Chief Public Affairs Officer, SuperNode

Biography

Christian Kjaer works as Chief Public Affairs Officer at SuperNode Ltd, in Dublin, Ireland. SuperNode Ltd. is a cutting-edge global technology company that develops superconducting power transmission systems to connect offshore renewable energy generation and facilitate bulk power transfer and grid interconnection. SuperNode was founded by Irish renewable energy entrepreneur Dr. Eddie O’Connor and is co-owned by Irish investors and Norwegian offshore industrial group Aker Horizons. Christian Kjaer has served as chairperson of Brussels-based CurrENT, the association of innovative grid technology companies, since January 2023. He is Chair of Wind Energy Ireland's Working Group on EU Energy Policy. Christian Kjaer, has more than 20 years of experience in renewable energy. He served as CEO of the European wind energy sector’s industry association WindEurope in Brussels for seven years (2006-2013) and was the organisation’s policy director for four years prior to that. Christian Kjaer has been Head of Unit at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi, advising its 159 member countries on how to develop frameworks for deploying renewable energy technologies and its related infrastructure. He served as senior adviser at the Nordic Council of Ministers’ energy unit, Nordic Energy Research in Oslo and was CEO of Danish wind energy association, WindDenmark (now Green Power Denmark) prior to that. In September 2016, Danish energy minister Lars Chr. Lilleholt appointed Christian Kjaer to join the Stakeholder Forum (“Energinets Interessentforum”) of Danish national TSO, Energinet. He was reappointed in January 2018. In parallel he served as a member of Energinet's Electricity Market Advisory Board ("Elmarkedets Advisory Board"). Christian Kjaer was a member of the Board of Directors at the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) for seven years and a member of the Board of Directors of the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) in Brussels from 2006 to 2013. He was an Expert Reviewer on the IPCC’s 4th and 5th Assessment Reports on Climate Change (2007 and 2014) and served as Review Editor on the IPCC’s Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources (2011). He holds a Masters’ Degree in International Economics and Business Administration (cand.merc. in International Business) from Copenhagen Business School and the Graduate School of International Economics and Finance at Brandeis University, Boston, USA (1997). He is a journalist and a member of the Danish Federation of Journalists, recognised by the International Federation of Journalists.