Speakers

Bio

Prapharat Tangkawattana, founder and CEO of Nortis Group of companies including Nortis Energy (nortisgroup.com), Nortis Rise, and Sitron Power, has been in solar business since Thailand’s first solar power plant construction in 2008. Established since 2012 as the energy consulting company then expanding to energy efficiency implementation, digital platform, and EPC business with current paid up capital of THB 250m. Nortis Rise originated its Internet of Solar by introducing SOLARLAA mobile application in 2017 then expanding into energy monitoring for both software and devices, and recently awarded by the Energy Regulator Committee to conduct its Virtual Net Metering test under the ERC’s energy sandbox program. In addition, its EPC company under Sitron Power (sitronpower.com) has shown a steady growth since its inception in 2016 becoming the country’s top 5 solar installer with nearly 150MW cumulative installation in this year. The Company is listed in Live Exchange in Dec 2022 and planned to move to MAI Exchange in 2024.

Bio

A champion of sustainable built environments, Prashant Kapoor is a passionate advocate for sustainable solutions that align the interests of businesses, financial institutions, governments, and civil society. He is the entrepreneur who created EDGE (“Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies”) to mainstream resource-efficient buildings in emerging markets. EDGE is free software, a green building standard, and an international green building certification system. More than 40 million square meters of floor space has been EDGE certified globally. Prashant is currently leading the APEX Green Cities Program that supports cities to transition to low-carbon and resource-efficient growth pathways. As a part of the Program, he has developed the APEX online app that allows cities to map out different action plans and evaluate their cost, feasibility, and impact. Under his leadership, IFC has created a green buildings portfolio that totals more than US$6.4 billion. Before joining IFC, Prashant was a director at WSP consultants in London where he led the sustainability strategy and masterplanning business. He holds architecture degrees from Manipal Institute of Technology (India) and a master’s degree from Oxford Brooks University (UK).

Bio

Prasun Pandey works with CLASP India. At CLASP he primarily works on cooling related energy efficiency policies and programs with a specific focus on agricultural cold chain. In the past, he has helped businesses develop and implement sustainable growth strategies. He holds a master’s degree in Management from TERI School Of Advanced Studies, Delhi.

Bio

Preeti Kumari is an experienced Development Professional who brings over 4+ years of work experience in the Decentralized Renewable Energy sector. Preeti is currently working as Program Associate with WRI, India, in the Energy for Equitable Development Program. At WRI, she is currently working towards increasing access to clean energy intervention for livelihoods through research and implementation. In her past roles, she has mostly worked with clean energy startups and has been involved in site selection, project planning, fundraising, and market linkage identification for the deployment of solar-powered energy services for households and in the agriculture and allied sectors. She has obtained Masters's in Ecology & Environment Studies from Nalanda University, India. She is based out of the Bangalore office, India, and can be reached at preeti.kumari@wri.org

Bio

Preety M. Bhandari is currently the Chief of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management thematic group and is also serving as the Director for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department (SDCC) at ADB. She is responsible for providing policy and strategic direction to ADB’s initiatives on climate change and disaster risk management, including mobilizing concessional financing from multilateral funds such as the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). She also has an oversight on climate financing from ADB’s own resources including through investments in private sector.

Prior to joining ADB, she was heading the Finance, Technology and Capacity Building Program of the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. She led the support to the international negotiations on climate finance, which culminated in the launch of GCF and the Standing Committee on Finance. She coordinated the establishment of the Technology Mechanism under the Convention, which includes the Climate Technology Centre and Network.

She has also worked as the Director of the Policy Analysis Division at TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) in India.

She has over 33 years of experience in environment, climate change and sustainable development, having worked on projects across Asia, and in multicultural and diverse organizations. She is on the editorial board of Climate Policy and has in the past served as a member of the core group on climate change, established by the Government of India to assess India’s strategy for the UN climate change negotiations. She has also helped adjudicate for the Climate CoLab at MIT, which mobilizes and harnesses innovative ideas to address the challenge of climate change. She is currently advising initiatives led by the 2050 Pathways Platform, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and the International Science Council. She is contributing as a Lead Author to the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She serves on the Board of Gold Standard Foundation.

Bio

Prof. Priyanka kaushal is a faculty at the Centre for Rural Development and Technology (CRDT), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Prof. Kaushal is a Chemical Engineer by training, she did her graduation and doctoral research in chemical engineering. Prof. Kaushal has worked near the interface between Energy Systems, Society and Climate Change for last eighteen years. Prior to joining IIT Delhi, she has worked with TERI, RENET Austria, Dalhousie University, Canada, Institute of Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economics, University of Calgary, Canada. At IIT Delhi, Prof. Kaushal is working on technology development, designing and evaluating pathways to decarbonize the energy and material systems in India. Over the years, she has successfully delivered bi-lateral, multi-lateral, public and private funded projects. She has co-authored more than 85 publications to date.

Bio

Priyantha Wijayatunga has over 30 years of professional experience, which includes 14 years in Asian Development Bank (ADB). Before his current role as the Chief of Energy Sector Group, he was the Director of South Asia Energy Division. Priyantha served as the founder Director General of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka and as a Senior Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Moratuwa. He has extensively contributed in the areas of energy policy and regulation, energy planning and clean energy development. Priyantha holds a Doctorate in Power Systems Economics from Imperial College London.

Bio

Dr. Priyantha D.C. Wijayatunga is currently the Senior Director, Energy at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Priyantha has over 35 years of professional experience including 15 years in ADB. He served as the Director, South Asia Energy Division and Chief of Energy Sector Group prior to assuming the current position in June 2023. Before joining ADB, he served as 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 has extensively contributed in the areas of energy policy and regulation, energy planning and clean energy development. Priyantha holds a Doctorate in Power Systems Economics from the Imperial College London had been a regular Academic Visitor at Imperial College London during the period 1993-1998. He was a Chairman of the South Asia Forum for Infrastructure Regulators (SAFIR) and was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Ceylon Electricity Board and Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority. He was an Advisory Board member of the Melbourne Energy Institute at the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka, a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), a Chartered Electrical Engineer and a Member of the Institute of Engineering Technology (IET), UK. He is a Past President of the Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association.

Bio

Pushkar Manandhar is Senior Project Officer (Energy) in Nepal Resident Mission (NRM) of Asian Development Bank (ADB). His current major task is to implement and process various energy projects and technical assistance programs and promote policy and other measures for better energy sector response. He is also energy sector focal person for Nepal Resident Mission of ADB. Prior to joining ADB, Mr. Manandhar served as consultant to the ADB, worked with Practical Action and Government of Nepal-Alternative Energy Promotion Centre for various projects funded The World Bank, UNDP and EU. He has over 15 years of work experience in the energy sector. Mr. Manandhar has Master’s degree in Energy System and Management and Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.

Bio

Pushkar Manandhar is a Senior Project Officer (Energy) in Energy Sector Office of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). His current major task is implementing and processing various energy projects and technical assistance programs and promoting policy and other measures for better energy sector response. He is also the energy sector focal person for the Nepal Resident Mission of ADB. He has over 18 years of work experience in the energy sector. Mr. Manandhar has a Master’s in Energy Systems and Management and a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering.

Bio

Dr. Qinxian Jin, born in November 1965, is a professor with a Ph.D. in engineering. He is the Deputy Secretary-General of Tsinghua University and Dean of the Beijing-Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute. In 1995, when Dr. Jin graduated with a Ph.D. in Engineering from the Department of Environmental Engineering at Tsinghua University, he served as a faculty member in the Department. Then he was appointed as the Director of Tsinghua Science & Technology Development Department and Director of International Technology Transfer Center in 2005, Executive Director of Beijing-Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute in 2010, and Deputy Secretary-General in 2013. Afterwards, he served as the Director of the President's Office of the university from 2013 to 2015, and Dean of the Office of Technology Transfer from 2015 to 2019. Since September 2019, he has served as the Dean of Beijing-Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute.

During the two decades in his career of technology transfer, Dr. Jin has, through his effort in mechanism design, system construction and path exploration, promoted a number of scientific and technological achievements to be transformed and landed in China, which won him the title of “Pioneer of the Times” on the Beijing Starups Incubation 30th Anniversary Conference. To address the prominent problem that scientific and technological achievements in universities were out of line with the market demand, he has been committed to exploring the docking mode of university research achievements and local industrial resources, by building up a transfer system driven by technology innovation centers. For instance, in medical health, new energy and other fields, he has launched some technology innovation centers which have become globally influential, including the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute(GHDDI), the Beijing Medical Robotics Industry Innovation Center, and the Beijing International Hydrogen Energy Center.

In addition, he is among the first investors in China to make strategic venture capital investments in hard technology companies. Early in 2011, he launched a venture capital fund for the transformation of Tsinghua scientific and technological achievements, in order to invest and incubate a number of industry start-ups. Among them, TINAVI Medical Technologies (688277), Beijing Sinohytec (688339) and Jenkem Technology (688345) have been successfully listed on the STAR Market (or the Science and Technology Innovation Board), realizing the leapfrog development of science and technology innovation enterprises from start-ups to industry leaders.

Bio

Queentries is a gender and business specialist. She co-founded RAKARU utilizing her solid project management skills with women participation and empowerment in the economy as her forte. She has expertise in working with businesses, government, consulting firms, NGOs in entrepreneurship programs for women and youth. With nearly a decade of experience in effecting change at the nexus of gender, business, and investment, Queentries has delivered more than 50 tailored trainings and facilitations on gender and business and gender lens investing. Additionally, she has co-produced various knowledge assets such as practical GESI guidelines for business, and business cases of gender. ssets such as practical GESI guidelines for business, and business cases of gender.