Dr. Roland Roesch has been Acting Director at the Innovation and Technology Center (IITC) in the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) since November 2022. In this role, he oversees the agency's work on advising member countries on energy scenarios and planning, power sector transformation, renewable generation, cost and markets, technology status and innovation outlooks, and project development guidelines. Before becoming Acting Director, he served as IITC Deputy Director from 2018.
Roland joined IRENA in 2012 and has worked in multiple work programs since. For two years prior to joining IRENA, Roland had been Professor for Energy Economics at the University of Applied Science in Damstadt. Previously, he worked for 15 years in the oil and gas and utilities industries for Shell and E.ON, latterly as General Manager Power with Shell and as Head of Division, Project Leader, Project Executive and Technical Project Developer with E.ON. Previously, he worked as an Energy Market Consultant for Lahmeyer International and as a researcher in renewable energy. Roland has solid business experience in energy markets, energy economics and strategies, renewable integration management, energy project development and project financing.