Speakers

Bio

Dr Priyantha Wijayatunga Joined ADB in 2008 and is currently the Director, South Asia Energy Division. He was the founder Director General of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka and a Senior Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Moratuwa. He holds a Doctorate in Power Systems Economics from the Imperial College London. He was also a regular Academic Visitor at Imperial College during the period 1993-1998 and has contributed to research involving costing of electricity transmission network services of the United Kingdom and Chile. He was the Chairman of the South Asia Forum for Infrastructure Regulators (SAFIR) in 2006/07. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Ceylon Electricity Board and the Sustainable Energy Authority, Sri Lanka. He has contributed extensively in energy sector policy and regulatory activities and has co-authored many publications. He is a Chartered Electrical Engineer, a Member of the Institute of Engineering Technology (IET), UK, Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka. He is a Past President of the Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association (SLEMA).

Bio

Dr. Reihana Mohideen is an electrical engineer leading the work on the clean energy transition towards sustainable systems, integrating gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), at the Nossal Institute for Global Health and the Climate CATCH Lab, at The University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research analyses advanced technology trends in the low-carbon energy transition in developing countries with specific applications to South Asia, as well as the opportunities to simultaneously leapfrog technology and social equity gaps. She completed both a BEng degree in electrical engineering (1981) and her postdoctoral studies in renewable energy systems in Asia at The University of Melbourne (2015). She has worked in international development for more than ten years. Reihana Chairs the IEEE Standards Association Workstream on Gender Equality and Social inclusion and she is an Executive Committee member of IEEE Standards Association on Digital Inclusion (DIITA).

Bio

Dr Romeo Pacudan is a Technical Director at Ricardo Clean Energy and Environmental Solutions (CE&ES). He is taking the technical lead in energy sector projects and at the same time responsible for Ricardo’s energy sector business development in Asia and the Pacific region. He has more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector in Asia Pacific and Europe. He is currently one of the key experts providing support to Indonesia’s UK-Mentari Programme assessing green hydrogen as an option for PLN’s diesel replacement programme and providing MEMR support in preparing its hydrogen strategy and roadmap. Romeo Pacudan was one of the experts who carried out the study ‘Brunei Darussalam: Shifting to Hydrogen Society’ in 2019.

Bio

Dr. Sang-Hoon Lee is President and Chief Executive Officer of Korea Energy Agency since January 2022. Korea Energy Agency is a governmental institute established in 1980 with a mandate to promote energy efficiency and conservation for rational use of energy, deploy renewable energy and other high-level technologies to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to international actions to cope with climate change. Prior to this position, Dr. Lee was Executive Director of New and Renewable Energy Center of Korea Energy Agency. In his professional career that spans over three decades, Dr. Lee has established his reputation in the areas of renewable energy, climate change, and environmental protection by holding key positions in several civil society organizations, public institutes, and academia including Director of Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, Vice President of Korean Society for New and Renewable Energy, Director of Green Energy Strategy Institute, and Director of Climate Change Center of Sejong University. He also served as a member of the Korean Presidential Committee of Green Growth during 2018-2019. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration in Climate Change Policy from Sejong University in Korea, a M.A. in Environmental Planning and a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from Seoul National University in Korea.

Bio

Dr. Sanjay Prasad Gorkhali is the Speaker of the Energy Working Group of the Sector Network Transport, Environment, Energy and Water Sector (TUEWAS) of GIZ. Currently, he is working as the Programme Component Manager of the GIZ supported Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Programme in Nepal looking after the component - Energy Efficiency in Industries and Enterprises. With more than 20 years of experience in international development, Dr. Gorkhali’s 10 years of work in GIZ has been focused on promotion of energy efficiency in Nepal and in the region. Dr. Gorkhali has a Doctorate Degree in Economics from the Faculty of Economics, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB). Prior to this he has an MA in Development Management from the same university and an MBA from Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). He has a profound interest and expertise in promotion of market mechanism for sustainable development with a focus on energy sector.

Bio

Dr. Srestha Banerjee is the Director of Just Transition at the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iFOREST). She holds a PhD in Environmental and Energy Policy from the University of Delaware (USA), and a Masters in Environmental Studies from Ohio University (USA). A public policy expert, she has worked with Indian and US-based environmental and public policy think tanks over the past 15 years. Her current areas of work include just transition and climate change, mining and benefit sharing, environmental justice and participatory governance. She has also been associated with various global just transition initiatives, including as advisory member of the Just Transition Initiative and the Transformational Change Learning Partnership of the Climate Investment Funds. She is also closely working with the Sustainable Just Transition Taskforce, the first sub-national Task Force set up by the Government of Jharkhand, India.

Bio

Dr. Thang Nam Do is a research fellow at the Grand Challenge Program Zero Carbon Energy for Asia Pacific at The Australian National University (ANU).

His current research projects include:

• Drivers and barriers to Vietnam’s solar PV and offshore wind power
• Vietnam’s success in solar and wind energy: Policy implications for ASEAN member states
• ASEAN cross-border electricity trade
• Carbon pricing options for Vietnam and ASEAN
• Solar, wind, and energy storage potential in Greater Mekong Sub-region.

Before joining the ANU, he worked with the Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as Deputy Director General of International Cooperation, Deputy Director of Environmental Science, and Global Environment Facility (GEF)’s Operational Focal Point. He was also Chair of ASEAN Working Group on Climate Change, and national focal point of ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities, and Water Environment Partnership for Asia.

Bio

Dr. Vinod B. Mathur is presently working as the Chairperson of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA). The NBA is a statutory body of the Government of India for providing advisory and regulatory services on all matters relating to biodiversity conservation, management and Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of biological resources. He has now spent over three decades in actively contributing to a wide range of conservation, research and professional programs in the field of natural resource and biodiversity conservation. He has extensive experience as an environmental professional and his special interest include natural resource conservation, heritage conservation, environmental & strategic impact assessment and risk management.

Bio

Dr. Yashkumar Shukla is Executive Director at Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy (CARBSE) at CEPT University, India. He has more than seventeen years of international experience in building energy-efficiency research and serves as a lead on several groundbreaking energy-efficiency research projects at CARBSE. He currently serves as a team lead of the technical assistance (TA) program by The Asian Development Bank (ADB) that supports developing member countries to improve energy efficiency, mitigate the risks of virus transmission, and ensure safe working conditions in public buildings by deploying efficient, clean, and smart centralized air-conditioning (CAC) systems.

Bio

"Ms. Xuan Du is the Program Director of Energy Foundation China’s Low Carbon Economic Growth Program. She develops and implements program strategy, and oversees grants regarding a decarbonized new growth model, market-based instruments, and green finance. Prior to rejoining the foundation in April 2023, she worked for the financial, international NGO, and government sectors as senior researcher, program officer, and senior analyst for more than a decade—which included a 3.5-year stint at Energy Foundation China. Her interests lie in the low carbon transition, green finance, and environmental protection. She has published more than 50 academic papers, books, and research reports. Ms. Du holds a Ph.D. degree in Environment Science and Engineering, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Environment Engineering, both from Tsinghua University in Beijing."

Bio

Duncan is a Senior Environment Specialist in ADB’s Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department where he provides advisory and compliance support to operations as well as thought leadership within the environment sector. He is involved in the development of ADB’s long-term strategy to further mainstream nature-based solutions and biodiversity

Bio

Durga Nanda Bariyait, Director, Grid Development Department of Nepal Electricity Authority was born on 30th November, 1971 in Sarshwar Village of Saptari district in Nepal. He completed his B.E. (Electrical Engineering) in 1998 and M.Sc. (Power System Engineering) in 2004 from Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Nepal and EMBA from Ace Institute of Management, Nepal in 2015. He joined Nepal Electricity Authority in December 2003 as an Electrical Engineer and started his carrier in planning, power purchase and trade. He has previously worked as the Project Manager in 400 and 132 kV transmission line projects and as the Director in Corporate Planning and Monitoring Department. Presently, he is working as Director in Grid Development Department. His major responsibility as the Director of Grid Development Department is to construct new 132 transmission lines and substations and conductor upgrading works of 66 kV and 132 kV voltage level across the country to enhance the supply reliability, meet electricity demand and power evacuation of generating stations. He is responsible for monitoring and supervising more than thirty five undergoing transmission projects in the country. He has visited China, Philippines, Thailand, India, Pakistan and USA during executing his responsibilities. He is a Member of the Nepal Engineers’ Association and Society of Electrical Engineers’ Nepal.