Energy · Geopolitics | Expertise · Teaching · Advisory

Romain
Blachier

Who really decides on energy, and with what means? Oil and OPEC+, nuclear power in a heatwave, the power grids of Taiwan and Central Africa: I work on that question in the classroom, in the press in France and abroad, and on assignment for institutions.

Get in touchRead my publications
Op-eds and analysis
Le Monde, Le Temps, Taipei Times, La Revue de l’Énergie
Listed expert and consultant
African and Asian Development Banks
Associate fellow
Fondation Jean-Jaurès · CSR Platform, France Stratégie
Teaching
10 institutions in 2026-2027, in French, English and Spanish

Mission to Taiwan

Taipei and Kinmen · 23 October – 1 November 2026

Invited to Taiwan by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Ministry selected me for its European Opinion Leaders Delegation, which brings together experts and public figures from across Europe. This is my third official invitation.

The programme takes us to meet Taiwanese ministers, business leaders and researchers, all the way to Kinmen, the archipelago on the front line facing Xiamen. Discussions cover, among other things, Taiwan–Europe cooperation on drones. My own focus is the energy security of an island that imports almost all of its energy.

Suggest a meeting in Taipei
Featured
Op-edLe Monde

"Nuclear reactors shut down: the combination of a lasting heatwave, water that is too warm and falling river flows is straining the French fleet"

Read the op-ed (in French) →

Peer-reviewed journalLa Revue de l'Énergie

"La fenêtre de rente : la sortie émirienne de l'OPEP+ comme aboutissement", peer-reviewed journal, no. 685 (2026/4), pp. 48-62

Read on Cairn (in French) →

SymposiumAIEE Energy Symposium, Turin

"Political Grammars of Energy Security: France, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates", paper accepted by the scientific committee of the 10th AIEE Energy Symposium (Italian Association of Energy Economists, University of Turin), 25–26 November 2026.

The symposium →

Publications

Recent publications

Taipei Times

Beijing was watching diesel deal (Taiwan)

Op-ed published by the Taipei Times on 21 October 2026: after Washington waived its sanctions on Russian diesel, Taiwan should rely on its own gas reserves rather than on promised sanctions.

Read the article →
Cœur d'Afrique

A cold room can change a territory's economy (DR Congo)

Op-ed published by Cœur d'Afrique on 19 October 2026: in Kinshasa, a shared solar cold room would spare market vendors from selling off or throwing away fresh food on blackout days.

Read the article →
Tribune Eco

Publishing oil prices to sell Congolese crude better (Congo)

Op-ed published by Tribune Eco on 17 October 2026: a one-page quarterly report on crude sales to narrow the discount on Congolese oil against Brent.

Read the article →
All publications →
Le Monde
AFP Factuel
Taipei Times
Radio Taiwan International
聯合報 — United Daily News
自由時報 — Liberty Times
CommonWealth Magazine
獨立評論@天下 — Opinion@CommonWealth
CEIAS — Central European Institute of Asian Studies
Telos
Fondation Jean-Jaurès
Le Temps
Le Vif
New Bloom Magazine
Revue Conflits
Terra Nova
La Grande Conversation
University of Nottingham — Taiwan Insight
Samoa Observer
Slate.fr
Cameroun Actuel
Défis Actuels
EcoMatin
Journal du Cameroun
Tribune Eco
Cœur d'Afrique
Le HuffPost
Libération
Lyon Mag
Rue89 Lyon
Marianne
African Arguments
Hespress
Services

What I do

Four activities, and they hold together. Who sets the price of oil, how electricity gets produced, who holds the grids, what all of that weighs in a balance of power: these take a long time to understand. You have to read them, go and see them, teach them, and only then write them.

  1. I teach

    Lectures at business schools and universities, training for executives and elected officials, keynotes. Energy markets and geopolitics (oil, gas, electricity), the energy transition, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, public communications.

    Training and teaching →

  2. I write

    Analysis and op-eds in Le Monde, Le Temps, Slate, the Taipei Times or La Revue de l'Énergie, think-tank papers, radio and television commentary. Oil and OPEC+, straits, nuclear power, African power systems, Taiwan. This is where I test what I think I have understood.

    Publications →

  3. I advise

    Short assignments for institutions and organizations: sector diagnosis, scoping papers, stakeholder consultation, institutional and crisis communications. Listed expert with the African Development Bank and registered consultant with the Asian Development Bank. The principle never changes: start from their own files.

    Consulting →

  4. I research

    An associate fellow at the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, I am also preparing a doctoral thesis at Université Lyon 2 on the governance of the electricity transition. This is the slow part, the one that takes years.

    Research →
Expertise & training

Training and teaching since 2010

I design and deliver training for audiences that start from very different places: business school students, senior executives, elected officials, public servants. The content changes every time. The method does not: start from their files, show how an energy policy actually gets decided, and leave them something they can use the next day.

Romain Blachier, microphone in hand, in front of his presentation screen at the France–Taiwan conference in Paris.
France–Taiwan Economic Cooperation Conference, Paris, 10 September 2026.

Organizations I train for

NEPSEN ENSAP Formation emlyon business school Lefebvre Dalloz
≈ 180 h
of teaching a year, since 2010
10
institutions in 2026-2027
FR / EN / ES
languages
Academic teaching
Lectures, tutorials and seminars at French universities and business schools, from Bachelor to Master and executive education. Dissertation supervision and examination panels.
Bespoke training
Modules built on a prior diagnosis, for public and private organizations: executive seminars, team training, thematic workshops. The content starts from their files, not from a catalogue.
Elected officials training
Twelve years of executive office in the City and then the Metropolitan area of Lyon: I train elected officials and their teams on energy, crisis communications, institutional relations and public affairs.
Papers, diagnoses and reports
Most of the work is written: scoping papers, sector diagnoses, analysis for institutions. Some of it stays confidential; the rest appears as an op-ed or a published paper.
Romain Blachier

About

Energy and geopolitics are treated as expert territory. My work is to make them readable and usable: in front of students, for a newsroom on deadline, or for an executive team that has to decide.

That reading comes from practice: eighteen years in renewable electricity, twelve years in elected office in the City and then the Metropolitan area of Lyon, and fieldwork in Cameroon, Cambodia, Ukraine and Taiwan, where I have twice travelled on official missions at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2019 and 2025).

I publish in France and abroad, from Le Monde to the Taipei Times, from La Revue de l'Énergie to the Cameroonian press: the Emirates' oil rent, French nuclear power in a heatwave, Taiwan's electric sovereignty, electricity in Central Africa. What I see in the field ends up in a lecture, then in an article, and the article usually makes me want to go back.

Full background →
Topics

Topics covered

Energy markets Energy geopolitics Oil, gas & OPEC+ African energy systems Taiwan & Indo-Pacific Nuclear energy Energy transition Renewable energy Energy sovereignty
See all topics
Hydropower & renewables Public affairs Institutional relations European politics Comparative political systems Crisis communications Religion & geopolitics Local governance Digital communications AI & education Cultural diplomacy Scientific cooperation
Background

References

Teaching

  • emlyon business school
  • Grenoble École de Management
  • ENTPE
  • UCLy — Université catholique de Lyon
  • Université catholique de Lille
  • HEIP
  • ILERI
  • IRIS Sup'

Institutions I have taught at since 2010, at various times and for varying durations.

Scheduled for 2026-2027: École Centrale de Lyon, INSA Lyon.

Institutional positions

  • Associate fellow, Fondation Jean-Jaurès
  • Civil-society college member, CSR Platform (France Stratégie)
  • Listed expert, African Development Bank (since 2025)
  • Registered consultant, Asian Development Bank (since 2026)
  • Doctoral research, Université Lyon 2 — governance of the electricity transition

Civic engagement

  • President, Association France-Formosa (since 2012) — two official missions to Taiwan, 2019 and 2025
  • Board member, Mediatone / Reperkusound
  • Author, Guillotière(s)

Contact

For training, a conference, a media appearance, a consulting assignment or a collaboration: write to me by email or through the form.

romain.blachier@gmail.com → LinkedIn → Academia → ORCID
Full resume →