About

Maria Elena Ruiz Paños is a distinguished legal expert with over two decades of experience in international legal affairs, and business negotiations, with a strong focus on the renewable and infrastructure energy sector. Throughout her career, she has played a pivotal role in managing corporate legal teams, structuring high-value contracts, and guiding executives through complex regulatory and compliance matters. 

Ruiz Paños began her legal career at Arcelor, working with both the Arcelor Group in Madrid and Arcelor Mittal in Luxembourg. Her extensive experience includes serving as General Counsel of Legal Affairs for Abengoa’s global business development and operations. In this role, she led strategic negotiations, supervised bidding processes, and ensured regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions. Additionally, she held key positions such as Head of Latam Legal Affairs and Head of Legal Affairs – Construction Division, where she was responsible for overseeing critical legal aspects of Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts, Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), and joint ventures. Additionally, she held position as Head of Legal in Highview Power, a leading reference in Long Duration Energy Storage, and currently as Head of Corporate Legal department at Lantania a first-class company on the fields of large transport, water and energy infrastructures.  

Beyond contract law, Ruiz Paños has a proven track record in establishing corporate structures and legal frameworks for multinational operations across Africa, East Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Her expertise spans legal risk management, dispute resolution, and corporate governance, making her an invaluable asset in the global energy market. 

Her reputation for excellence in international legal affairs, business negotiations, and contract management has been widely recognized. She has provided strategic legal support for some of the most complex renewable energy and desalination projects worldwide, including large-scale thermosolar plants in Chile, Southern Africa,  the UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . Her leadership in the legal sector continues to drive innovation, foster partnerships, and support the expansion of renewable energy infrastructure on a global scale.

She holds a bachelor’s and a law degree from the University of Antonio de Nebrija, as well as a master’s degree in international trade from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Additionally, she has pursued specialized training programs, including the Management and Entrepreneurship course from LSC and the University of Peking in Beijing, China. She also holds an International Arbitration certification from IE Law School in Madrid and has completed the Executive Development Program for Directors at ESADE – Loyola in Seville, Spain, in collaboration with Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.