Alain Dardy has spent over 25 years working at the intersection of energy policy, technology and markets, with a career spanning nuclear new build, demand response, Virtual Power Plants and distributed energy systems. He began his career at EDF and AREVA, where he held roles in reactor marketing and international new build business development across multiple markets. He subsequently joined ENERGY POOL, a European pioneer in demand response and VPP operations, where he served for six years as Representative Director and COO of ENERGY POOL Japan — building one of the first operational VPP platforms in the Japanese market in partnership with TEPCO, Japan's largest utility. In this role he oversaw the full cycle from commercial development to technical delivery, including BESS integration, frequency control services and demand response aggregation across industrial and commercial customers. He now serves as APAC Regional Director for ENERGY POOL, responsible for VPP, microgrid and demand response development across Southeast Asia, with developments in Malaysia, Indonesia among others. Based in Tokyo, he brings direct operational experience of regulated monopoly utilities, grid ancillary services and the practical challenges of deploying flexible energy resources in Asia-Pacific grid environments.