Live event : OCPP Plugfest & Conference Europe

September 22nd, 2026

Act 1 – How we got here: From Electrification to Interoperability

10:30 – 10:40
Opening Remarks
Speaker: Peter Veale – ESB/ OCA Board Member
Welcome to the conference and introduction to the theme of the day. Drawing on Ireland’s storytelling tradition, this session introduces the conference journey and the idea that every generation needs a common language to build the future.

10:40 – 11:10
Welcome to Ireland – A Story of Electrification
Speaker: Senior Executive Representative, ESB
As ESB marks a century of electrification, this session reflects on Ireland’s journey from rural electrification to a modern energy system and the parallels with today’s transport electrification challenge.

11:10 – 11:30
From National Infrastructure to Global Standards: The Evolution of OCA
Speaker: Peyer Veale – ESB/ OCA Board Member and Lonneke Driessen – Director, OCA
This session brings together ESB’s founding perspective and OCA’s global standards leadership to explore how industry came together to solve interoperability challenges through OCPP, and how the Open Charge Alliance evolved into a global standards community supporting EV charging worldwide.

11:30 – 12:00
Keynote: Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure
Speaker: Diarmuid Curtin – EY
As EV charging becomes part of national energy systems, cybersecurity becomes a strategic risk. This session explores how eMobility infrastructure is evolving into critical infrastructure and the importance of building cyber resilience and trust across energy, transport and digital infrastructure.

12:00 – 12:30
Why Open Standards Matter Now More Than Ever
Speaker: Lonneke Driessen – Director, OCA
If EV charging is becoming critical infrastructure, interoperability becomes more important than ever. This session explores why open standards underpin competition, innovation, resilience, cybersecurity and consumer trust, and why a common language is essential for scaling electrification.

12:30 – 14:00 – Networking Lunch
Continuing the conversation and building connections across the ecosystem

Act 2 – What We Need to Do: Policy, Infrastructure and Energy System Intergration

14:00 – 14:30
Irelands EV Infrastructure and Digital Policy Perspective
Speaker: John Byrne & Aja Teehan – ZEVI
As Ireland accelerates the transition to electric mobility, the focus is moving beyond infrastructure deployment towards the systems, data and standards needed to support a scalable and interoperable charging ecosystem.
This session will provide an overview of Ireland’s EV infrastructure and vehicle policy strategy, together with ZEVI’s work on EV recharging infrastructure data, the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) management ecosystem, and the role of interoperability in supporting future charging services.
The session will also explore Ireland’s support for open standards and the rationale behind the joint Ireland-Netherlands position advocating for broader adoption of OCPP, highlighting the importance of interoperability, openness and future readiness in supporting electrification at scale.

14:30 – 15:00
Grid Flexibility and the Future Energy System
Speaker: Robert Power – ESB Networks
ESB Networks is responsible for planning, operating and developing Ireland’s electricity network. As EV charging becomes integrated into the electricity system, this session will explore how flexibility, smart charging, DER integration, energy management systems and Vehicle-to-Grid can support network stability, renewable energy integration and the future energy system.

Act 3 – What Future Will We Choose? Interoperability, Security and Scale 

15:00 – 15:30
Two futures of EV charging: Interoperability, Secuirty and Scale
Speaker: Lonneke Driessen – OCA
As EV charging becomes part of critical energy infrastructure, the industry faces a choice. This session explores two possible futures: one built on open standards, interoperability, cybersecurity by design, grid flexibility, innovation and competition; and another characterised by fragmentation, proprietary ecosystems, increased complexity, higher costs and slower progress. The session will also highlight OCPP 2.1, certification, security guidance, Plugfests, security testing initiatives and OCA’s role in supporting the industry.

15:30 – 16:15
Panel discussion: Delivering Electrification at Scale
Moderator: Peter Veale – ESB/ OCA Board Member
Panel Participants: Lonneke Driessen – OCA, Diarmuid Curtin – EY, John Byrne – ZEVI, Nodoka Nakamichi – Climate KIC A multi-stakeholder discussion moderated by Peter Veale, exploring open standards and interoperability, AFIR and the future regulatory landscape, cybersecurity and resilience, grid flexibility and bidirectional charging, the role of policy, the role of utilities and Europe’s path forward. Nodoka Nakamichi joins the discussion as a panel-only participant, bringing international perspective on Vehicle-to-Grid, bidirectional charging and grid flexibility.

16:15 – 16:30
Closing remarks
Speaker: Peter Veale – ESB/ OCA Board Member
Returning to the central theme of the day: every generation needs a shared infrastructure and a shared language to enable progress. A call to action for industry, policymakers and stakeholders to work together to deliver the next chapter of electrification through standards, security and collaboration.

17:00 – 21:00
Dinner & Cultural Experience at Johnnie Fox’s
Experience a true taste of Ireland with an unforgettable evening at the iconic Johnnie Fox’s, nestled in the Dublin Mountains. Enjoy a traditional Irish dinner, live music, and spectacular Irish dancing while connecting with fellow conference participants in a uniquely Irish setting.

European Conference Speaker Profiles

As electric vehicle charging becomes part of critical national infrastructure, interoperability, cybersecurity and energy system integration have never been more important. Hosted by ESB, the Open Charge Alliance European Conference & Plugfest brings together industry leaders, policymakers, utilities and technology experts to explore how open standards can help deliver electrification at scale.

Peter Veale 
Head of Technology & Digital Products
ESB ecars and OCA Board Member

Peter Veale has served on the Open Charge Alliance Board since March 2022 and is Head of Technology & Digital Products at ESB ecars. With more than 23 years of experience spanning technology, innovation and leadership, Peter founded and led a technology start-up before progressing through a variety of technology and business leadership roles within ESB. Over the past four years, he has focused on electric mobility, helping shape ESB’s approach to charging infrastructure, interoperability, digital platforms and open standards. His qualifications include a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science, Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) accreditation, and professional qualifications in project, portfolio and contract management. As a Board Member of the Open Charge Alliance, Peter is a strong advocate for interoperability and international collaboration across the EV charging sector.

Conference Role: Master of Ceremonies and Panel Moderator

ESB Executive Director
Senior Executive Representative
ESB

ESB will be represented by a senior executive speaker who will welcome delegates to Ireland and reflect on ESB’s role in the development of national energy infrastructure, the transition to a net-zero future, and the growing importance of electrification across transport, heat and the wider economy. The confirmed speaker biography will be finalised once the presenting ESB executive is confirmed.

Conference Topic: Welcome to Ireland – A Story of Electrification

Lonneke Driessen
Director
Open Charge Alliance

Lonneke Driessen has served as Director of the Open Charge Alliance since 2015. An experienced energy sector professional, she brings more than 15 years of industry expertise and previously held a variety of roles at Dutch distribution network operator Enexis over a period spanning more than 17 years. Under her leadership, OCA has continued to expand globally, supporting the adoption of OCPP and helping establish open interoperability standards as a cornerstone of the EV charging ecosystem. She is a leading voice in advancing open standards, certification and interoperability across the global EV charging sector.

Conference Topics:

• From National Infrastructure to Global Standards: The Evolution of OCA, jointly presented with Peter Veale
• Two Futures of EV Charging: Interoperability, Security and Scale
• Panel Participant

Diarmuid Curtin
Cyber Partner
EY

Diarmuid Curtin is an EY Cyber Partner and leads the Cyber Consulting practice across the island of Ireland. He specialises in cybersecurity and resilience for critical national infrastructure and financial services organisations. Having previously held senior client-side leadership roles, including Chief Information Security Officer, Diarmuid advises boards, executive committees and technology leaders on cyber risk, resilience and security strategy. He advises critical national infrastructure organisations on cybersecurity, resilience and operational risk, helping them navigate increasingly complex digital and operational technology environments.

Conference topics: 

• Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure
• Panel Participant

John Byrne
Customer, Standards & Interoperability Manager
ZEVI

John Byrne is Customer, Standards and Interoperability Manager at ZEVI, Ireland’s dedicated office for zero-emission vehicles. He leads work on customer-focused policy, technical standards and interoperability across Ireland’s public EV charging ecosystem and is the author of Ireland’s National EV Charging Infrastructure Strategy 2026-2028.

Prior to joining ZEVI, John served as Head of ESB ecars, where he led Ireland’s largest public charging network. Before that, he headed ESB’s National Smart Metering Programme, one of Ireland’s largest energy-sector transformation initiatives. Throughout his career, John has focused on large-scale infrastructure delivery, customer experience, digital transformation and standards-based innovation.

Conference Topics: 

• Ireland’s EV Infrastructure and Digital Policy Perspective, jointly presented with Aja Teehan
• Panel Participant

Aja Teehan
Data & Interoperability Manager
ZEVI

Aja Teehan is Data and Interoperability Manager for ZEVI policy within Ireland’s Department of Transport. She brings a background in software engineering, solution architecture and data engineering across academia, public service and private enterprise. Aja represents Ireland on the European Union’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Committee and several technical working groups focused on transport data, interoperability and digital infrastructure.

Her work focuses on the systems, standards and data frameworks required to enable an interoperable, future-ready EV charging ecosystem.

Conference topic: Ireland’s EV Infrastructure and Digital Policy Perspective, jointly presented with John Byrne.

Nodoka Nakamichi
Vehicle-Grid Network Lead
Climate KIC Australia

Nodoka Nakamichi is a Principal of Strategic Initiatives at Climate KIC Australia within the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney. She designs and leads multi-stakeholder collaborations that enable systems-level climate action.

She is currently the Project Director of the Vehicle-Grid Network (VGN), an Australian collaboration network that brings diverse stakeholders across the vehicle-grid integration value chain to accelerate the commercial deployment of bidirectional EV charging. VGN is a three-year initiative funded by RACE for 2030 CRC, ARENA and industry partners.

Through her work, Nodoka helps bridge policy, industry and energy-system stakeholders to accelerate the transition from EV adoption towards fully integrated vehicle-grid participation and flexibility services.

Conference Role: Panel Participant

Robert Power
Lead DMSO Design Product Strategy Team
ESB Networks

Robert Power leads ESB Networks’ DMSO Design Product Strategy Team, with responsibility for shaping roadmaps for Flexibility and Operations Transformation and supporting departmental and regulatory requirements, including the Climate Action Plan and National Energy Demand Strategy. With more than 20 years’ experience in ESB Networks, Robert has substantial expertise in operations technology and is actively involved in designing the target operating model and control room of the future capabilities. He holds a BEng in Electronic Engineering and an MEM from University College Dublin.

Conference Topics: 

• EVs enabling Irelands Flexibility Market Transformation
• Panel Participant

September 23rd & 24th, 2026

On September 23rd & 24th we will host face to face working group meetings. The schedule of these meetings will follow shortly.

You can register for these face to face sessions using the link shared in the working groups on our member platform Causeway.