VDE ETG elects new board

(Frankfurt am Main, November 12, 2025) Dr. Britta Buchholz, VP Active Distribution Grids at Hitachi Energy, has been elected chair of the Power Engineering Society within VDE (VDE ETG) for another three-year term. She will thus lead the scientific association with 9,000 members until the end of 2028. Dr. Alexander Montebaur, Managing Director of Special Technology and Digitalization at Westnetz GmbH, was newly elected as Deputy Chair. Ben Gemsjäger, Head of PTI Consulting Germany at Siemens AG, is also new to the Executive Board.

Richard Tretter (Head of Energy and Network Management, Stadtwerke München GmbH), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jutta Hanson (Head of the Department of Electrical Energy Supply Using Renewable Energies, TU Darmstadt) and Prof. Dr. sc. Andreas Ulbig (member of the IAEW institute management, chair of Active Energy Distribution Networks, RWTH Aachen University).

"I would like to thank the members very much for their trust and I have great respect for this role. Together with the Executive Board, the department heads, and all active members, we will expertly drive forward the further development of the energy system," says Britta Buchholz. "And, of course, we are always happy to welcome interested new members who would like to actively shape our future."

At the end of their second term, Dr. Karsten Viereck (Director of Technology Automation, Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen) and Dr. Stefan Küppers (former Chief Technology Officer, Westenergie AG) are stepping down from the ETG Executive Board. "I would like to thank the previous board members for their voluntary commitment and I am already looking forward to working with the new board," says Dr. Ralf Petri, Managing Director of VDE ETG.

The ETG is considered one of the central platforms for knowledge exchange on the energy system in Germany.

Further information on the members of the VDE ETG Executive Board

Dr. Britta Buchholz (Chair) represents industry on the ETG Executive Board. Since 2020, she has been driving innovation in energy transformation as VP Active Distribution Grids at Hitachi Energy. Previously, she held various management positions at ABB (2011 to 2019) and MVV Energie (2001 to 2011). She received her doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Kassel in 2001 and holds a degree in industrial engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Since 2023, she has been Chair of the Executive Board of VDE ETG and a member of the VDE Presidium. She is also Chair of the Advisory Board for the
8th Energy Research Program for Applied Energy Research of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE). She is a CIGRE Fellow and a member of the German CIGRE Committee.

Ben Gemsjäger is the second industry representative and was elected to the VDE ETG Executive Board for the first time. After completing his master's degree in energy and environmental management in 2011, he rose through the ranks at Siemens to become a senior consultant, portfolio element owner, and global key expert in power system consulting before becoming deputy head of distribution network planning in 2018. After holding positions as Head of Transmission Grid Planning, Director of Business Development Europe, and Head of Distribution Grid Planning at Siemens Grid Software, Gemsjäger became Head of Siemens PTI Consulting Germany in 2025. At the same time, he is a member of the national and technical committee of CIRED and chairs the Industry Policy Working Group at T&D Europe.

As Deputy Chairman, Dr. Alexander Montebaur will bring the perspective of electricity supply to the VDE ETG Executive Board in the future. Montebaur has been Managing Director of Special Technology and Digitalization at Westnetz GmbH in Dortmund since June 2024. Prior to this, he held various management positions at E.DIS AG, E.ON SE, and Avacon AG, among others. He received his doctorate in 1996 in the field of grid reliability analysis at the Institute for Electrical Systems and Energy Economics (IAEW) at RWTH Aachen University.

The second representative of the electricity supply sector is Richard Tretter. After studying electrical engineering at Munich University of Applied Sciences, Tretter began his career in 1992 at Stadtwerke München as head of the department for planning and project development for high- and extra-high-voltage grids, overhead lines, and cables. This was followed by various management roles at Stadtwerke and its subsidiaries before Tretter became Head of Energy and Network Management, Electricity, Gas and Heat Supply at Stadtwerke München GmbH in 2018. Tretter has been a member of the VDE ETG Executive Board since 2023.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jutta Hanson is a professor and head of the Electrical Energy Supply Using Renewable Energies department in the Electrical Engineering and Information Technology faculty at TU Darmstadt. She represents the group of universities, authorities, research and other institutions on the ETG Executive Board. After training as an electrical engineering assistant and gaining her first practical work experience at AEG, Hanson began studying electrical engineering at TU Darmstadt in 1989. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Electrical Power Supply, where she also earned her doctorate. After more than ten years as a consultant in network planning at ABB, she returned to the university as a professor in 2011. Jutta Hanson has also been a member of the VDE ETG Executive Board since 2023.

Prof. Dr. sc. Andreas Ulbig is a member of the IAEW institute management, chair holder for Active Energy Distribution Networks at RWTH Aachen University, and group leader at the Fraunhofer Center for Digital Energy at Fraunhofer FIT. He has also been a member of the Executive Board since the previous term of office. After studying technical cybernetics at the University of Stuttgart with a preliminary degree in general engineering at the Technical University of Hamburg and a double degree (electrical engineering) at SUPELEC, Paris, as well as a research stay at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, Ulbig worked for a year as an energy analyst at the International Energy Agency in Paris. He then began his scientific career as a research assistant at ETH Zurich, where he received his doctorate in 2014. From 2014 to 2021, he was also Chief Operation Officer at Adaptricity, an ETH spin-off he co-founded, before accepting a position at RWTH Aachen University.

About the Power Engineering Society within VDE (VDE ETG)

The Power Engineering Society within VDE (VDE ETG) promotes the development of energy systems in Germany. It combines expertise in the generation, storage, transmission and distribution of electrical energy and the relevant interdisciplinary technologies, as well as the many different ways in which this energy is used. Integrated into the VDE interdisciplinary network, ETG is a widely recognized and respected technical and scientific association. The volunteer experts create a common platform for knowledge exchange in science and industry, contribute to accelerating the energy transition and to promoting an understanding of sustainable energy technology in society, and identify areas of action for policymakers. ETG connects people, different generations, start-ups and established institutions, science, business and society with performance and energy.

For more information, visit www.vde.com/etg 

About VDE

VDE, one of the largest technology organizations in Europe, has been regarded as a synonym for innovation and technological progress for more than 130 years. VDE is the only organization in the world that combines science, standardization, testing, certification, and application consulting under one umbrella. The VDE mark has been synonymous with the highest safety standards and consumer protection for more than 100 years. 

Our passion is the advancement of technology, the next generation of engineers and technologists, and lifelong learning and career development “on the job”. Within the VDE network more than 2,000 employees at over 60 locations worldwide, more than 100,000 honorary experts, and around 1,500 companies are dedicated to ensuring a future worth living: networked, digital, electrical.  
Shaping the e-dialistic future. 

The VDE (VDE Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies) is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. For more information, visit www.vde.com