“We are living in a pivotal phase of change – that towards the transition to a zero-emission model – and it requires the contribution of brilliant minds who look to the future with positivity and know how to manage the new challenges on the horizon.”
#EF PEOPLE – MARIUCCIA BARRESI, HEAD OF REGULATORY AFFAIRS
For our new #EFPeople feature, we interviewed Mariuccia Barresi, Head of Regulatory Affairs, who shared her story with us, highlighting the importance of regulation for the evolution of the energy sector.
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EF Solare Italia has just introduced the Regulatory Affairs department, of which you are the head. What are the tasks and objectives of this new department?
The Regulatory Affairs department aims to ensure an overview of the body of rules governing the energy sector, which is inherently dynamic due to continuous developments by legislators, both at European and national levels. It is tasked with having a global, comprehensive understanding of the sector and managing a significant amount of information, which is made available to business areas to facilitate their activities.
Among its main objectives I mention: identifying favorable market areas, promoting internal assessments of economic feasibility and technical feasibility on specific regulatory issues, activating advocacy actions to encourage regulatory evolution where necessary, and looking towards more advanced electrical systems to intercept new development perspectives.
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What have been the most important moments in your academic and professional journey? What pushed you to choose EF Solare Italia?
After obtaining a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Milan and a second-level Master’s degree in Multi-utilities Management, Environment, and Energy, in 2010, I started working in the energy sector.
Throughout my professional life, I have had the opportunity to experience various leading corporate realities. My work experience has mainly focused on regulatory affairs, ranging from the retail and energy efficiency world to production (both electricity and gas) and wholesale markets, with a particular focus on renewable energies over the past six years.
Each of the steps I have taken so far has allowed me to consolidate my skills, to have an increasingly in-depth understanding of the sector dynamics, and to connect with professionals from whom I can learn as much as possible.
Surely, the opportunity to work in Madrid for a year has been a fundamental step in my career, not only for the chance to measure myself against a corporate culture and a different working method then ours but also to encounter an electrical system different from the Italian one. This latter aspect has changed my way of looking at regulation, impossible to confine to just one country’s system.
Joining EF Solare Italia’s team meant seizing an opportunity for professional growth and embracing a world, the one of solar energy, which will continue to play an increasingly central role in the energy transition.
EF Solare Italia is a reality formed by highly specialized professionals, a young and dynamic group that knows how to work in harmony to achieve shared objectives: each one plays their part, without seeking the limelight, but aware that 1+1 can make 3, by adding competence, commitment, and… a smile, which never hurts.
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What advice would you give to younger generation entering the workforce? What attitudes are important for them to develop?
I have deep confidence in the new generation of colleagues entering the workforce: they are sharp, quick learners… in one word, “smart”.
My wish for them is to become passionate about their work, to have the curiosity to delve into what they do not know, to seek new solutions and propose them without fear of judgment.
We are living in an important phase of change – that towards the transition to a zero-emission model – and it requires the contribution of brilliant minds who look to the future with positivity and know how to manage the new challenges on the horizon.
I think about, for example, the competition that will come from Artificial Intelligence soon: I hope they are convinced that the ability to envision belongs only to humans and that the task of promoting and guiding change cannot and must not be delegated.
Commitment, determination, curiosity, a propensity for in-depth analysis: these are the attitudes that I consider fundamental regardless of experience. I believe that becoming the best possible version of oneself is something to strive for always.
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How does your work contribute to the energy transition?
Regulation has always played a central role in guiding the dynamics of the energy sector. This is even more true considering that we are in a transition phase from a centralized model based on thermal-electric sources to a decentralized one, focused on renewable energies.
To manage this crucial paradigm shift, it is increasingly necessary to rely on rules, in a relay from the old to the new that cannot afford mistakes, as it risks questioning the security of the entire system.
The objectives of the energy transition are now clear: to achieve a net-zero system by 2050. I acknowledge regulation with the challenging, and at the same time fascinating, task of answering the “how to get there” question.
Certainly, there will be much to do, but it is precisely this that makes the challenge fascinating, along with the satisfaction of being able to say that us too at EF Solare Italia, are doing our part.