Mauricio Tolmasquim was Executive Manager for Strategy and Planning and Petrobras. He has recently retired from the position of Titular Professor at the Energy Planning Program of the Graduate program in Engineering (COPPE/UFRJ). He was the President of Empresa de Pesquisa Energética (EPE) for over 11 years, coordinating studies destined to subsidize the planning of the energy section, encompassing electrical power, petroleum and natural gas, and its byproducts and biofuel. Under his management, Brazil launched 37 successful energy auctions, contracting 92GW of new capacity for electricity generation. He led the study that supports Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of Brazil, which were submitted to UNFCCC in 2015 and coordinated the studies that subsidized the drafting of a new regulatory framework for pre-salt.
He was Executive Secretary and Interim Minister for the Mines and Energy Ministry for close to two and half years, and he was responsible for coordinating the work group that designed the regulatory framework for the electrical sector, which has been in force since 2004. He was visiting researcher at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Electricity Policy Group at Harvard Kennedy School. Due to the renewable energy auctions implemented in Brazil and adopted by several countries in Latin America, he was elected by Latin Trade Magazine as one of the 25 people who changed Latin America in the last quarter of century. He was honored by Itamaraty as Great Officer of the Order of Rio Branco, which recognizes meritorious service and civic virtues.