Our Team

AustriaEnergy is constituted by a team of highly motivated employees, of the most diverse nationalities and cultures, specialized in their respective areas which is undoubtedly considered to be our greatest strength

The Group relies on a solid management team with a proven track-record, in the energy sector. Its multinational and multilingual nature permits the Group to quickly adjust to the challenges of a fast-growing industry.

Helmut Kantner

Managing Director

Helmut Kantner founded AustriaEnergy – formerly called AustrianSolar – in 2006. He has more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector, mainly in Central and South-East Europe and Chile/Latin-America. From 1998 to 2004 he led Jenbacher Peninsula Iberica as Managing Director, coordinating the sale of the company tought by General Electric and integrating it into GE Power. Throughout his career, Helmut has managed the site selection and technology integration until ready to build and further throughout construction of over 1 GW of power plants, now owned by multinationals like ENEL/ENDESA, IBERDROLA, TOTAL, SOJITZ, among others, all in renewables projects avoiding CO2 emissions

Pablo Schoennenbeck Grohnert

General Manager Chile & Director Green Hydrogen

Pablo has more than ten years of experience in the Chilean energy sector and has a master’s degree in renewable energy. He started his career in the energy sector in 2007 in the operation and planning of conventional and renewable sites. After finishing his master, he joined AustriaEnergy. Pablo participated in the site development, technology integration and economic evaluation of more than 1 GW of renewable opportunities, being Biogas, Run-Off-River, PV and wind power plants, all in Chile. Nowadays his focus is on the site development and technology integration of green hydrogen projects in the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica region in Chile.

Ricardo Fuentes

Finance Director

Ricardo is a Commercial Engineer and holds a Master’s in Financial Management from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. He has more than 20 years of experience leading finance functions in energy, renewable energy, and capital-intensive projects, with expertise in corporate finance, financial reporting, tax compliance, audit, and governance. Throughout his career, he has been involved in financial structuring, capital raising processes, and the development of large-scale projects in Chile and international markets. Before joining AustriaEnergy, he held senior finance leadership roles in energy companies, contributing to initiatives related to renewable energy, green hydrogen, green ammonia, and synthetic fuels.

Christian Jeldres

Head of Development NCRE

Christian is an Electrical Engineering from the Universidad de Chile, and Master in Energy Economics from the USM. He has more than 20 years of experience in the energy markets in Chile. Between 2002 to 2010 Christian integrated specialist teams in CDEC-SING, Transelec and CDEC-SIC in Operation and Planning areas. Since 2010, as expert in Interconnection he contributed in the integration of the first renewable projects to the grid in Chile; and since 2013 he has collaborated in different technical positions in companies like: Etrion, Sunpower, Tractebel and others. He joined AustriaEnergy in 2022 and is currently Head of Development NCRE.