Christian is Professor for Solar Economy at LUT University, Finland. His major expertise is the integrated research of technological and economic characteristics of renewable energy systems specialising in energy system modeling for 100% renewable energy, on a local but also global scale. Publications cover integrated sector analyses with power, heat, transport, desalination, industry, and negative CO2 emissions. The Power-to-X Economy comprises most of his research and 1.0⁰C pathways are increasingly investigated in addition to the 1.5⁰C standard.

Miapetra, SDP, worked as a member of the Parliament of Finland for eleven years before being elected to the European Parliament, where she spent the next ten years. In 2024, Kumpula-Natri returned to the Finnish Parliament, where she serves as Vice-chairman of the Grand Committee (EU affairs), Member of the Economic Committee and Head of Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

By education, Kumpula-Natri is an engineer (BSc).

Close to the heart and special expertise: EU, digitization, artificial intelligence and the data economy in an international framework, climate and energy policy, and human rights, especially children in conflict areas.

With 10 years of experience in energy growth companies, Lotta now works with accelerating flexibility in a wide range of technologies and services in Fortum. 

The business case for BESS has been rapidly changing in the past years. In Solar 2026, Lotta explores some of the ways BESS can add value to new assets.

Riku has been analysing the Nordic power market since 2012. He has previously worked in various power sector roles in Tampereen Sähkölaitos, SKM Market Predictor and Fortum before joining Axpo in March 2023. He is currently responsible for fundamental analysis of Nordic and UK power markets in Axpo headquarters in Switzerland.

The presentation will provide an insight to various challenges which solar power has faced over the last years in different European power markets. Among the topics are solar power data quality, value optimisation, cannibalisation effects, cross-border effects and subsidy side-effects.

Niko is responsible for customer relationships in the reserve markets and the development of reserve market services at Fingrid.

Solar power isn’t just about producing clean energy anymore — it’s becoming a one of the players in keeping our power system stable. Niko’s presentation will show the reserve markets from a solar perspective: what are these markets, why they matter, and how solar parks can unlock new value in an increasingly flexible and fast‑moving energy landscape.

Sigbjørn is a Team Leader at Norconsult / Kjeller Vindteknikk and holds a PhD within Solar Energy. He is heading the R&D initiatives within wind and solar energy and specializes in solar resource assessments in the Nordics.  He leads research and commercial projects that aim to improve methodology to assess solar resource and auxiliary parameters to ensure lower uncertainty in energy yield assessments. Some of the main challenges are lack of quality data as conventional weather prediction models and data derived from satellite images have lower quality further north and cloudier climate. Sigbjørn will present how to navigate these uncertainties and provide pathways to boost bankability for solar projects in Finland.

Victoria is a research analyst on Wood Mackenzie’s Power & Renewables team, specializing in European utility-scale solar PV markets. With over three years at Wood Mackenzie, she produces installation forecasts across 20+ European markets and analyzes routes-to-market, regulatory frameworks, and contributes to LCOE projections. Victoria holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the Autonomous University of Madrid.

The presentation will provide an overview and outlook of solar PV deployment in the Nordic region, with a focus on Finland, analysing the key drivers and bottlenecks shaping these markets. It will also cover solar capture prices, the development of PPAs, the emergence of solar-plus-storage projects, electrification trends, and key solar supply chain developments, including module prices.