Speaker 2021

Bio

Quentin Vaquette is Co-Founder and Managing Director at ENGIE Factory Asia-Pacific, where he oversees ENGIE’s venture activities across the region.

Prior to holding this position, Quentin initiated and led the development of a renewable hydrogen energy business across Asia-Pacific with a primary focus on energy import and export. He also led several M&A and project finance deals in energy infrastructure across Asia.

As an innovator with extensive experience in energy tech business development and finance, Quentin is highly passionate about sustainable energy innovation and the exponential impact that startups and great founders can bring to this space.

Bio

Pioneer of the concept of Green Growth since 2005 as director of UN ESCAP and published a report titled “Low Carbon Green Growth Roadmap” that presents strategies for stimulating economic growth and job creation by investing in climate actions and compiles best practices and success stories of Green Growth approaches that synergize climate actions and economic growth.

Participated in global climate change negotiations since 1991 as climate change Ambassador of Korea and as principal climate change advisor to UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon and received a personal copy of Nobel Peace Prize 2007 awarded to IPCC in recognition of contribution to the IPCC special report on technology transfer.

Current Positions:
Chairman, International Award Committee, Global Energy Prize established by President Putin of Russia,
Board Director, Ban Ki-Moon Foundation for a Better Future

Former Positions:
Climate Change Ambassador, Korea,
Director, Environment and Development Division, UN ESCAP

Bio

Rakesh has over 30 years of power sector experience in the full value chain from generation to customer and regulatory. Rakesh possesses experience of working with Electric utilities and institution-managed MNC, private sector, public undertaking, and Government. Presently, Rakesh is Vice President of Tetra Tech. Prior to joining Tetra Tech Rakesh worked with SIEMENS, and Tata Power.

Rakesh holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and a Masters’ in Business Administration. He has recently been awarded a Doctor of Philosophy. Rakesh has co-authored four books and published several papers.

Bio

Ram M. Shrestha is an Emeritus Professor at the School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand and a former Chairman of the Academic Senate of AIT.

He has served as a Visiting Professor of the Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University in Japan and the Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University in Nepal. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Gandaki University in Nepal.

Professor Shrestha has served as the Editor-in-Chief of International Energy Journal; as an Associate Editor of Energy Economics, Energy – The International Journal and Journal of Energy Engineering of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE); and as a Guest Editor of Energy Policy. He has also been a member of International Advisory Board of Carbon Management.

His areas of research are energy economics, climate policy, and energy-economic modeling. He has published 12 books and several scientific papers in reputed peer-reviewed international journals. He is a recipient of The Energy Journal’s Best Paper Award from the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE).

Professor Shrestha holds a doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in resource economics and a master’s degree in industrial engineering and management from the Asian Institute of Technology. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the M.S. University of Baroda, India. He also holds a Bachelor of Law from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Bio

Rathin manages the Energy Efficiency & Climate Change division at ICF Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. and has over 10 years of experience in delivering solutions to public and private sector clients on industrial energy efficiency, climate change and sustainability. He has successfully managed and delivered key assignments in small as well large industries, spread across different sectors. Mr. Kukreja has a dynamic portfolio of working in areas such as climate change mitigation, resource efficiency, air quality management and industrial decarbonization. He has done his Masters in Power Management and is a certified energy auditor.

Bio

Rebecca has been Executive Director of AIGCC since it was launched as a member organisation in 2016. Rebecca has worked in climate change, sustainability and investment banking for over 20 years in Hong Kong, Europe and Australia.

Rebecca started her career in investment banking working in equity research, credit analysis, commodities and derivatives for groups such as Nomura Securities, BlackRock, Exxon Mobil and JPMorgan. Involvement in early corporate sustainability programs in many of her roles was the catalyst to move into the nascent sustainable finance and investment field in Asia where she led ASrIA (Assoc. for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia) in Hong Kong. Back in Australia, Rebecca was the Project Director for the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), Australia /New Zealand.

Rebecca is a member of the global Steering Committee for the Climate Action 100+ and the Investor Agenda. She is also a board member of The Orangutan Project that works on direct orangutan and habitat conservation in Indonesia. Rebecca has a BA(Asian Studies/Commerce), Dip.Business Administration and speaks conversational Japanese, French and Czech.

Bio

Dr Reihana Mohideen is an electrical engineer with a strong interest in developing integrated socio-technical approaches to building resilience using low-carbon pathways, based on energy, power infrastructure and health linkages, integrating gender equality and social inclusion (GESI). Reihana is the author of Women and the Energy Revolution (Palgrave. 2020). She was recently appointed as a Principal Advisor at the Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research analyses advanced technology trends in the low-carbon energy transition taking place in developing countries with specific applications to South Asia, as well as the opportunities to simultaneously leapfrog technology and social equity gaps. Her work increasingly straddles the issues of renewable energy and low-carbon initiatives in the health system. She is currently working on a program to strengthen urban resilience, based on integrating infrastructure, energy and health systems, drawing on the emerging lessons from the Covid 19 pandemic response strategies, with a focus on GESI considerations. She completed a BEng degree in electrical engineering at the University of Melbourne (1981), and finished her postdoctoral studies also at the University of Melbourne (2015) in renewable energy systems in Asia, researching the societal and gender implications for newly electrified rural communities in Nepal. She has worked as an international development specialist for more than ten years with strong links to the Asian Development Bank. She is a member of IEEE Australia, the IEEE Society on the Social Implications of Technology, the IEEE Power and Energy Society and is an Executive Committee member of IEEE Standards Association on Digital Inclusion (DIITA), where she heads up the sub-stream on gender equality and social inclusion. She is also the Australian national expert for the International Energy Agency ‘Gender and Energy’ technology collaboration program.

Bio

Reji is the President of India Smart Grid Forum (www.indiasmartgrid.org) since its inception in 2011 and is also the Chairman of Global Smart Energy Federation since November 2016. He an internationally renowned expert with nearly four decades of experience in the electricity sector in diverse functions covering the entire value chain and across continents. He is spearheading a mission to leverage technology to transform the electric grid in India and provide clean and reliable electricity to every citizen 24x7 at affordable cost. He is actively advocating for the “Right to Electricity Act” that will ensure lifeline supply of electricity to all citizens in India. Reji has played pivotal role in several ground breaking initiatives related to renewable energy, electric grid modernization, electric mobility, energy storage and digitalization in India during the past two decades. His current areas of research and work include: Grid Integrated Vehicles, District Cooling, Electric Cooking, Smart Grids as Anchor Infrastructure for Smart Cities, Grid Interactive Buildings and Campuses; Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Blockchain Applications for Utilities; Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Systems and the Future of Transportation; and Interconnection of Regional Grids in Asia - ASEAN, SAARC and GCC grids. In November 2016, Reji was unanimously elected as Chairman of Global Smart Grid Federation, now renamed as Global Smart Energy Federation (GSEF), a global umbrella organization of smart grid/energy associations and utilities from 16 countries and the European Union; and headquartered in Washington DC, USA. As an entrepreneur, Reji has built successful enterprises in India and overseas and exited them. He has studied Engineering, Finance, Management and Law; worked with NTPC and IBM and has been senior consultant with ADB, World Bank and USAID. A recognized thought leader in clean energy, smart grid technologies, smart cities and electric mobility, Reji is a popular key-note speaker at international symposiums and conferences on these domains. He has also contributed to several articles, books, research reports and white papers on variety of topics. ​

Bio

Robert Kremer is a results-driven manager with numerous years of experience in project deployment and management, relationship building, business operations management, risk assessment and mitigation, and strategic planning within highly pressurized and challenging working environments of the energy sector.

He has dynamic communication, negotiation, and relationship management skills along with sharp business acumen and demonstrated ability to grow revenues, expand business portfolio, and increase bottom-line profitability. Mr. Kremer’s has proven capability to identify, acquire, and exploit growth opportunities; and proactively monitor industry trends and developments, and determine and execute upon the best use of the company’s capital to optimize the creation of long-term value for the company and its shareholders. Robert is the Senior Director - Energy Services at Smart Power Myanmar.

Bio

Robert W. van Zwieten, based in Manila, Philippines, has three decades of experience spanning both global finance and sustainable development. He is currently the Managing Director Asia-Pacific for Convergence, the global network for blended finance; a Member of the Advisory Group on Investments at UNOPS S3i; and a pro bono Ambassador for the World Benchmarking Alliance. He founded and led The Serendra Group LLC, a boutique emerging markets advisory firm, and was the President and CEO of EMPEA, the global industry association for private capital in emerging markets. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Private Sector Capital Markets Division at ADB, following a global career in senior leadership positions at firms such as ABN AMRO Bank, General Electric, Lehman Brothers and Singapore Exchange.

Bio

Dr. Xunpeng (Roc) Shi is Principal Research Fellow at the Australia-China Relations Institute University of Technology Sydney and the President of the International Society for Energy Transition Studies (ISETS), and a Council Member (President, 2016-2018) of the Chinese Economics Society Australia (CESA). His research interests cover the full spectrum of energy, climate change and other environmental issues in economics, policy, and sustainable development, with regional focuses on Australia, China, ASEAN, and Northeast Asia. He was listed in the Top 250 Researchers in Australia as the field leader in Environmental Law and Policy, the top 2% of the world’s scientists in the energy field, and the top 2.2% of economists in the RePEc database according to the past 10 year’s publications. He received LLM from the University of Dundee, MERE and PhD of Economics from the Australian National University.

Bio

Graduated from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka as a B.Sc(Engineer) in the field of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. Joined Ceylon Electricity Board(CEB) in 1986. On Commonwealth scholarship perused higher studies in the field of Computer Science at University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. Performance of Distributed Systems. was the topic of the research that earned a PhD, in 1993.

Involved in software development of customer billing application and later headed the Information Technology Branch of CEB. Also directed a project to set up the present National System Control Centre of Sri Lanka.