Speakers

As CEO of rPlus Hydro, Matthew Shapiro provides strategic leadership as well as marketing and project-level support for rPlus’ nearly 10 GW portfolio of pumped storage hydro projects. Matthew has served in this role since rPlus Hydro’s inception in 2019, and he is recognized as an industry leader in pumped storage development. He began his career in renewable energy development more than three decades ago when he jumped into the then-nascent wind energy industry as a site scout. In the 1990s, Matthew worked for early leaders in wind energy development, for whom he developed innovative concepts involving energy storage, transmission, and new approaches to marketing renewable energy. His interest in pumped storage hydropower took off shortly after he started in wind development, as he saw the potential for pumped storage to allow wind energy to compete with fossil-based generation. In 2009, Matthew formed Gridflex Energy to identify and initiate the development of the best new pumped storage sites in the US. These included the White Pine and Seminole projects that now have Final License Applications filed with FERC. Along with project origination, Matthew has been pioneering business cases for pumped storage tailored around the integration of wind and solar energy.