Young Energy Ambassadors 2026

Chloé works to bring energy closer to people, helping communities take part in shaping the transition. Her journey began with a master’s thesis on 'Materialising Energy Democracy in Brussels', which led her to hands-on involvement in Sunsud, the first energy-sharing project among social housing residents in the city. Since 2022, she has also been a co-founder and board member at Brupower, Brussels’ first citizen energy cooperative. 

Today she works as a capacity-building expert at REScoop.eu, supporting energy communities across Europe, particularly where the concept is still emerging. She is passionate about making the energy transition more democratic, accessible and grounded in people’s everyday realities.

Nuno Afonso holds a background in economics and finance and currently serves as Advisor to the Secretary of State for the Environment in the XXV Portuguese Government. His work focuses significantly on the waste sector, where he has developed a strong understanding of the role of (bio) waste-to-energy in enhancing energy system diversification and resilience. He has a strong focus on sustainable finance and bioeconomy, with a keen interest in advancing circular resource strategies. He is especially interested in how public policy can enable innovation and drive sustainable outcomes through market-based and bottom-up solutions. As a Young Energy Ambassador, he aims to empower young voices and promote impactful, future-oriented change.

Darin Amin is a Swedish Young Energy Ambassador and a student of economics and political science at Stockholm University. His work focuses on the democratic dimension of the energy transition, particularly on strengthening citizen participation in EU policymaking. 

He contributed to EU-level recommendations through the European Citizens’ Panel on Energy Efficiency, linking evidence-based policy with citizen deliberation. He has also contributed to youth engagement as an ambassador for the European Citizens’ Panels at EYE2025 and is particularly interested in enhancing the accessibility and legitimacy of energy policy while mobilising young people to shape a clean, fair and competitive European energy system.

Orestis has nine years of experience delivering multidisciplinary projects for the decarbonisation of complex energy systems. His work focuses on the just decarbonisation of heating and cooling through electrical grid synergies and waste-heat utilisation, applying academic and industry expertise to deliver practical and robust solutions. His projects span resilient system designs in Antarctica and large-scale urban strategies across the UK, Europe and North America. 

He is committed to bridging techno-economic limitations with the principles of a just transition, advancing resilient, affordable and low-carbon solutions that remain widely accessible. Orestis is an Energy Associate at Buro Happold, a Chartered Engineer and holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Glasgow.

Domagoj Badanjak is an energy engineer and entrepreneur specialising in renewable energy systems, electromobility and smart energy solutions. With a background in power systems engineering, he focuses on integrating solar energy and EV infrastructure with advanced analytics to support the energy transition. He is currently close to completing his PhD, with research focused on flexibility in distribution systems. 

He is the Chief Executive Officer of AleDo TECH d.o.o., where he leads strategy, operations and business development in the solar and electromobility sectors. He is also co-founder of HOBACA, a startup developing innovative solutions for EV charging management, contributing across business development, sales and platform design. Previously, he worked as an intern at Quanta Technology on projects related to PV and EV hosting capacity, AC optimal power flow and distributed energy resource tools, and served as a teaching assistant at the University of Zagreb in power and energy systems. He is also the main organiser of the Zagreb Green Energy Fair and remains actively engaged in promoting innovation within the energy sector.

Raúl's grandparents helped build Spain's first hydropower plants, bringing electricity to communities that had none. The prosperity that followed shaped his conviction: energy transforms societies. He started in computation, engineering quantum algorithms at the Technical University of Munich. As AI scaled, he saw the divide between those with access to compute and those without widen. But compute goes beyond owning GPUs. At its core, it is an energy problem. That insight drives his work today. He leads generative AI at E.ON's energy intelligence team, applying AI across the energy value chain, and publishes on data centre energy policy. His grandparents brought power to a post-war Spain. Raúl is determined to unlock that prosperity again by powering compute, this time for the whole of Europe.

David Blažek is a community energy professional based in Brno, Czech Republic. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Energy Security from Masaryk University. At Frank Bold’s Responsible Energy team, he coordinates fundraising, international partnerships and projects focused on clean energy innovation. He also serves as Chief Coordinator of the Community Energy Union (UKEN), a national coalition he helped build to over 100 members, steering its strategic development and organisational growth.

As Young Energy Ambassador, David aims to amplify the CEE voice in EU policymaking, support coalition-building across the region and strengthen fundraising capacity of energy communities.

Magdalini is a PhD candidate in EU Energy Law at the European University Cyprus, with research interests in energy justice and the democratisation of the energy sector. As a young Cypriot researcher, her commitment to Europe’s clean energy transition is deeply rooted in her island’s unique energy challenges.

Alongside her academic work, she works as a commercial lawyer and as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Studies for Politics and Democracy, where she hosts the Green Podcast Series.

Magdalini is also the co-founder of GENIMPACT, the first local youth-led initiative in Cyprus dedicated to empowering young people to actively participate in the energy transition and the evolving tech landscape.

Laurens is an energy transition and sustainability professional based in Rotterdam. He leads the Global Sustainability Programme at Samskip, a multinational logistics group.

At Samskip, he plays a key role in the development of the world’s first hydrogen-powered container ships and led an EU Innovation Fund project securing 47 million EUR in funding. He drove a 10% CO₂ reduction across Samskip’s global operations through a biofuel programme and lifted the company’s EcoVadis medal to Platinum (Top 1%).

Laurens is interested in the interplay between business, strategy, and policy for a stronger, more sustainable Europe. As Young Energy Ambassador, he aims to bring his perspective on the energy transition in shipping and logistics to EU policymaking, as well as a wider view on the strategic positioning of Europe through the energy transition.