Pinergy, the Irish renewable electricity and energy transition company, has appointed Maria Marta Perez Lippi as Chief Operating Officer, the company announced on June 2, 2026. The appointment comes as Pinergy accelerates operational expansion following its acquisition by Tokyo-based multinational Sojitz in December 2024 and represents a critical hiring for the company's integration and scaling ambitions across its unified business structure.
Enda Gunnell, chief executive and founder of Pinergy, said Perez Lippi brings "an exceptional blend of operational leadership and customer-focused thinking, developed over nearly two decades in a range of businesses." The company emphasized it stands "at a pivotal point in Pinergy's growth as we progress towards a unified business structure and continue to expand our position in Ireland's energy transition." Perez Lippi will lead the company's operational strategy with emphasis on defining industry-leading customer experience standards and embedding a customer-led culture where performance enables commercial ambitions. No search firm was mentioned in connection with the appointment.
Perez Lippi brings more than 20 years of experience spanning sales, marketing, operations and customer strategy. Originally from Argentina, she spent most of her career in Ireland, working at Sun Microsystems and Schindler Lifts before joining Google Ireland as an early employee in 2006. Over nearly 18 years at Google, she held various senior roles including Support Launch Manager for Consumer Operations, Head of Global Quality and Service Design for Consumer Products, and Director of Large Customer Sales for Southern Europe, where she led teams across multiple territories. She subsequently founded MMPL Consulting, providing fractional COO services and coaching to startups and small- and medium-sized enterprises. Perez Lippi holds a degree in Marketing and Graphic Design from Universidad de Palermo in Argentina and an MBA from Liverpool John Moores University.
Pinergy was established in 2013 and has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions of energy-related businesses. The company supplies green electricity and smart energy solutions, including commercial solar installations, energy measurement systems and EV charging infrastructure. In 2024, Pinergy reported revenues of 267 million euros, representing 25 percent growth from the prior year. Sojitz's December 2024 acquisition of a 98 percent stake marked the company's entry into electricity retail in Ireland and represents its second European electricity investment, following its earlier stake in Spanish utility Nexus Energia. Pinergy serves approximately 10,000 commercial and 30,000 domestic customers and employs 141 people across its Dublin and Enniscorthy operations.
The timing of Perez Lippi's appointment suggests the Sojitz ownership intends to strengthen operational capabilities as Pinergy works toward fuller business integration and scaling. Her extensive experience managing customer-facing operations at a global technology company and her subsequent consulting work advising growth-stage businesses position her to address the operational complexities of managing the unified structure that Gunnell referenced. The appointment is arguably most significant for what it signals about Pinergy's immediate priorities: operational excellence, customer experience architecture, and institutional capability building under new ownership. The leadership change may indicate that Pinergy intends to move beyond its organic acquisition model toward more systematic operational integration and standardization across its various business units.
