Global Speakers

Professor Ken Baldwin is the Director of the Energy Change Institute at the ANU, and Deputy Director of the Research School of Physics and Engineering. Since 2011 he was a member of the Project Steering Committee for the Australian Energy Technology Assessment (AETA) produced by the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE). In 2015, he was appointed as a member of the Socio-Economic Modelling Advisory Committee to the South Australian Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission. Professor Baldwin is an inaugural ANU Public Policy Fellow, and winner of the 2004 Australian Government Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science, for his role in initiating and championing “Science meets Parliament”. In 2007, Professor Baldwin was awarded the W.H. Beattie Steele Medal, the highest honour of the Australian Optical Society. In 2010 he was awarded the Barry Inglis Medal by the National Measurement Institute for excellence in precision measurement. Professor Baldwin is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics (UK), the Optical Society of America and the Australian Institute of Physics.

Simon Corbell was appointed as the first Victorian Renewable Energy Advocate in December 2016 to promote the state’s renewable energy sector, provide independent advice to the Victorian Government and assist the state in meeting its renewable energy targets.

Simon was previously Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Environment and Climate Change of the ACT and served in the ACT Legislative Assembly between 1997 -2016.

In these roles he championed policy which put the ACT on track for 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020, through policies to support large scale solar, wind and battery storage projects.

Simon was a joint winner of the Banksia Foundation’s Gold Award for the ACT Solar Auction program in 2015, and has been recognized by the Clean Energy Council and the Climate Alliance for his work in championing the clean energy transition in Canberra and nationally.

He is also a Patron of the Australian Solar Council, Adjunct Professor of the University of Canberra and Associate Honorary Professor at the ANU Energy Change Institute.

Tim leads AGL’s public policy advocacy and sustainability strategy. In 2015/16, Tim has led the development AGL’s Affordability Initiative, AGL’s revised Greenhouse Gas Policy and Strategy and the Powering Australian Renewables Fund (PARF) concept. He is a member of the Westpac Stakeholder Advisory Council and Grattan Institute Energy Reference Group. Tim is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Griffith University and has had around thirty papers published in Australian and international peer-reviewed journals. He has presented at conferences in Australia, Asia and Europe. He holds a PhD in Economics for which he earned a Chancellors Doctoral Research Medal. Tim is also a qualified Chartered Secretary (AGIA and ACIS).

In January 2016, Cameron was seconded to the AEMO focusing on the transfer of System Management out of Western Power to the AEMO. From April 2016 he began acting in the AEMO Executive General Manager Western Australia role and was formally appointed in July 2016. In this role Cameron provides leadership to the WA market operations, implementation of Electricity Market Review initiatives and accountability for system management.

Cameron joined Western Power (then the State Energy Commission of Western Australia) in 1992 as a cadet engineer and left in July 2016 as the Executive Manager Network Planning and Operations role. Cameron held numerous senior management and senior engineering positions covering technical, field and system operational aspects of electricity networks and markets.

Cameron has a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours), a Bachelor of Commerce (Management major) and a Masters of Technology. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer, on the National Professional Engineers Register and is a member of the Institute of Engineers Australia.

Suzanne has a background as an energy regulatory lawyer and in her time at the Commission, has led and been involved with a broad range of rule change requests and reviews involving electricity, gas, networks and retail issues. Before joining the AEMC Suzanne worked as a Senior Policy Advisor for the ACT Government on implementing the National Energy Customer Framework and local renewable energy schemes. Prior to that, Suzanne specialized in competition, consumer protection, administrative law and commercial litigation for Minter Ellison, and worked as corporate counsel for a renewable start-up on intellectual property and energy regulatory issues. She has a Degree in Economics, an Honours Degree in Law and a Masters in International Law from the Australian National University.

Kieran manages the Australian Energy Council policy, research and analysis functions. Prior to this, he was General Manager Policy at the Energy Supply Association of Australia (ESAA). Before joining ESAA in February 2010, Kieran spent three and a half years at Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, as Head of Networks Financial Issues. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in London and spent several years in a variety of finance roles at international companies.

Professor Z.Y. Dong obtained Ph.D. from the University of Sydney, Australia in 1999. He is Professor at the University of NSW, Australia. His immediate role is Professor and Head of the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, The University of Sydney. He also serves as director for Faculty of Engineering and IT Research Cluster on Clean Intelligent Energy Networks, and the newly established Sydney Energy Internet Research Institute. He is a member of the ARC College of Experts panel. He was Ausgrid Chair and Director of the Centre for Intelligent Electricity Networks (CIEN), the University of Newcastle. He also worked as manager for (transmission) system planning at Transend Networks (now TASNetworks), Australia. His research interest includes smart grid/micro-grid, power system planning, power system security, load modeling, renewable energy systems, and electricity market. He is an editor of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SMART GRID, IEEE POWER ENGINEERING LETTERS AND IET RENEWABLE POWER GENERATION. He is an international Advisor for the journal of Automation of Electric Power Systems. He is Fellow of IEEE.

Dr Alex Wonhas has recently joined the Executive Team of Aurecon, a global engineering firm, where he is the global market Managing Director for Energy & Resources. Prior to Aurecon, Alex was the Executive Director with responsibility for Environment, Energy & Resources at CSIRO, Australia’s national research agency. In his role as Executive Director, Alex was instrumental in leading many nationally relevant energy initiatives such as the Future Grid Forum, the Australian National Outlook and the Network Transformation Roadmap. Alex served as an adviser to the 2012 and 2015 Energy White Papers. He was also a Board member of many energy related institutions and companies such as the Australian Solar Institute, the Australian National Low Emissions Coal R&D and Evergen. Prior to CSIRO, Alex worked for McKinsey & Company and advised clients on their energy and resource strategies. Alex holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Cambridge.

AusNet Services is Australia’s largest privately owned regulated energy networks group. Andrew manages AusNet Services’ energy policy, government relations, media and communications functions. In an environment where political sands shift rapidly, driven by changing consumer and regulatory expectations, it’s essential for energy networks to demonstrate the critical role they play today and the value they will deliver in the new energy world. With more than fifteen years’ experience in a variety of roles across different parts the energy sector and government, Andrew has a deep understanding of energy issues from both government and industry perspectives.

Simon Kidston has an investment banking background with more than 20 years global experience with groups such as Macquarie Bank, HSBC and Helmsec Global Capital. Simon is a co-founder and Executive Director of Genex Power, and has responsibility for project finance and business development. After successfully reaching financial close for the 50MW Kidston Solar Project, he is currently focused on securing funding arrangements with banks and equity partners for the 250MW Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project and the 270MW Kidston Solar Project.

Dr Ottaviano has been with Carnegie since 2006 and during his time as CEO, Dr Ottaviano has led the Company’s development of its CETO Wave Energy technology from Proof of Concept, through to operation of the only grid – connected wave project in the world. He has been responsible for raising $86million in equity and $56million in Government grant funding. He also drove Carnegie’s recent acquisition of solar/microgrid EPC, Energy Made Clean, making Carnegie the only ASX-listed company with a dedicated renewable energy microgrid project delivery capability and the only microgrid company globally with a wave energy technology.

Dr Ottaviano’s previous work has focused on research and development – both in industry and consulting. He has advised companies on new product development, intellectual property, innovation portfolio management and technology commercialization across various industries and ranging from start-ups to publicly-listed companies with market capitalization in excess of $1 billion.

Liam is an experienced energy professional with expertise in energy economics, market adaptation and distributed generation. He works with industry and government to shape their energy strategy and drive projects and initiatives by providing expert advice to support enterprise planning and decision making in a rapidly evolving commercial environment. His PhD examined the viability of renewable energy in regional and remote Australia, highlighting the role of policy in shaping project viability and the energy mix. Over his career, Liam has worked on a diverse range of projects as the Australian manager of a German headquartered renewable energy and efficiency business, a lawyer, researcher and economist. He is passionate about Australia’s energy policy, sustainability, market structure and rural energy and regularly engages with government, industry and academia.

As the Founder and Managing Director of GreenSync, Phil is forging new paths to energy management in Australia, defined by cloud analytics, grid edge technologies and network optimisation. Phil has over 15 years experience commercialising new technology, in Australia and the UK, and has held CTO positions with technology and financial services startups in numerous industries. He is an active contributor to discussions about the future of global energy markets and has held academic posts at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin and the University of Sydney where he obtained his PhD

Matt is the Head of GreenSync’s Network Business which serves our Transmission, Distribution and Market Operator Clients.

Matt has more than 15 years corporate experience in Australia and internationally and has held a variety of senior roles in both tech companies and electric utilities. He is a strategic mind with the ability to lead the development and implementation of innovative solutions to electricity market challenges.

In his current role, Matt is helping to pioneer a wide range of new business models and Cloud based services at the grid edge, which is helping to transform the way utilities and customers interact. Matt has forged strong working relationships with wholesale market participants and Transmission and Distribution networks and plays a key role in helping these businesses transition towards the grid of the future.

He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Otago and a Masters Degree from the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship.

Tony has worked at TransGrid for 38 years and has extensive experience across many Executive roles at TransGrid having previously held the roles Executive General Manager /Finance and Information Systems and Chief Information Officer. Tony has overseen TransGrid’s last two regulated revenue determinations and the development of TransGrid’s unregulated revenue stream. Tony is a Fellow of CPA Australia and prior to joining TransGrid held senior positions with the NSW Electricity Generator, Pacific Power.

Louis-Marie joined the ENEA team in 2009, initially to work on energy and carbon projects and then to participate in the development of the firm. He currently manages the strategy and business development of the firm in Melbourne, develop projects with states, utilities and investors for asset management, renewable energy integration and offgrid systems. He is also responsible for organizing and supervising complex assignments involving multiple partners, including public/private and international partnerships. Louis-Marie has managed and contributed to technology benchmarking and business casing, technology marketing and business development, and the development of energy strategies and new services.

During the course of his career, Louis-Marie has worked for utilities, OEMs, national and international public authorities and private investors in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. He has been involved in energy projects in Australia since 2014, and is now responsible for developing and maintaining ENEA’s network at executive level across all Australian states and NZ, especially in power distribution and transmission businesses.

His fields of expertise are the energy sector (fossil and renewable), specifically dealing with comprehensive issues involving several types of energy (combination and optimization, choice of alternatives) and technical subjects involving the comprehension of the energy system as a whole, as in the case of energy storage.

Louis-Marie graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and continued his education with a Masters Degree in energy resources engineering from the University of Stanford (California).