About us

Gianluca Fulli is Deputy Head of the Energy Security, Distribution and Markets Unit at the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC). He leads research on smart electricity systems, contributing to EU policy initiatives on security of electricity supply, energy digitalisation, grids development and markets design. He has 24+ year-experience in the power system research, regulatory and industry fields, and co-authored 150+ publications. He also worked with: Politecnico di Torino, lecturing on electricity security and digitalisation, the Italian and UK transmission system operators (TERNA and NGT), on renewables integration and power system planning; and IBM, on distributed devices management. He holds electrical engineering university and PhD degrees (La Sapienza University of Rome and Polytechnic of Torino), as well as a master on Philosophy of Digital Transformation (Universities of Udine/Torino).

Marcello Barboni holds a ... and conducts research on ...

Tilemahos Efthimiadis holds a PhD in Monetary Economics from the University of Macedonia, Greece (2006), an MSc in International Economics from the Athens University of Economics and Business (2001), and a BA in Economics (AUTH, 2000).

Vytis Kopustinkas holds a ... and conducts research on ...

Evangelos Kotsakis received his B.Sc. degree in computer science from the University of Athens, Greece, his M.Sc. and Ph.D degrees in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Salford, England. He held visiting posts in the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland and VTT Information Technology, Helsinki, Finland.
He joined the European commission in 2004 and since then he has been working as scientific officer in the Joint Research Centre at Ispra, Italy. His research interests include Smart Grid technology, System interoperability, ICT vulnerabilities and system simulations. He joined the "Smart Electricity Systems and Interoperability" team in September 2012.

Anna Mengolini conducts research on sociotechnical analysis and modelling of the energy transition, focusing on citizen active participation (e.g. citizen energy communities), regulatory challenges, the evolution of retail energy markets and the promotion of an inclusive energy transition. Her research investigates the relationship between energy system digitalisation and energy justice through a complexity science lens. She has a background in Chemical Engineering (MSc, University of Bologna), a European MSc in Environmental Engineering (Politecnico of Torino and Oxford Brookes University) and she holds a PhD in Energy Systems (Politecnico of Torino).  She obtained a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from the Open University.

Philip Minnebo is an electromechanical engineer (process technology) displaying twenty year experience as research engineer, mainly in the field of materials characterization and laboratory management.
His main activities within the "Smart Electricity Systems and Interoperability" project are
- modeling and experimental activities: real-time modeling of smart grid power and control systems hardware-in-the-loop testing of smart grid advanced components (control and protection equipment, storage devices, ...)
- policy support research
- integration of Distributed Energy Resources in distribution grids (technological, regulatory and economic aspects)

Stefano Tarantola has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering. He leads the living lab for testing digital energy solutions at both Ispra (IT) and Petten (NL) sites.
Stefano Tarantola is a Scientific Officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. He graduated in Nuclear Engineering and received his PhD in Science and Technologies for Engineering at the Polytechnic of Milan in 1996. He works at the Directorate for Energy, Transport and Climate of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre conducting methodological work and pre-normative research in the field interoperability of smart electricity grids and electric vehicles. He currently runs the living lab for testing digital energy solutions at the JRC Ispra and Petten sites testing and applying methods for policy-making based on citizen engagement in the field of digital energy in support to the Directorates Generals of the European Commission and other European Institutions.

Silvia Vitiello conducts research on economic and regulatory issues related to smart grids deployment at the European Commission Joint Research Centre. 
She is an economist, with degrees from Università Bocconi, Italy (including a double degree programme issued jointly with HEC Paris, France) and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Her experience spans from research institutions, as Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Italian National Energy Agency (ENEA), to public institutions as the Delegation of Lombardy Region to EU and the National Regulatory Authority (AEEG), with her main focus being European electricity markets.

Heinz Wilkening works for the European Commission DG Joint Research Centre in Petten since 2003. For the first years he worked in the field of hydrogen safety simulation and fuel-cell simulations. For about 10 years now he works in the field of Smart Grids. In particular he is working in the area of residential load profile simulation.
After graduating from University Hannover as mechanical engineer in 1993 and before joining the JRC, Mr. Wilkening had worked in German research centre and industries in the field of hydrogen safety simulations as well as fuel cell simulation, design and testing.

Nikoleta Andreadou received the B.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, in 2004, the M.Sc degree in “Mobile Communication Systems” from University of Surrey, U.K., in 2005, and the Ph.D. degree in Telecommunications from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2009.
She worked in the academia teaching telecommunication modules before she joined the University of Udine, Italy, for postdoctoral research in 2012. She also gained industrial experience with Intertek, working as a test engineer for certification of electronic products.
She joined the European Commission in the “Smart Electricity System and Interoperability” group in April 2014. Her research interests include Smart Grids, Broadband and Narrowband Power Line Communications, Signal Processing and Error Correction techniques.

Isabel Asensio holds the position of Scientific Project Officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Her primary focus is on Risk Preparedness in the Electricity Sector, where she contributes to the formulation of new policies aimed at strengthening resilience. Her research involves modelling critical scenarios, and conducting training exercises in collaboration with the Member States and other relevant institutions.

Before joining the JRC, Isabel gained extensive experience working with one of the leading utility companies in Spain and Italy. Throughout this period, she acquired substantial expertise in the electricity market, with a particular focus on trading (coal / gas) and regulation, as well as in the field of renewable energy development.

Rade Cadenovic received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies from FESB, University of Split in 2019. In the period between 2020 and 2021 he worked as an external lecturer in University of Donja Gorica, Faculty of Applied Sciences in Montenegro. He joined the “Energy Security, distribution and markets” unit at the European Commission (JRC) in 2021 as a power system markets modeller. His research interests include Power and Transmission System Analysis, Renewable Energy Sources, Distributions system analysis and Reconfiguration, Electricity Markets etc.

Antonio De Paola is a Scientific Project Officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, where he is particularly involved in the research activities of the Smart Grid Interoperability Laboratory. He received in 2011 his M.Sc. degree in control engineering from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and in 2015 his Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Imperial College London, where he is currently a visiting researcher. Before joining the JRC, he worked in academia as research fellow and lecturer in smart grid technologies. His main research interests include optimal control and game theory, with a specific focus on the design of novel control and market solutions for a sustainable and decarbonized electricity grid.

Andreas Fuhrmanek is a Scientific Officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. His research deals with aspects of the electricity market design and energy market transparency. Within these areas he analyses the impact of locational marginal pricing on market efficiency and investments as well as different behaviour of market participants. His research interests includes the application of modern data analysis tools to gain insights in these fields.

Prior to his work at the JRC he worked at a consultancy company focusing on financial trading and regulation. He holds a PhD in phyiscs from the University Paris Sud.

Isabel Gonzalez is Project Officer at Joint Research Centre. She is a specialist in renewable energy projects, energy saving and efficiency and electrical networks. Extensive experience in the private sector, research and public sector

Alexis Meletiou carries out interdisciplinary research on the fields of energy policy and regulation. He holds a Ph.D. in electricity networks regulation (Polytechnic University of Turin,2017) and a Master in Environment & Resource Management (Vrije University Amsterdam,2011). His professional and research interests include the economics and regulation of energy markets with the use of econometric, statistical, CBA and multicriteria analyses.

Ruth Shortall carries out interdisciplinary research focusing on social aspects of the energy transition. She holds a PhD in Environment and Natural Resources.
Ruth carries out interdisciplinary research focusing on social aspects of the energy transition. She holds a PhD in Environment and Natural Resources from University of Iceland.  Ruth is specialised in qualitative policy appraisal methods that measure the social impacts of policy,  and finding ways to combine both qualitative and quantitative methods for deeper policy insights.  She is involved in several projects in the unit including assessing the impact of energy poverty projects, assessing energy justice implications of smart grids and experimenting with new appraisal frameworks.

Georg Thomaßen is a Scientific Officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, conducting research on aspects of electricity market design with a focus on resource adequacy and locational incentives.

In his research, Georg Thomaßen focuses on different aspects of electricity market design in the field of resource adequacy and locational marginal pricing. In this context, he investigates different policy options both, with a focus on operational efficiency, as well as their long-term impact on investment. At his previous position, at the think tank Agora Energiewende, he was developing modelling capabilities with regard to the power sector, as well as the entire energy system.