About
NZ’s leading Smart Grid Conference! Hear thought-leaders, pioneers and practitioners share experiences from pilots and rollouts in the field.
The first New Zealand Smart Grid conference created a great platform for the industry to come together to start to develop consensus and plans for the next one to five years.
This event will look to continue to feed into the ongoing discussions that have been taking place throughout the year and will zero in on perspectives from leading utilities, technology companies, systems integrators, and regulators.
The overarching theme will be driven by: Real-World Pilots, Technology Advances, and Directions Moving Forward.
Who will attend?
Industry executives, policy makers, regulators, consumers, and members of the financial and legal communities, along with thought leaders from outside the industry with responsibility for:
• Transmission
• Distribution
• Generation
• Planning
• R&D
• Strategy and Business Development
• Metering/AMI
• PHEV
• Distribution Automation
• Customer Support
• Demand Response
• Real-time Systems
• Renewables
• Regulatory Affairs
• Outages & Utility Solutions
Key Speakers
International Speakers Include:
• Miguel Brandao, Smart Grid Technical Solutions Director for Asia Pacific, GE Energy
Miguel has a background spanning across multiple industries, such has smart grid related R&D, consumer behaviour and energy usage related research, and IT and Telecoms engineering. Miguel holds a BSC in Telecommunications Engineering from IMPE in Lisbon - Portugal, a Postgraduate Diploma in Environment (Energy) from The University of Melbourne - Australia and a MSC in Environmental Social Science from University of East Anglia - UK. Currently, Miguel is working with utilities across Australia and South East Asia in the preparation of smart grid strategies as well as specific smart grid pilots. Current focus areas include consumer behaviour case studies and trials as well as the integration of renewable energy in the grid.
• Bert Haskell, Technology Director, Pecan Street Project
Bert Haskell is the Technology Director for the Pecan Street Project. He has been working in technology and product development since starting his career in 1984 with Eastman Kodak, where he worked for 5 years as an electronics manufacturing process development engineer while earning his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester. Bert then worked for 9 years at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. (MCC) in Austin,TX, concluding his tenure there as Vice president of Portable Electronics Product Research. Since 2000, the has held product development, product marketing and advisory rolls at a number of start-up companies including Stellar Display Corporation, Wireless Age, Motion Computing, Portelligent and most recently, Heliovolt, where he was Director of Product Development for CIGS based thin-film photovoltaic modules.
• John Juliano, Global Energy and Utilities Industry Lead, Institute for Business Value, IBM
John Juliano is currently the Global Energy and Utilities Lead for IBM’s Institute for Business Value, leading IBM’s current research efforts related to future utility business models and electricity consumer behavior. He has been a management consultant in the utilities industry for over a decade with work in business strategy, operations strategy, and financial analysis across the energy value chain. He worked prior to that as a risk assessment engineer and technical course instructor for fossil and nuclear power clients in North America, Eastern Europe, Japan, and South Korea. John has written or co-written over 30 papers on utility business and financial issues, including two in-depth analyses of global utility consumer surveys conducted by IBM (“Plugging in the Consumer” and “Lighting the Way”), “Switching perspectives: Creating new business models for a changing world of energy,” and “Prioritizing Growth as a Key to Value Creation”. He has also contributed to major DOE, EPRI, NEI, and EEI research efforts and publications. John holds an MBA in Finance and Strategy from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, an MS in Applied Mathematics from the Johns Hopkins University, and a BS in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is based in the Washington, DC.
• Mark Rodman, Managing Director, Echelon Asia Pacific
Mark started his career in sales in South Africa with Measurex and he advanced his career to Managing Director of Measurex in Australia and New Zealand before moving on to become the Director of Measurex in Latin America Operations after 15 years with Measurex. When Measurex became part of Honeywell in 1997, Mark became the Vice President of Honeywell Asia Pacific Field Operations and then Vice President of Honeywell EMEA responsible for the Measurex business.
• David Prins, Managing Director, Etrog Consulting Pty Ltd
David Prins is the Director of Etrog Consulting, a specialist consultancy business in energy and utilities. David is a highly experienced consultant and project manager, with extensive international experience in legal, regulatory and commercial issues. He has a keen understanding and twenty years of practical experience spanning four continents, specialising in the application of effective regulation and competition. He has provided advice to private and public sector clients across Australia and New Zealand, as well as in the UK, the US, and Asia, and has worked extensively on national and jurisdictional market and regulatory arrangements. Much of David’s most recent work in the energy and water sectors has involved advice on smart metering and smart grids, and on retail pricing and margins.
• Rohan Jones, Manager Regulations and Government Relations, Silver Spring Networks (Australia)
Rohan has worked in the energy infrastructure industry for more than 25 years. He has experience in all aspects of energy distribution, including design and construction, operations, commercial analysis, business and regulatory management. In 1997 Rohan was appointed Victorian Manager, Integral Energy Metering where he was responsible for setting up the Victorian operations of this contestable metering provider. From 1998 to 2008, Rohan was the Manager Regulatory Affairs, Electricity Networks for AGL and then Alinta. In this role, he was a member of the industry and government committees that developed the framework for, firstly, the roll-out interval meters and then the roll out of AMI meters in Victoria. Rohan was a key industry participant in the development of the Victorian AMI Functional and Service Level Specifications. Rohan was also the Regulatory and Legal Manager for the Alinta AMI project. Rohan joined Silver Spring Networks in 2009 in the role of Manager Regulatory and Government Relations.
Agenda
Agenda: Day 1
8.30
Registration and coffee
9.00
Opening remarks from the Chair
Sandy Antipas, Area Manager - SmartNow & NZ Technical Manager, Ecopoint
9.10
Opening Keynote: Smart Grids and business transformation – a pragmatic perspective
The technology is largely known, yet the immaturity of the business models means the space is fraught with risk. To help you navigate the uncertainty, the speaker will:
• Bring to life the business strategy/readiness dimension alongside the technology aspects
• Drawing on the learnings from telecommunications, demonstrate the pitfalls to avoid
• Based on the NZ-specific aspects of the industry, paint the potential roadmaps for implementation
• Articulate pragmatic no-regrets next steps to prepare for the Smart Grid future
Dr. Pawel Grochowicz, Transformation and Growth Executive and Board Advisor
10.00
Accepting the nature of innovation
Rob Jamieson, General Manager Commercial, Orion NZ
10.40
Morning tea
11.00
INTERNATIONAL INSIGHTS: Smart Grids in Australia and links to broader adoption of smart grids
David Prins, Managing Director, Etrog Consulting Pty Ltd
11.50
Smart grid experiences in the Middle East: Lessons for New Zealand
• Get a snapshot of international policy and regulatory frameworks and the changes we need to consider here to drive investments and to ensure benefits are shared with consumers
• Discuss the latest dynamic pricing and billing strategies employed by utilities to gauge end consumers’ tech preferences
Bill Heaps, Managing Director, Strata Energy
12.30
Lunch
1.25
Quick Fire 25
1.30
What makes a network smart?
Mark Gatland, Chief Executive, Northpower
1.55
Economic analysis: Exploring the costs and benefits to smart grid implementation
• The Business Case
• Economic and Regulatory Obstacles
• Operational Aspects
• Cost Aspects
Julian Elder, Chief Executive, WEL Networks
2.20
Policies and partnerships: How New Zealand should deliver the Smart Grid
• International approaches being taken
• Political and regulatory ingredients necessary
• What are the principles and best practices that can be applied?
Ari Sargent, Chief Executive, Powershop
2.45
Smart communications for smart networks
We cannot build a smart energy environment without the support of smart network infrastructure. While much of the electricity network exists today most of the enabling communications network does not. This presentation will combine case study information with smart network technology observations and examples of real life communications system challenges including availability, security, and interoperability.
John Yaldwyn, Chief Technology Officer & Founding Director, 4RF
3.10
Quick Fire Q&A Discussion Segment
Mark Gatland, Chief Executive, Northpower
Julian Elder, Chief Executive, WEL Networks
Ari Sargent, Chief Executive, Powershop
John Yaldwyn, Chief Technology Officer & Founding Director, 4RF
3.40
Afternoon tea
4.00
INTERNATIONAL INSIGHTS: Bringing utilities and customers together through Demand Response
• What are the drivers and potential for household demand response?
• What are customers saying/willing to do?
• Best practices that can be adopted by all utilities to bring customer acceptance and participation of demand response and Smart Grid-related projects?
• What trials should be setup and strategies/tools to be used?
• Success stories from overseas utilities
Miguel Brandao, Smart Grid Technical Solutions Director for Asia Pacific, GE Energy
4.45
INTERNATIONAL INSIGHTS: Creating new business models for a changing world of energy
John Juliano, Global Energy and Utilities Industry Lead, Institute for Business Value IBM
5.30
End of day one & networking drinks sponsored by: Gentrack
Agenda: Day 2
9.00
Opening remarks from the Chair
Sandy Antipas, Area Manager - SmartNow & NZ Technical Manager, Ecopoint
9.05
INTERNATIONAL INSIGHTS: Pecan Street Project Insights: Future visions in customer engagement driving energy use transformations
• Creating the US’s most aggressive real-time, city-wide clean energy laboratory - integrated energy system for 1,000 homes and 75 businesses
• Core results and energy-use transformation to date
Bert Haskell, Technology Director, Pecan Street Project
10.00
Shaping Good Governance
• The Electricity Authority’s objectives and near term work programme
• The Authority’s decision-making principles and processes
• Implications for smart grid issues
Carl Hansen, CEO, Electricity Authority
10.25
Preliminary findings from the ENA Smart Network Working Group
Toby Stevenson, Consulting Director, LECG & Chairman - ENA Smart Network Working Group
10.50
Morning tea
11.10
The emerging Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) market
Mark Rodman, Managing Director, Echelon Asia Pacific
Dean Franklin, CEO, Control4 Energy Systems
Steve Torrens, Senior Policy Analyst, EECA
12.00
INTERNATIONAL INSIGHTS: The future of demand response: Barriers, opportunities and outlooks
• How emerging technologies both on the infrastructure layer and the application layer will unlock value
• How consumer-targeted price signals, demand response and energy efficiency are being fully integrated into demand side management (DSM) programmes - experiences from international programmes
Mark Rodman, Managing Director, Echelon Asia Pacific
12.45
Lunch
1.35
Moving forward with interoperability: A pathway to a unified Smart Grid
• How the smart grid will be integrated to facilitate effective cooperation, and two-way communication among the many interconnected elements
• Expectations for true plug-and-play operations versus tweaking and middleware deployments to achieve that interoperability
• How smart grid interoperability and security standards will reflect industry consensus
Ron Beatty, Senior Advisor Retail Operations, Electricity Authority
2.20
INTERNATIONAL INSIGHTS: The communications platform: The critical foundation for Smart Grid
• Examining the experience of utilities in the USA, Australia and Europe
• Wireless Mesh Smart Grid
- High redundancy: devices having multiple paths through the mesh
- High performance: How adding additional take out points enables the mesh to grow in capacity in an incremental fashion
- Simpler operations: the benefits of devices that are self configuring and routes that are self healing requiring minimal human intervention to retain connectivity and throughput
Andrew Vlachiotis, Vice President Sales Australia and New Zealand, Silver Spring Networks
3.00
Securing network reliability: Assessing the impact of adding smart services and new technologies into networks
• Balancing the security risks of greater smart grid automation systems
• Maintaining integrity of supply in smart grids through greater and effective data measurement
• The use of data measurements to improve reliability
Graeme Ancell, Manager - Planning & Development, Transpower
3.40
Afternoon tea
4.00
The networked EV: Smart grids and electric vehicles
• Emerging international EV policy
• Updates on developments with advanced battery technology
• Next-generation electric vehicle management software and technologies that allow for the smart-charging of vehicles with a Smart-Grid
• Expectations for the New Zealand market
Graeme Ancell, Manager - Planning & Development, Transpower
Lloyd Robinson, Technical Services Manager, Mitsubishi NZ
Chris Parker, Economist, NZIER
4.50
Closing Remarks from the Chair
Sandy Antipas, Area Manager - SmartNow & NZ Technical Manager, Ecopoint











