"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"

Sandy Antipas, Area Manager - SmartNow & NZ Technical Manager, Ecopoint

Unprecedented opportunities will be created as the energy sector undergoes a fundamental transformation akin to the recent telecoms transformation sparked by the advent of IP communications. The intersection of utilities and communications will likely prove to be one of these fundamental shifts where the speed of onset tends to be overestimated, while we underestimate its magnitude. 

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

“Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past” (Machiavelli). The past tells us that technological progress is not clearly planned from the start and that only from the generation of different ideas, and their eventual acceptance or discounting, do we move forward (VHS vs Beta, CDMA vs GSM, Blue Ray vs HD-DVD). In the context of a common real-time grid, strategies that facilitate multiple innovations, while protecting consumers from security and quality deterioration, are needed. This speaker will explore this issue from the context of the distribution system operator concept.

Rob Jamieson, General Manager Commercial, Orion NZ

This speaker will discuss how Australia is defining the Smart Grid and the unique factors that are driving Smart Grid investments in Australia. What are the stimulus programs and funding opportunities that are enabling Smart Grid investments? Discussion will also focus on the policy and regulatory programmes at national, regional, and local levels that spur Smart Grid deployments. The speaker will also highlight successful programmes they are keeping an eye on in other countries in order to identify fresh approaches to accelerate the benefits of Smart Grid networks.

David Prins, Managing Director, Etrog Consulting Pty Ltd

• Hear how utilities are restructuring their business models and how they are determining what is economically and practically achievable 

• 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

Quick Fire 25

As the electric grid continues to evolve we need to separate the smart grid hype from reality. We have been told that the new energy future will provide us with opportunities to get information, to make decisions and to do business in new and different ways. But is the smart grid really just the same old “dumb” grid with some (possibly expensive) additions. Will we be able to offset this additional expenditure with reduced costs? Will we be able to improve our SAIDI? Mark will share his views on what will get our networks up to world best practice.

Mark Gatland, Chief Executive, Northpower

One issue around smart grid adoption is that of investment costs and expected subsequent rate increases to consumers. What are the likely costs associated with implementation? 

• The Business Case 

• Economic and Regulatory Obstacles 

• Operational Aspects 

• Cost Aspects

Julian Elder, Chief Executive, WEL Networks

This speaker will provide their assessment on the political and regulatory conditions required to support investment in pilots in New Zealand. 

• 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

John Yaldwyn, Chief Technology Officer & Founding Director, 4RF

This segment will provide you with an opportunity to raise your questions to those speakers involved in the Quick Fire 20.

Mark Gatland, Chief Executive, Northpower

Julian Elder, Chief Executive, WEL Networks

Ari Sargent, Chief Executive, Powershop

John Yaldwyn, Chief Technology Officer & Founding Director, 4RF

TThis speaker will share their perspectives and stories on customer engagement. 

• 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

Long-standing electric utility business models are rapidly becoming outdated in light of new technologies, policy changes and more demanding consumers. Roles along the value chain are shifting, with traditional buyers gaining a foothold as value providers. To succeed in this new environment, industry model innovators will develop fresh business models, as well as the infrastructure, rules and standards to facilitate not only traditional energy generation and delivery, but also emerging products and services enabled by new technologies.

John Juliano, Global Energy and Utilities Industry Lead, Institute for Business Value IBM

Sandy Antipas, Area Manager - SmartNow & NZ Technical Manager, Ecopoint

The vision ‘beyond the utility’ – collaborating with community, universities and Government 

• 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

The way decisions are made in the electricity sector strongly influences their long-term success. This speaker will discuss 

• 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

Toby Stevenson, Consulting Director, LECG & Chairman - ENA Smart Network Working Group

Millions of residential smart meters are being installed around the world. What innovative ways can this intelligence extend within homes? This panel will discuss the state of the emerging market, including perspectives from key components of the ecosystem that make up the future energy-efficient and grid-aware appliances that are sensitive to the complex needs of residential consumers.

Mark Rodman, Managing Director, Echelon Asia Pacific

Dean Franklin, CEO, Control4 Energy Systems

Steve Torrens, Senior Policy Analyst, EECA

Over the last several years, demand response has become an integral and often relied upon resource for capacity markets. But what about demand response beyond emergency scenarios? Your ability to reduce electricity usage on demand has value in other markets. Mark will discuss: 

• 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

Interoperability is often invoked as the ultimate end state of standards compliance. Does interoperability mean immediate and instant plug and play between competing vendors systems? Does it mean investment in “middleware” to bridge the gaps that sometimes exist in different interpretations of standards and protocols? The speaker will consider: 

• 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

Discussing smart grid communication requirements and how the communications platform can either be an enabler or an inhibitor to smart grid deployment 

• 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

• Maintaining security in the grid as technologies are developed and deployed 

• 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

This panel will discuss: 

• 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

Nigel Broomhall, Former Technology Partnership Manager

Meridian Energy

Lloyd Robinson, Technical Services Manager, Mitsubishi NZ

Sandy Antipas, Area Manager - SmartNow & NZ Technical Manager, Ecopoint