Webinar 34 - January 2024
Mr. Bruno Lestrade, Business Developer CCUS & Power-to-Methane, and Ms. Alice Rodrigues, Chargée de projets, at GRTgaz hosted the webinar on January 18, 2024.
Their presentation covered the GRTgaz/RTE study on the needs and joint planning of hydrogen and electricity infrastructures.
Biography of Bruno Lestrade
Business Developer CCUS & Power-to-Methane
GRTgaz
A graduate of Chimie ParisTech, Bruno Lestrade holds a degree in Refining, Engineering and Gas from IFP School (class of 2003).
He began his career in oil refining, before switching to energy management, where he worked across several industrial sectors (metallurgy, chemicals, power generation, etc.) on both technical and economic levels.
Today at GRTgaz, he supports natural gas customers in their energy transition towards renewable energies and low-carbon gases in particular.
Since 2023, Mr. Lestrade is a lecturer for IFP School's Energy and Processes program. He is a member of the Conseil supérieur de l'énergie (CSE).
Biography of Alice Rodrigues
Alice Rodrigues is a graduate of AgroParisTech (class of 2004). After two logistics positions in the food industry (Européenne d'Embouteillage, Kerry Produits Jaeger), she joined GRTgaz in 2009.
She worked for five years as an IT project manager on GRTgaz's "TRANS@ctions" commercial IS, then for five years as a Routing Account Manager. Since 2019, she has been carrying out dimensioning studies on future 100% hydrogen networks.
About their conference
"Presentation of the GRTgaz/RTE study on the needs and joint planning of hydrogen and electricity infrastructures"
The development of hydrogen produced by electrolysis raises questions about the need for hydrogen transport and storage infrastructures, and how these can be planned in conjunction with electricity transmission infrastructures.
To shed light on this matter, RTE and GRTgaz conducted a joint study in 2023 to assess the issues involved in developing hydrogen storage and transport infrastructures, and the levers for optimizing them with regard to the power system.
The analyses carried out, which cross-referenced electricity and gas system issues, show that the main benefit of dedicated hydrogen transport infrastructures is to connect hydrogen basins with saline storage facilities, enabling electrolyzers to offer their flexibility to the electricity system. In the study's central scenario, the net benefit to the energy system as a whole from this infrastructure is estimated at €1.5 billion/year.
Webinar 35 - June 2024
Mr. Florian Mercier, Principal Drilling Engineer at Helmerich & Payne, hosted the webinar on June 13, 2024.
His presentation was entitled: "Geothermal Energy and Machine Learning: New Challenges and Opportunities for the Drilling Industry".
Biography of Florian Mercier
Principal Drilling Engineer
Helmerich & Payne
Florian Mercier is an IFP School graduate. With over 12 years of experience in the energy sector, he is currently Principal Drilling Engineer for Helmerich & Payne (H&P) based in Pau, France. He earned his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the École nationale supérieure des Arts et des Métiers (ENSAM) and then specialized with a Master's in Petroleum Engineering and Project Development from IFP School (class of 2011).
Starting his career at Saipem as a Field Engineer, Florian gained valuable offshore experience in West Africa and China. He then joined TotalEnergies as a Drilling Engineer, spending nearly ten years in various roles. His assignments spanned across South America, Africa and the Middle East, where he held diverse operational and supportive roles in onshore, conventional offshore and deepwater environments for both development and exploration projects.
In 2022, Florian transitioned to Helmerich & Payne (H&P), the largest US onshore rig contractor. Based in Pau, France, he is part of H&P's Advanced Well Engineering branch. Involved in oil & gas and geothermal projects, he provides well engineering services and real-time support using advanced H&P DrillScan® Digital Solutions.
About his conference
"Geothermal Energy and Machine Learning: New Challenges and Opportunities for the Drilling Industry" Florian Mercier's presentation was divided into two parts :
- Geothermal Energy: The importance of drilling in geothermal projects and how oil & gas (and shale gas) drilling technologies can be transitioned to geothermal applications.
- Hybrid Modeling: Machine Learning + Physics Applied to Drilling Engineering: Real-time stick-slip mitigation using combined machine learning and physics-based techniques.
Webinar 36 - October 2024
Mr. Prateek Agarwal, Business Design Lead - Production Planning at SSAB, hosted the webinar on October 4th, 2024.
His presentation was entitled: "Supply Chain for Circular Economy: Fuels and Polymers".
Biography of Prateek Agarwal
Business Design Lead - Production Planning
SSAB
Prateek Agarwal is a seasoned professional with expertise in digital transformation and supply chain management. He holds an MBA from Aalto University (Finland) and an MSc from IFP School (France - Processes and Polymers, class of 2014).
During his career, Prateek has held leadership roles in digitalization and supply chain development within the refining and metal industries. His experience includes working with renowned companies like SSAB, Neste and Technip Energies, where he has led projects focused on sustainability.
About his conference
This webinar delved into the different aspects of the circular economy, comparing it with traditional supply chains. The presentation reviewed the EU's ambitious emissions reduction targets and discussed the potential contribution of a circular economy to achieving these goals. We explored the significant climate benefits of adopting a circular approach, particularly in the context of biofuels and polymers. Key elements necessary to establish circular supply chains for Biodiesel, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Biopolymers were discussed, with a particular focus on tracking and compliance. Finally, we provided an overview of the EU's regulatory framework governing biofuels and biopolymers.
Webinar 37 - March 2025
Mr. Fernando Dominguez Pinuaga, Vice President of Global Outreach at SandboxAQ, hosted the webinar on March 27, 2025.
His presentation was entitled: "Reinventing Energy with AI, Quantum technologies & Large Quantitative Models(LQMs)"
Biography of Fernando Dominguez Pinuaga
Vice President of Global Outreach
SandboxAQ
Equal part engineer and strategist, Fernando Dominguez Pinuaga is a driven innovator with a relentless passion for projects that make the world a better place. This drive has powered Fernando through a career in technology, most recently as Vice President of Global Outreach at SandboxAQ, a company using AI and Quantum technologies to solve challenging problems with positive impact.
Fernando started his career as a professional rugby player in Europe where he played two World Cups with the Spanish Rugby National team. He then joined Google/Alphabet in 2012 to help scale its services and products across Latin America before joining its secret innovation lab in Silicon Valley, X (formerly Google X), where he spent six years building new companies for Alphabet.
Fernando’s education and career spans three continents and a variety of industries, including energy, aerospace, transportation, robotics and AQ (AI + Quantum), in both the private and public sectors. He is an experienced business professional that understands how to create empathy with partners, lead teams and propel projects from concept to launch in the most challenging environments. His multilingual education (speaking 5 languages) and international experience allows him to adapt quickly to diverse business situations and find creative solutions to complex problems. Fernando is energetic and has learned to bring the values of rugby and high-level athletics to his professional career.
Fernando serves on the Board of Directors of a technology company. He has authored multiple articles in prestigious journals such as Nature and has delivered numerous lectures and public speaking engagements.
About his conference
"Reinventing Energy with AI, Quantum technologies & Large Quantitative Models(LQMs)"
This session explored how Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) are transforming the energy sector by solving real-world problems that traditional AI struggles to address. While language-based AI models excel at tasks like summarizing data and generating text, LQMs tackle complex, quantitative challenges in areas like grid optimization, renewable energy integration, and energy storage solutions.
In this session, Fernando Dominguez Pinuaga, IFP School graduate (ENM, 2011), VP of Global Outreach at SandboxAQ, shared practical examples of how LQMs accelerate R&D, reduce costs, and unlock breakthroughs in areas like smart grid management, advanced battery development, and carbon capture technologies.
Attendees gained insights into the future of AI beyond language models and learned actionable strategies for leveraging quantitative AI to solve real-world problems in the energy sector. Fernando also shared insights about the formation of SandboxAQ, a spinoff the Google X secret lab in Silicon Valley and how students can start new ventures.