Bangkok--29 Oct--Clarion Events
More than 800 senior level professionals from international Utilities, Retailers and Distributors are gathering for the 12th Annual Australian Utility Week, formerly called Smart Utilities Australia & New Zealand, the region’s largest industry conference and exhibition, to be held at the Pullman Albert Park in Melbourne from 18-20 November.
This year’s theme is ‘utility transformation’ – it’s about time we embraced disruptive technology and customer demand. This reflects the influence that smart technology is having upon the power, water and gas markets – from changes to business models caused by such things as residential solar, to how customers are using social media and other community based platforms to influence policy makers and regulators.
Preparing for ‘Big Bang’ disruption
Our lead speaker is James Charisiou, Chief Commercial Officer & Board Member of RWE, one of Europe’s largest utilities, who explains the financial implications facing RWE in Germany due to the impact of the solar revolution and the restrictions on coal fired generation. This theme is echoed by Howard Wenger, President, Business Units (Residential, Commercial and Utility Power Plants), SunPower, USA, one of the world’s largest residential solar installers who outlines what Australian utilities should be doing to prepare for the residential solar-storage revolution.
Local specialists including Marc England, Group Head of Strategy & New Energy, AGL Energy, James Colbert, Senior Manager Corporate Strategy, EnergyAustralia and Mark Paterson, Manager, Smart Grid Partnerships, CSIRO Energy, give examples of how Australian utilities are adapting and how they might fare if coal was restricted.
In total we have 100 speakers sharing their experiences of how new technology is impacting utility business models and creating a new opportunities and challenges for customers, utility managers and our energy future.
We discuss various case studies on topics including: Commercialising the benefits of chips with everything – the Internet of ThingsBig Data and analytics strategies for customer intelligence and engagementBuilding a Super Grid to help solve the challenge of integrating distributed generationLeveraging AMI data for operational and business intelligence during outagesNew and emerging cyber security threats for next generation substation architecturesUsing social media to engage customers and incentivize behavioural changeSpeakers include: Marc England, Group Head of Strategy & New Energy, AGL EnergyIvor Frischknecht, CEO, Australian Renewable Energy AgencyLee Brown, Metering Services Manager, Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)Mark Paterson, Manager, Smart Grid Partnerships, CSIRO EnergyDamien McAree, Director, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Energy Sector Development, DSDBICraig Evans, Retail and Networks Manager, Electricity Authority of New ZealandAlan Coller, Manager, Strategy Development, Origin EnergyJames Charisiou, Chief Commercial Officer & Board Member, RWE, GermanyJohn Theunissen, Manager Network Modernisation, AusNet ServicesPat McCafferty, MD, Yarra Valley WaterThe conference is supported by a smart technology focused, large scale exhibition which provides an excellent opportunity for visitors to get informed about the latest technologies and solutions to make their next steps more successful.