implementation in SE Europe. He was the Coordinator of the EU funded research project Geofar. His main area of interest is energy policy issues. He participates as a publishing assistant in the "Energy Issues" (IENE Monthly Newsletter) and in the "SE Europe Energy Brief" (a series of newsletters issued by the Institute). In addition, he has written many articles on energy while he has participated as a speaker at numerous conferences, seminars and workshops in Greece and abroad. Since 2016, he participates in the Board of IENE as a partner. Finally, he is currently a permanent external research associate, regularly contributing to the analysis of energy market issues.
Anastasios Tosios, Until 2002, he held positions in management, consulting, sales, and supervision of electromechanical constructions, in various companies in Thessaloniki and Athens. During the period 2002 - 2016, he worked for EPA Attiki SA (Attiki Gas Supply Company), holding successively the positions of Key Account Manager, B2B Sales Manager, Customer Technical Service Director, and Technical Director. From 2017 till mid-2019, following the successful split of EPA Attiki in 2016 in two companies for Supply and Distribution respectively, he undertook the positions of Distribution Operating (Technical and Commercial) Director and then, that of Commercial Director at the newly established EDA Attikis SA (Attiki Natural Gas Distribution Company). During the period 2019-2023, he was the Deputy CEO & Executive Member of the Board of Directors at EYDAP SA (Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company). Then till September 2024, he was the Head of Strategy & New Gas Division of ENAON (former DEPA Infrastructure), a company of Italgas Group.
He holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, an MSc in Technical Change and Industrial Strategy from the Alliance Manchester Business School, UK, as well as an Executive Diploma in Business Administration (SHELL mini-MBA) from ALBA Graduate Business School, Greece. He has also completed the Leadership Development Program Advanced (PLDA) at Harvard Business School, USA, and the International Directors Program at INSEAD, France.
Theodore Terzopoulos worked in the gas distribution sector for 35 years, holding, between others, the position of the General Manager in Gas Distribution Dept. at DEPA SA and General Manager of Strategy and Renewable Gases at DEDA SA and ENAON SA.
He had a leading role for the introduction and application in Greece of modern gas distribution technologies, including polyethylene grids, 4bar distribution pressure, tree shaped grids, smart meters and underground boring technology.
He headed the Maintenance & Safety Planning Directorate at British Gas for two years. CEO at EDA SA and DEDA SA (gas distribution companies). Pioneered the need for partial substitution of natural gas with locally produced renewable gases.
Member of:
• The Institution of Gas Engineers (UK): Member
• The Engineering Council (UK): Chartered Engineer
• Eurogas (EU): Distribution Committee, Member,
• GEODE (EU): The Association of European Energy Distributors, Member
Christodoulos (Christos) Dimas, is a founding member of IENE and Chairman of IENE’s Geopolitics Committee. He is a Topographer & Civil Engineer, graduate of NTUA. He has managed projects on Energy, Industry & Infrastructure (Europe, Saudi Arabia, Russia) and was Board member in major organisations of the energy sector.
Sofia Politopoulou, Director of the Regulatory Affairs Brabch, HEDNO, Greece
Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator
2012-today: Director of the Regulatory Affairs Dpt
Processing Regulatory topics such as: The coordination and negotiations with RAE for HEDNO’s Revenues and Distribution Network Tariffs. The adjustment of the Company's Units in the regulatory framework and the Compliance Program. The following of European & international regulatory practices and trends in order to configure the Company’s positions and develop an appropriate strategy and targets on regulatory issues.
2022-today: Vice Chair of Strategic Advisor Group to BoD of the EU DSO entity.
2022-today: Member of Country Expert Group EU DSO entity
2012-today: Member of Distribution & Market Facilitator Committee Eurelectric
2020-today: Member of Policy Committee of E.DSO
Public Power Corporation SA
1991-2011: Various positions at Strategy Dpt: Dealing with issues such Sustainability, CSR, Strategy, Business & Environmental Plan, Energy Market Analysis, Opportunities for expansion in SE Europe, Regulatory aspects. Liaison Delegator of PPC in World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Education: Master in Business Administration DIPLOMA in ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING (NTUA) 1989
Ex Officio Member - Chairman of IENE’s Scientific Council
Pandelis Biskas is a Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is considered an expert in power systems modelling and in the modelling of European electricity markets. His deep knowledge of the European electricity markets’ operation in both regulatory framework and in daily operation has provided him a key role in the Greek wholesale electricity market, where he is widely known for unit commitment and economic dispatch applications. His research interests expand in optimization models for electricity market clearing and assets’ bidding strategies.
He worked for 4.5 years as a Business Development Engineer in the Electricity Market Department of the Hellenic Transmission System Operator, in which the daily business of the Greek wholesale electricity market was performed (Capacity rights auctions, scheduling of imports/exports, Day-Ahead Scheduling, Dispatching Scheduling of production units). During this period, he participated in working groups for the harmonization of HTSO with the provisions of the “Greek Grid and Exchange Code”, in commissions for the “Mathematical Formulation of the Day-Ahead Scheduling problem”, and in groups for the harmonization of the market rules in the Central-South European (CSE) Region (including Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and Greece). He was the delegate of HTSO for the development of the Day-Ahead Scheduling solver (in the cooperation with AREVA T&D), which is still applied for the clearing of the day-ahead market in Greece.
As a member of the PSL/AUTH, through the Research Committee of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, he led (as a Principal Investigator) 80 projects and participated (as a Researcher/Consultant) in another 40 projects funded by Greek and international institutions, energy associations, energy companies, etc, during the last fifteen years. As an Electrical Engineer, he has undertaken and implemented more than 300 projects for power system operations and analysis, energy studies, risk management analysis in the production, trading and retail sector, price forecasting, consulting services on wholesale and retail electricity markets, etc. Professor Pandelis Biskas, as a senior market analyst of ECCO International Inc. (an internationally known company, providing consulting services to Governments, Regulators, Utilities, Independent System Operators, with registered address in California, USA), has participated in more than 50 projects in the field of wholesale electricity market design, algorithm modelling and market simulation in Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Poland and Israel during the last 15 years.
Cvs from Alternate Members
Yiannis Grigoriou is Mining Engineer (NTU of Athens, 1978) and Geophysicist (MSc Applied Geophysics, University of Leeds, UK, 1979) with c. 45 years’ experience in oil and gas industry.
He began his carrier in 1979 at DEP S.A (State E&P Company) as geophysicist and gradually was developing as explorationist in upstream business. Since 1998 he joined Hellenic Petroleum Group participated in numerous M&A projects, both in upstream and downstream sector in SE Europe and N. Africa, undertaking also various managerial positions. In parallel during 1997 – 2003 he served as advisor to EU Commission in the energy sector. Been appointed General.
Manager and then CEO of Hellenic Petroleum Upstream (2012 - 2020) focused in the growth of the Greek upstream market, where Hellenic built a promising portfolio of 10 blocks mainly offshore and onshore Western Greece, as Operator and partner in international JVs (with Total, ExxonMobil, Repsol, Edison and Energean).
Yannis is elected Vice President of the CEEC (Continental Europe Energy Council – members 75 energy companies) and is partner of IENE (Institute of Energy of SE Europe).
Eugenia Tzannini is an Attorney at Law and a member of the DSA (Athens Bar Association) since 1991. In addition, she has been a member of the Association des Juristes de Droit Public Compare (Paris) since 1990, as well as the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London). She is a graduate of the Law School of Athens, has successfully completed the Exercise before the Council of State (1990) and was trained at Paris I – Pantheon Sorbonne in Comparative Public Law of European Countries. She is certified in Mediation by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Harvard Negotiation Institute. In addition, in 2017, she successfully completed her Doctoral Thesis on the topic: “The penetration of RES in the energy system of Greece and the Principle of Sustainability” at the National Technical University of Athens. Since then she has been teaching on energy and environmental legislation in postgraduate programs of the University of West Attica and the International Hellenic University, while since 2021 she has been a third degree Professor in the Department of Humanities and Law at NTUA. At the same time, she is registered in the list of accredited mediators of the Ministry of Justice, of the Energy Regulatory Authority as well as in the list of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Finally, her long career includes a large number of publications and numerous presentations at international conferences, while she has over 20 years of experience in administrative, corporate, tax law, in projects of integration in development legislation, as well as in draft law projects. She is present at the Supreme Court, the Council of State, the Court of Auditors, the General Court of the European Union and the Court of the European Union.
Mihailo Mihailovic, is Independent Consultant and he has over 35 years of professional and business experience in Power Industry of the Republic of Serbia. He possesses extensive knowledge and skill in covering national electricity system dispatching, short and long term operation planning and long term corporate strategic planning. As an evaluator of new energy concepts or technologies, he was involved in the energy strategy development and market projections, along with policy related activities on both national and regional levels. During his career, he was
• a cross–functional leader in strategic planning, mapping potential and reviewing RES output in the power industry on company, national and regional level.
• Team leader for harmonization and implementation of modern energy statistical methodologies.
• Contributing editor on energy developments and trends in Serbia and SEE countries for the European annual publications.
Mihailo also authored or co-authored numerous papers and presentations for international conferences and was a reviewer on many national and regional policy studies regarding energy efficiency, climate-energy changes and regional electricity market development.
Graduated and received his M.Sc. degree in Power Engineering at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at University of Belgrade. After retiring from his position at the Electric Power Industry of Serbia, he works as an independent energy consultant and has been appointed as the Partner and member of the IENE’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Halil Yurdakul Yigitgüden is a Consultant on energy economics and a non-executive Board Member of CHS. From 2013-2017, he served as the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities in Vienna. Between 2004-2012 he advised several international companies on investment climate and geopolitics in the region and was Board Member of BorusanMannesman (2007-2013), BorusanEnBW Energy (2008-2012) in Istanbul and Senior Policy Expert of the EU MED-ENEC project promoting solar energy and energy efficiency in ten Mediterranean countries (2006-2008). He served from 1997-2003 as the Undersecretary of the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.
He took a leadership role in the Caspian region energy diplomacy and in implementing energy market reforms in Turkey. From 1995-1997 he held the position of CEO of Fenis Holding in Istanbul. Prior to that he served as Chairman and Director General of the State Airports and Air Traffic Authority (1992-94); as Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications (1991-92); as Vice-president of the mining chemicals and banking Group Etibank (1989-91) and as Group Manager for Investment Promotion at the State Planning Organization (1987-89).