2019 Agenda

Note: Below is the agenda from the September 2019 edition. The agenda for the 2020 program is currently in development. If interested in participating as a speaker or sponsor, please contact us.

Monday, September 9, 2019

13:00 - 17:00        Pre-Conference Workshop: Microgrid Economics Analysis and Financing
Tuesday, September 10, 2019

07:30 - 08:30        Registration and Continental Breakfast

08:30 - 09:00        Microgrid Global Market Trends

Takehiro Kawahara Frontier Power Senior Associate, London Bloomberg NEF   bio

09:00 - 09:30        Business Model Forecasts for Microgrids

Peter H. Asmus Associate Director, Utilities & Energy Navigant Research   bio

09:30 - 10:00        Sustainable Microgrids: Market Drivers and Opportunities Worldwide

Samit Mitra Senior Director - Mini-Grid , Demand & Innovation Smart Power India, Subsidiary of The Rockefeller Foundation   bio

10:00 - 10:30        Coffee Break

10:30 - 11:00        Transactive Energy within Layered Microgrids for Grid Transformation

Kay Aikin CEO and Co-Founder Introspective Systems   bio

11:00 - 11:30        Building up a MicroGrid in an Engineering Company

Friedrich Triftshäußer Manager, Direct Sales Project Management MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH   bio

11:30 - 12:00        Private Sector Mini-Grid Business Models: Best Practices from South-East Asia

Jens Jæger Policy & Business Development Manager (Asia) Alliance for Rural Electrification   bio

12:00 - 13:00        Networking Lunch

TRACK A: ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES ------------------------------------------------------------------------

13:00 - 13:30        Stacking Multiple Grid Services with Flexible Hybrid Energy Storage in an Island Environment

Rafael Gonzalez Nieves Program Manager Hybrid Energy Storage Solutions (HESStec)   bio

13:30 - 14:00        Learning from Nature: Rural Electrification Using Swarm Power

Alessandro Medici CTO Power-Blox AG   bio

14:00 - 14:30        Scalability of Micro-Grids: From Few kW to Multi-MW range

Dr. Jens Eiko Birkholz Business Development Director SMA Sunbelt Energy GmbH   bio

14:30 - 15:00        Coffee Break

15:00 - 15:30        Enabling Wind to Complement Solar in Hybrid Microgrids

Dr. Nick Goddard Commercial Director Spinetic Energy Ltd   bio

15:30 - 17:00        Artificial Intelligence for Microgrids

Dr. Mostafa Farrokhabadi Director, Grid Analytics & Technology BluWave~ai   bio Thomas Kalitzky Managing Director Qantic GmbH   bio Cameron Sutherland Technical Director Green Cat Renewables Ltd, UK   bio Dr. Ehsan Nasr Senior Engineer Microsoft US   bio Dr. Ashkan Rahimi-Kian Founder and CEO I-EMS Group Ltd.   bio

TRACK B: DESIGN, PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION ------------------------------------------------

13:00 - 13:30        New Approaches for Microgrid Deployment in Remote Areas

Paul-François Cattier Vice President, Electrification & Economic Development - Africa Schneider Electric   bio

13:30 - 14:00        Locating and Designing Minigrids for Rural Electrification

Manuel Timita CEO Illustreets   bio

14:00 - 14:30        Mini-Grids Profitability: Unequal Opportunities Between Rural Electrification Options Lead To Market Distortion

Irene Calvé Saborit Co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer Sunkofa Energy   bio

14:30 - 15:00        Coffee Break

15:00 - 15:30        Planning Microgrids - From Asset Optimization to Grid Stability Analyses

Christina Vogel Founder elena international   bio

15:30 - 16:00        Finding Business Opportunities in the Energy Market

Alexandre Guillemot President & Co-founder Deepbloo   bio

16:00 - 17:00        Talkback Session: Transactive Energy and the Future of the Grid

17:00 - 18:00        Drink Reception at the Leaf & Cane Bar, in hotel

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

07:30 - 08:30        Registration and Continental Breakfast

TRACK A: BUSINESS ISSUES ------------------------------------------------

08:30 - 09:00        The Dawn of Economic High-Penetration Microgrids in Africa

Arnaud Henin Managing Director Gommyr Power Networks   bio

09:00 - 09:30        Challenges and Opportunities of Local Start-Ups in the African Mini-Grid Sector

Tracy Kimathi Founder and Developer Tree_Sea.mals   bio

09:30 - 10:00        Successes and Challenges of Financing Microgrid Development for Sub-Saharan Africa

Trey Jarrard Co-Founder and CEO Renewvia Energy Corporation   bio

10:00 - 10:30        Coffee Break

10:30 - 12:00        Funding and Financial Issues for Microgrids

Nico Tyabji Director Strategic Partnerships Sunfunder   bio

Leslie Labruto Head of Global Energy Acumen   bio

Emma Miller Business Manager Shell Foundation   bio

Gregor Paterson-Jones Finance Catalyst GET.invest   bio

TRACK B: TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES ------------------------------------------------

08:30 - 09:00        Achieving More Than 50% Savings with a Microgrid Installation in South Africa

Dirk Kaisers Segment Leader Distributed Energy Management EMEA Eaton   bio

09:00 - 09:30        Smart Microgrid Controller (SMC) Systems: Advances and Applications

John Zamnick Fouder & CEO Distributed Generation Ltd.   bio

09:30 - 10:00        Combining Multiple Renewable Energy Technologies for the Optimization of Microgrids

Matteo Vecchiato Export Sales Executive Espe Srl   bio

10:00 - 10:30        Coffee Break

10:30 - 11:00        Reducing O&M Costs With Advanced Monitoring and Control Tools

Patrick Cousins CEO and Co-Founder Ferntech GmbH   bio

11:00 - 11:30        Why Lithium Should Be Part of Any Minigrid

Kjetil Røine Partner Differ Group   bio

11:30 - 12:00        The Role of Mobile as an Enabler of Microgrid Development in Developing Countries

George Kibala Bauer Advocacy Manager, Mobile for Development Utilities team GSMA   bio

12:00 - 13:00        Networking Lunch

13:00 - 13:30        Scaling Minigrids Through the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP)

Will Pearson Policy Director Camco Clean Energy   bio

13:30 - 14:00        Hybrid Renewable-Battery-Thermal Microgrids As-a-Service

Nicolas Boruchowicz Microgrid and Storage Solutions Division Aggreko   bio

14:00 - 14:30        Standardization & Products for Microgrid Controls

Cyril Colin Co-Founder & CEO Elum Energy   bio

14:30 - 15:00        Coffee Break

15:00 - 15:30        Innovation in Biomass/Waste Solutions for Distributed Power Generation and Sustainable Economic Development of Developing Countries

Ashok Chaudhuri Vice President, Business Development Ankur Scientific Energy Technologies   bio

15:30 - 16:00        Automation In Microgrid's Design and Operation

Daniel Schwab Founder and CEO Brightmerge   bio

16:00 - 16:30        Rural Electrification in the Brazilian Amazon: Life on Jaguar Island, Açaí Processing, and Solar Power

Paula Pulido University of Colorado Boulder   bio Patience Bukirwa Imperial College London   bio Pedro Torres Federal University of Pará   bio José de Arimatéia Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA/Brazil)   bio

16:30 - 17:00        Selling Minigrids: How to Attract Customers and Retain Them

Nick Kingesley-Johnson Whitten & Roy Partnership, LLC   bio