Speakers

Bio

Soichiro Niwa is the general manager of Energy Transition Division for JERA, based in Nihonbashi, Japan. In his role, he is responsible for leading the Asian energy transition, by driving carbon neutral roadmap for each country, low carbon fuel thermal power projects and LNG to power projects. Soichiro has been in the energy sector for 19 years, with extensive experience across the domestic/oversees power business development. He started his career at Chubu electric power in 2005 and has held various roles in engineering, project control and commercial leadership across the organization. Soichiro holds a Bachelor's degree in engineering from Keio University in Japan.

Bio

Somesh Kumar leads energy sector for EY in Indian subcontinent. He has been working in transformation of governments and government owned utilities for more efficient and sustainable entities. He has worked extensively in clean energy transition including in domains of renewable energy, energy storage, electric mobility, energy efficiency, green hydrogen etc. He has close experience of working with a wide range of stakeholders including international development institutions, government bodies, regulators, non-profit organisations, private entities, etc. He aims to build a better living and working world by addressing climate challenges and embedding sustainability into each aspect of life.

Bio

A civil engineer committed to advancing renewable energy and sustainability. Equipped with a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Bhutan and a Master’s in Renewable Energy from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Since January 2023, I have served as a Project Officer at ADB, Bhutan Resident Mission, focusing on energy and urban projects. Previously, I spent over a decade at Druk Green Power Corporation, where I gained valuable experience in hydropower development and project management.

Bio

I am Sonita, a Startup Program Manager of EnergyLab Cambodia, has been working to nurture the startups using solar technology solutions for the Agri-fishery sector through Incubation and Acceleration programs. Graduated in Environmental Science in 2020, I have been passionate in contributing to sustainable development and environmental protection.

Bio

Mr. Garnaik leads many flagship programs including business development and large scale implementation of energy efficiency projects through innovative financing mechanisms. At present, he is handling eleven major national and international programs (amounting to annual turnover of $ 250 million) and working on to develop few new programs leading to investment opportunities of at least $ 500 million in next 2 years. The following major programs are being led by Mr. Garnaik are:

• Domestic Efficient Lighting Program (UJALA)
• Street Light National Program (SLNP)
• Building Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP)
• Municipal Energy Efficiency Program (MEEP)
• Solar Based LED Street Lighting Program (Ministry of Renewable Energy, Govt. of India)
• Solar Based LED Study Lamp Program (Ministry of Renewable Energy, Govt. of India)
• Energy Efficiency Program for SMEs under GEF-5 program (UNIDO)
• Energy Efficiency Market Transformation Program under GEF-6 program (ADB & UNEP)
• Partial Risk Sharing Facility program (World Bank and SIDBI)
• Super-Efficient AC Program
• National Motor Replacement Program of India
• Indo-Israel Technology Innovation Program (Deptt. Of Science & Tech, GoI)

Major Work Experience

• Lead trainer in BEE’s capacity building program of DISCOMs on DSM
• Technical Expert & Trainer to USAID-LEAD project in Thailand and India
• Team lead in conceptual design of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) scheme of Thailand’s PMR proposal to World Bank
• Program Manager for Perform, Achieve & Trade (PAT) and Standard & Labeling Scheme of BEE
• Over 70 major consultancy projects in energy and resource conservation area including policy studies, energy audits, capacity building and national level schemes / programs like APDRP, DRUM etc.
• Member of various national and international committees in the field of energy efficiency. Represented India in the ISO Technical Committee (TC)-257 at Paris and served as Point-of-Contact for Govt. of India in Clean Energy Ministerial

Presented / published over 25 technical papers in various national & international seminars, workshops and websites. He has gone through advance training program on Energy Efficiency at Japan and USA. He was selected by Chiang Mai University, Thailand as an International Expert to design “Energy Performance Certificate Scheme” for Thailand.

Bio

Sourajit Aiyer is finance and sustainability professional with 15 years of experience, with financial institutions such as Motilal Oswal Financial Services, UBS Investment Bank London and Evalueserve Research. He has worked with Grameen Impact Investment and UNEP’s Sustainable India Finance Facility. He has authored 3 books on regional economies and over 160 articles on topics around sustainability, business, finance, and geopolitics. Sourajit has delivered over 30 university guest lectures and conference presentations across 8 countries and has also curated about 20 webinars with over 80 domain-experts.

Bio

Srijana is a Senior Social Safeguards Advisor at the USAID and Australia Mekong Safeguards Program, implemented by the Asia Foundation. As a social practitioner, she has worked in various sectors with diverse communities leading community engagements, social impact assessments, resettlement and livelihood restoration planning and designing benefit sharing mechanisms. She brings extensive field experience and best practices to the Mekong Safeguards Program which aims to strengthen environmental and social performance in infrastructure development in the Mekong subregion. Srijana believes that stakeholder engagement is at the core of strengthening social safeguards and that local sustainable solutions are only possible through meaningful consultations, coordination and partnerships with the communities.

Bio

Stania Puspawardhani has over 19 years of experience in journalism, international relations, and environmental affairs. She managed energy transition and mineral resources downstream research program at Jakarta-based think-tank, Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia. Under this program, she led a research project on just energy transition and electric vehicle global value chain through rigorous study and multi-stakeholder engagement. At the present, she is finalizing her PhD study in Natural Resources and Environmental Management Sciences at IPB University, looking at the impact of blockhain-based solar panel to gender roles in rural Java.

Bio

tefano is the Data and Transparency Specialist for USAID Mekong For the Future (MFF), implemented by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) . In his current role, Stefano leads the work to promote natural resources governance transparency through partnerships with governments and civil society organizations in the ASEAN region, including in the energy sector. Stefano has been in different roles with WWF for eight years. He spent four years with WWF Myanmar, during which he worked on river conservation, renewable energy and hydropower, amongst other topics. Before joining WWF, he worked in sustainability and international development in academia and management consulting. He holds a Master of Science in Economics and Social Sciences from Bocconi University in Milan, where he graduated cum laude with a thesis on climate change policy, disasters and media.

Bio

Stephen B. Harrison is the founder and managing director at sbh4 GmbH in Germany. He focuses on decarbonisation. Hydrogen and CCUS are fundamental pillars of his consulting work.

With 27 years at BOC Gases, The BOC Group and Linde Gas, Stephen has intimate knowledge of hydrogen and carbon dioxide from commercial, technical, operational and safety perspectives. His expertise extends to the full length of the value chain from production, purification, distribution, and storage through to utilisation.

Stephen has extensive M&A due diligence experience in the energy and clean-tech sectors. Private Equity firms and investment fund managers are regular clients, gaining renewable energy sector insights to support asset allocation decisions. He supports clean-tech startups with commercialisation and securing investment funding for scale up. Stephen also works with the Asian Development Bank on renewable energy and green hydrogen deployment projects and feasibility studies.

Bio

Steve Peters is Senior Energy Specialist at the Asian Development Bank. Steve specialises in waste-to-energy topics in the Energy Sector Group of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department at ADB. He is responsible for developing the knowledge base, project development and implementation in waste to energy and supporting projects across waste, the circular economy and ocean impacts Steve Holds a Master of Engineering Science and Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is a past Board Member of Austcham Singapore. He was previously the Managing Director of the Stratcon group of companies and Past chairman of the Asia Pacific Biogas Alliance.

Bio

Steve Peters is Senior Energy Specialist at the Asian Development Bank. Steve specialises in waste-to-energy topics in the Energy Sector Group of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department at ADB. He is responsible for developing the knowledge base, project development and implementation in waste to energy and supporting projects across waste, the circular economy and ocean impacts Steve Holds a Master of Engineering Science and Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is a past Board Member of Austcham Singapore. He was previously the Managing Director of the Stratcon group of companies and Past chairman of the Asia Pacific Biogas Alliance.