About Us
Cornelius Matthes, CEO Dii Desert Energy
Paul van Son, Chairman, ZETA and President Dii
Jan Haizmann, Secretary General, ZETA and Managing Director, Correggio Consulting Ltd.
Bert den Ouden, Project Director of the "HyXchange"
Taimoor Zaman, Head of Commodities Trading, NEOM
The Second ZETA Roundtable was held on November 27 in Dubai as part of the 13th Dii Summit. The breakfast roundtable raised awareness amongst relevant stakeholders about using market tools to stimulate decarbonization of their industry. This ZETA roundtable set the scene for focused discussions on how to establish a clean exchange as marketplace for green molecules. Sharing the HyExchange experience made in The Netherlands stimulated the conceptual discussion on how to create clean marketplaces in the MENA region as future key producing region for H2 and derivatives thereof, but also is an example to follow in the GCC.
A deep dive to clean energy hubs which enables liquidity of green, low carbon or no carbon fuels next to those being used for classic molecules, was well received by the audience. Speakers elloborated the importance of a clean energy hub offering this form of market place and its potential in the region towards net zero future.
Jan Haizmann has over 15 years of experience in energy trading in a variety of corporate functions. Since 2005, Jan has been an independent consultant to the energy trading industry, based in Brussels, advising clients on legal and regulatory aspects of energy trading. He has been appointed expert in several arbitration proceedings helping dispute resolution in complex gas and power transactions. Jan has been managing director of Correggio Consulting which he founded as a boutique consulting company in 2005. More recently he has been managing Europ AID technical assistance projects for international donors in the context of emerging energy markets in Ukraine and Turkey.
In parallel to his consulting activities, Jan holds different executive functions within the European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET). He is a member of the EFET Board of Directors since 2009, has served as Chairman of the EFET Legal Committee since 2006. Furthermore, Jan was a member of the exchange council of the European Energy Exchange (EEX 2012-2020) and sits on the Advisory Board of BREC (Brussels Energy Club since 2020) he is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ZETA.
The presentation slides can be found here.
Cornelius Matthes, serving as CEO of Dii Desert Energy, is a distinguished leader steering the global shift toward 100% renewable energy, focusing particularly on desert areas. He is a well-respected investor and founder of several successful clean energy businesses in the Middle East and Africa.
With a decade of board-level experience at Deutsche Bank, Cornelius was notably one of the youngest board members in the Deutsche Bank Italy Group. He has also contributed significantly to various renewable energy organizations, startups, and associations, often on a pro bono basis.
At Dii Desert Energy, he has been crucial in establishing a robust international network, actively participating in the renewable energy transformation in North Africa and the Middle East. Cornelius's entrepreneurial spirit and expertise in emerging markets earned him the “Solar Pioneer 2015” award for the Middle East.
With over 45 years of experience in the international energy sector, Paul van Son is a recognized business pioneer and innovator, with a deep background in grid infrastructure, emission-free energy, natural gas, and hydrogen. Currently based in Munich and Dubai, he has spent the last two decades focusing on the energy transition across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Paul was the founding CEO of Dii Desert Energy in 2009, a coalition of 100+ companies aiming to transform North Africa and the Middle East into a sustainable energy hub. In 2021, he transitioned to the role of President within the organization. Concurrently, from 2015-2019, he served as the MENA Country Chairman for innogy SE, a major renewable energy firm, where he also acted as an envoy on hydrogen.
His extensive experience also spans various executive, management, and governance roles, showcasing his ability to lead, innovate, and build networks across the industry.
Bert den Ouden is the Project Director of HyXchange, a hydrogen exchange initiative in the Netherlands, involving over 70 market parties and supported by Gasunie and four Dutch port authorities. His work focuses on developing a hydrogen exchange, including a hydrogen certificate pilot and a spot market simulation.
Prior to this, den Ouden founded and was the CEO of APX-ENDEX, an energy exchange for electricity and gas in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK. Here, he was instrumental in integrating EU electricity markets and developing the Dutch TTF gas market. He has also been a key figure in energy consultancy at Berenschot since 2013, where he leads projects related to the energy transition, including market flexibility and hydrogen-related initiatives.
The presentation slides can be found here.
Taimoor Zaman has cultivated extensive experience across the global energy value chain, spanning upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors. His professional journey has been dedicated to optimizing cross-border energy assets and trading commodities, Carbon, and Green certifications, with a specific focus on northwest Europe.
At Centrica, one of Britain's largest energy companies and owner of British Gas, Taimoor led the energy trading desk. Before that, he played a key role in establishing the EU-UK Interconnector trading & optimization desk for National Grid. While the UK serves as his primary market, Taimoor has also made significant contributions in Abu Dhabi at EWEC, where he facilitated power transactions across borders and was pivotal in launching the Clean Energy Certificates auctions market through extensive collaboration with stakeholders.
In his current role at NEOM, Taimoor directs the Commodity Logistics Optimization & Trading team, guiding the transition toward cleaner commodities to fulfill NEOM’s overarching vision. His deep-rooted interest in the energy sector is evident from his academic background, holding an MSc in Energy Trading & Finance from Cass Business School London, an MBA with a Global Energy focus from the University of Warwick, and completing an executive leadership program in thought leadership at Said Business School, University of Oxford.
The presentation slides can be found here.