Speakers of DUM 2017

Adarsh Nagarajan

Adarsh Nagarajan is a Research Engineer in Power System Design and Studies at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with a focus in power electronics/power functions relating to clean energy systems. . His experience encompasses computer modeling of power systems; grid integration of distributed energy resources (DERs); design, modeling, fabrication and testing of power electronic converters (DC-DC and DC-AC); modeling, control, and monitoring of energy storage systems; and the design, system integration, control and dynamics, protection, and seamless grid integration of low-inertia systems (microgrids). He has especially deep expertise in: modeling advanced inverter operation modes in distribution systems, especially those associated with DERs. He has authored over twenty technical publications. He is a Member of the IEEE and is active in standards creation. Dr. Nagarajan received Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 2014, from Arizona State University.

Ashwin Gambhir

Ashwin Gambhir is a Fellow at Prayas (Energy Group) and works on renewable energy policy and regulation in India. He has been with Prayas since 2009. He has a masters in mechanical engineering from University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a specialization in wind energy in 2005.

Ann Josey

Ann Josey is a Senior Research Associate at Prayas (Energy Group) or PEG. Since 2011, her work in PEG has included assessment of the financial health of distribution companies, evaluation of large scale rural electrification programs, and a deeper understanding of power market functioning, regulations. Ann Josey has also made several policy and regulatory submissions at the Central and the State level especially in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan, especially on the issues of open access, power procurement planning, tariff, as well as supply and service quality. She has also been involved in providing support to CSOs in many states to intervene in policy and regulatory spaces in the electricity sector. Ann Josey has a Master's Degree from Madras School of Economics.

Anant Venkateswaran

An experienced industry professional with over two decades of international experience in regulatory/policy, business, operations and technology aspects of the energy and utility sector, Mr. Anant Venkateswaran serves on several technical, standards, advisory and tutorial committees and is a teacher, presenter, panelist, moderator and speaker at international venues including Distributech, ISGW, IEEE and CIGRE. Working across the globe, he has managed major technology investments and advised clients from visioning to validation. A senior member of the team accountable for strategy, trusted advisory/ consultative, thought leadership and partnerships, Anant has worked both in the traditional aspects of the grid as well new and emerging areas of Big Data/ Analytics and visualization, IoT, Cloud Computing and Smart Energy. Anant has worked with several industrial, utility & Government customers globally. Anant is based in Denver, Colorado and is currently with GE’s Grid Solutions business. He has provided regulatory, policy and other guidance in planning and implementation of smart grid/ grid modernization programs which include the grid, market and customer side areas including energy efficiency, building automation, demand response, and renewables integration. He conducted workshops and seminars, and created innovative technology solutions for clients, along with viable financing options and best-fit business models resulting in improved reliability, efficiency, safety, sustainability and green footprint.

Ajoy Rajani

Ajoy is a renowned expert in the M2M space – he pioneered M2M and AMR in India, prior to that he was involved with one of the largest AMR deployments in combined Americas at Epsa. He has been at the forefront of innovation in Communication technologies particularly Powerline and Wireless Communications. He has several papers to his credit and was the key-note speaker and guest of honor at the Vienna PLC gathering in 2007 for having completed one of the world’s largest Broadband over Powerline deployments. The wireless AMR architecture developed by him was awarded the 3G global industry award in 2009. He was instrumental in Reliance garnering the largest share of the low cost telephony market in India. As a past entrepreneur Ajoy built a successful enterprise in India and exited the same in 2004 and joined Reliance Energy as their CTO. Ajoy has also spent time with Reliance Communications Ltd as a communications specialist for several years. This allows him to leverage his unique experience and knowledge of both telecommunications and energy. Ajoy has advanced education in Engineering, and has served on the board of CDMA Development Group and Wireless Nova and presently chairs the Communications work group in India Smart Grid Forum. He currently serves in Reliance as Senior Vice President in charge of their Smart Grid Business and product innovation initiatives. Reliance has been at the forefront of development and innovation in various smart grid technologies in India such as Automatic Meter Reading, Power line Communications and other terminal devices.

A.D.Thirumoorthy B.E, M.S

A.D.Thirumoorthy B.E, M.S. B.64, Sreevatsa Gardens, Energy Consultant, Thudiyalur, Advisor, APQI Coimbatore – 641 034 Chief Technical Advisor,IWPA adtmoorthy@gmail.com Mob: +91 99655 49894
32 years experience in power utility
Presented Number of papers in different National and International Conferences.
Consultant, Indian Railways for Harmonic Issues
Consultant to many leading Industries and Associations in the area of Renewables and Power Quality.
Involved in providing Passive Harmonic filtering solution to any kind of Industries and Commercial establishments for reducing Harmonic levels to statutory limits.
Approved Faculty for handling one credit courses in Engineering Colleges
Approved Faculty for Guiding UG and PG student projects
Board of Studies member for number of Engineering Colleges and Universities
Associated with number of funded Research Projects
Demand Side Management Consultancy Committee Member, Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, Chennai
Recently attended Energy Storage Conference in San Diego, US in August, 2017 along with TNEB Chairman and other officials.
Presently Engaged in a Research Project with University of California in a Energy Storage project
MY RESIDENCE ZERO WASTE, ZERO ENERGY, ZERO EMMISSION, ZERO WATER DISGHARGE HOUSE

Bharath Jairaj

Bharath Jairaj is Director of the World Resources Institute India (WRI India)’s Energy Program which seeks to inform and catalyse India’s transition to clean energy. His work includes research on barriers to RE and EE, across different categories of consumers and mechanisms to improve universal electricity access. Bharath is also involved with WRI’s Governance Centre and is closely involved with the Electricity Governance Initiative (EGI) that seeks to strengthen governance of the electricity sector, in partnership with Prayas Energy Group. He is also involved with WRI projects focused on social inclusion and reducing poverty. Bharath has a law degree from the National Law School of India, a Master in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore and a Master in Law from the National University of Singapore

Bernard Lassus

Bernard Lassus is a graduated Engineer of “Ecole Centrale de Lille”. He started his career within EDF group in the late 70's, in the Nuclear Engineering Field, in charge of Building, commissionning and operating nuclear power plants - EDF operates 58 Nuclear Power plant units in France Mainland. He became in 1997 Director of the Vitry Thermal Power Plant. In 2004, he was appointed Director in charge of the mass market opening project - since July 2007, the French electricity market is fully deregulated. From 2007 to 2010, he was appointed Enedis (then called ‘ERDF’) Deputy General Manager, head of Human Resources and Communication. Then, in 2010, he joined EDF France as EDF VP in charge of Human Resources.
Since 2014, Bernard Lassus is, within Enedis, Director of the Linky TM Smart Metering Program, an AMM (Advanced Meter Management) program consisting in deploying 35 million smart meters by 2021 – more than 3 million are already installed to date. He is also President of the G3-PLC Alliance - a non profit association under French law, with more than 70 members from North America, Europe and Asia, established in 2011 in order to support, promote and implement G3-PLC in any smart grid application.

Lawrence E. Jones (Vice President, International Programs)

Dr. Lawrence E. Jones is a thought leader and practitioner with over twenty-five years of experience in the energy industry. Dr. Jones joined Edison Electric Institute (EEI) in September 2015 as Vice President, International Programs. Prior to joining EEI, Dr. Jones was North America Vice President for Utility Innovation & Infrastructure Resilience at Alstom Grid Inc., where he assisted utilities worldwide with formulating strategies for deploying new technology solutions. While at Alstom, Dr. Jones also served as Vice President, Policy, Regulatory Affairs & Industry Relations for the international full-service electric generation and transmission firm. Dr. Jones is an advocate for the use of smart, clean, and renewable energy technologies enabled by resilient infrastructures around the world. He is Editor of the new book “Renewable Energy Integration: Practical Management of Variability, Uncertainty and Flexibility in Power Grids, and was the principal investigator of the 2010/11 Global Survey on Renewable Energy Integration in Power Grids funded by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at U.S. Department of Energy. For this work, he received the Renewable Energy World Network 2012 Excellence in Renewable Award for Leadership in Technology and the Utility Variable Generation Integration Group 2012 Achievement Award.
In 2017 he received the global Excellence Award in Renewable energy from the Energy and Environment Foundation of India. In 2000, while at the Royal Institute of Technology, he co-founded the International Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power and Transmission Networks for Off Shore Wind Farms. Dr. Jones serves on the Advisory Boards of several industry associations and academic research programs within the Americas, Europe and Africa. Dr. Jones is involved with several entrepreneurial and philanthropic initiatives. He is co-founder and President of the Board of Directors of the Center for Sustainable Development in Africa (CSDA) and serves on the Advisory Committee of The Energy Action Project (EnAct) - a multimedia platform which seeks to help a global audience understand the scope of the energy poverty challenge and the collaborative action needed to address it. He is passionate and of the strong conviction that innovation is necessary for sustainable development. He is frequently an invited speaker at industry conferences and academic symposia for diverse audiences across the globe He has published and been cited in scholarly journals, trade magazines and newspapers, and has also appeared on TV & Radio around the world. Dr. Jones received his MSc, Licentiate and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE.

Manik Basu Manager (Technical), CESC Limited:

An Electrical Engineer from Jadavpore University, Kolkata with more than 30+ years’ experience in the Power Sector. Worked in CESC Limited in the fields of Testing and Metering Activities. Presently, heads Testing , Distribution Automation and Condition Monitoring activities in the company.

Pankaj Batra, Member(Planning), CEA

Shri Pankaj Batra did his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering, Diploma in Systems Management, Diploma in Financial Management and Diploma in Public Speaking He is Member (Planning) in the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), and ex-officio Additional Secretary to the Government of India and oversees various policy and planning functions, including Electric Power Survey Report on long term demand forecasting, National Electricity Plan on generation planning, coal and gas supply to power stations, renewable sources of energy, etc. He has worked in the Western Regional Load Despatch Centre (WRLDC) as a System Operator.
He has also responsible for operation and maintenance of Power House, Switchyard and Dam in Chukha Hydro Power Corporation in Bhutan and operation and later operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution system of Bhutan. He has worked in the Grid Management in the CEA Headquarters. He framed the regulations of CEA on Technical Standards for Connectivity to the Grid and regulations on Grid Standards.
He has worked as Chief (Engineering) in Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) formulating various Regulations, including various provisions related to wind and solar generation in the revised Indian Electricity Grid Code. He also started the Division on Regulatory Affairs in CEA and worked in Financial and Commercial Appraisal of power generation and transmission projects in the CEA, and various financial and commercial matters. He was involved in making the Standard Bidding documents for procurement of generation and transmission services, Tariff Policy and National Electricity Policy, etc..
He was in the Task Force on Peaking Power Plants and Creation of Adequate System Reserves and on Integration of electricity from Renewable Energy sources in the Grid. He was also in the Committee of Ministry of Power for formulation of Model Smart Grid Regulations. He is the Chairperson of Working Group 4 on “Policy, Regulation and Business Models” in the India Smart Grid Forum. He is also Chairperson of the BIS Committee of LITD 10 – “Power System Control and Associated Communication”.

Ravi Seethapathy

After a 35+ year career in Canadian Electric Utilities and Power Systems area, Ravi Seethapathy is now an Advisor to the Utility/Industry. He sits on the Boards of Smart Grid Canada, India Smart Grid Forum, and Biosirus Inc. His current international technical activities include (1) Cigre Convener WGC6.28-Remote Islanded Grids; (2) IEA PVPS Taskforce 14 – Large Scale Solar Integration; (3) IEC TC 120 – Energy Storage; (4) IEC SEG4-LVDC; and (5) India Smart Grid Forum- Chair WG5 (Renewables and Microgrids).
He is an invited speaker in the international Smart Grid area having co-authored over 50 technical papers. He is also mentors/Chairs a small technology company Biosirus Inc. (engaged in Energy Efficiency, Pico/Nano/Microgrid and other select leading technologies globally). Retired in 2014 after 31 year career in a leading Utility in Canada where he managed leading portfolios in R&D, Innovation, Smart Grid Projects, Energy Storage, Renewable Energy Integration, and Asset Management. His Past Corporate Directorships include Toronto Atmospheric Fund, Ryerson University, TV Ontario, Scarborough Hospital, Nevaro Capital Corp, Engineers without Borders (Chair), Canadian Club of Toronto (President), Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (President).
He has received numerous honours and citations including Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), Fellow Canadian Academy of Engineering (2012), Hydro One President’s Award (2008), Honour Roll of the Shastri Institute (2008), Honorary Fellow, Centennial College (2005), Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (1996) to name a few. His education includes a B. Tech (Hons) in Electrical Power from IIT, Kharagpur, India; an M. Eng. in Electrical Power from the University of Toronto; and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University. He together with my family has endowed an IEEE Award in “Rural Electrification Excellence”

Rahul Tongia

Dr. Rahul is a Fellow (Non-resident) at Brookings India and the Brookings Institution. Dr. Tongia was on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University for many years, and recently became an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon. Active in the domain of smart grids, he helped found the Smart Grid Task Force, Govt. of India, as well as the India Smart Grid Forum, a multi-stakeholder body chaired by the Ministry of Power, and is the Advisor to both bodies. Previously, he was also a founding member of the Technology Advisory Board of SmartConnect, Southern California Edison’s $1.2B smart metering / smart grid project. He was also a co-founder and Program Director / Principal Research Scientist at the Center for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy (CSTEP), a Bangalore-based not-for-profit think tank.
He works actively in interdisciplinary issues of technology and policy for sustainable development, with domain expertise in energy/power and also IT/telecom. In addition to Smart Grids, his present work focuses on renewables and renewable integration, shortfalls of electricity and mitigation measures, and electricity pricing.
His past work has focused on a number of energy domains including nuclear power, natural gas imports, electricity pricing, and political economy/reform issues. This extended to affiliated topics of design, innovation, and technology transfer, including Indo-US collaboration. He was also a pioneering scholar in the new domain of ICT (information and communications technology) for development, as well as the digital divide. His experience includes the ability to bridge technical and non-technical domains, working across levels from the big picture to design to project implementation, ranging from pilot projects to larger roll-outs. He has served on a number of Committees and projects on technology and development in the US and India, as well as for telecommunications in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Rahul Tongia’s books and book chapters include “Growing Complexity and Transformations of the Power Sector: India as an Example of Developing Regions Using Enterprise Architecture and Smart Grids.” Chapter in A Systemic Perspective to Managing Complexity with Enterprise Architecture (pp. 454 – 501). Pallab Saha (ed.), Hershey, PA: Business Science Reference (2013); “Web Enabled Metering and Controls for Demand Response” Chapter (with R. Walawalker and B. Colburn) in Web Based Enterprise Energy and Facility Management Systems, Barney Capehart (ed.), Fai

Ravindra Hanumantrao Kadam

Ravindra Kadam, is a Fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Delhi. He has experience of more than 12 years in the power sector covering range of key issues such as Renewable Energy, Regulatory development,Renewable Energy Certificate Mechanism, Tariff setting and financial and economic analysis of power projects, etc. His experience includes analysing key Regulatory, Policy, Financial aspects for renewable energy technologies and other conventional technologies. He has also worked on the issues on energy access, rural energy. He is Mechanical Engineer by profession and Certified Energy Auditor. He have also completed M.A. in Economics

Shalabh Srivastava

Shalabh Srivastava is a Principal Director in Accenture’s management consulting practice. He has been working with Accenture’s Delhi office since 1999. Prior to that, Shalabh obtained his B.Tech. (Hons.) from IIT Kharagpur and MBA from IIM Lucknow. Shalabh has a long experience of advising clients in Indian power sector, including electricity distribution, loss reduction, smart grids, renewables, rural electrification, etc. He has been consulting Utilities clients across private and Govt sector across the areas of Business Process Re-engineering, Operational Turnaround, Organisation Restructuring, Strategy Formulation and Implementation Support.

Sandip Pal, General Manager (System Operations), CESC Limited

An Electrical Engineer from Jadavpore University, Kolkata with more than 31 years’ experience in the Power Sector. Worked in CESC Limited from the very beginning in different capacities. Experienced in Load Despatch, Network Management, Energy Management & Planning, Open Access, Exchange Operations, Fuel Management and other allied fields. Was member of the Core Team that worked in close coordination with Singapore Power for a 2-year project to improve CESC’s distribution system. Presently heads the System Operations Division in CESC Limited.

S Rajagopalan (Professor & Faculty-in-charge Institutional & Finance)

Dr. S. Rajagopalan received his B.Tech degree from IIT Delhi , PGDM from IIM Bangalore and Ph.D from IIT Kanpur. He was the Chief Executive Officer of the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology from 1982 to 1993 and was involved managing innovations that addressed the problems of Karnataka.. In 1993 he along with a few colleagues founded Technology Informatics Design Endeavour ( TIDE) a not for profit development society which focused on developing and disseminating technologies that are economically attractive, environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable in rural areas of Karnataka. He was its Chairman till 2007. For his work in TIDE ,he was awarded the Ashoka Fellow ( 1994), Fellow of the Salzburg Seminar ( 1999) , one of the four finalists of Social Entrepreneur of India award ( 2006) and one of the 50 pioneers of India chosen by India Today Magazine ( 2008). TIDE was awarded the International Green Oscar , the Ashden Award in 2008. Dr Rajagopalan has been working in the area of Geographical Information Systems since 1989 and founded a Company Spatial Data Private Limited in 1999. This Company was pioneer in developing user-friendly digital maps of Indian Cities under the Brand Name Mapcue. Dr. Rajagopalan areas of interest includes innovation dissemination, economics of innovations, Geographical Information systems , and Economics of Information Technologies. He also heads the IIITB Innovation Centre, which aims at incubating and promoting innovations in the area of Information and Communication Technologies.

Sandeep Dhamija

He has done Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) in year 2001 and subsequently Masters of Business Administration (Power Management) in year 2003. He has 14 years of progressive leadership experience in Power Distribution.
He is associated with TATA Power Delhi Distribution Limited since 2004 and since then he has been part of transformation journey with major contribution in Implementing Strategies for AT&C loss reduction, Reengineering of Commercial/Revenue Cycle Management Processes, implementation of key IT systems SAP, CRM, Call Center Solution, AMR, OMS and enterprise wise integration of various processes and systems. He has also been leading various consultancy assignments to various state discoms. Currently as a Head of Group (Business Development), he is responsible for Business Acquisition for TATA Power-DDL in South, East and North East parts of India.

Mr. Tarun Katiyar

Mr. Tarun Katiyar is a Master in Business Administration cum Engineering Graduate. He is among the first few employees who has joined TATA Power-DDL and helped in transformation after taking over of business from state owned Delhi Vidyut Board. Mr. Katiyar has more than two decades of experience in the whole value chain of the power sector including development of Greenfield & Brownfield Power Projects, Project Management, Detailed Engineering, Distribution reform etc. He brings with him extensive learning in Generation and Distribution operations, for strengthening of electricity utilities to enable them to meet reliability and AT & C loss reduction target under regulatory controls. This learning garnered through association with leading power electricity utilities in India equips him well to tackle the enormous challenges of electricity business at Delhi.He has hands-on experience in diverse areas ranging from policy, regulation and reforms to project-specific support. He is a sectoral expert on strategic, commercial, and financial aspects relating to energy sector projects.
In TPDDL Mr. Katiyar has played different roles including heading Connection Management Group, and being the domain lead for implementation of “SAMBANDH”, a in-house CRM cum Billing system developed at TPDDL.In addition,Mr. Katiyar has played key role in Re-engineering and automation of the business process through IT intervention. Mr.Katiyar also has wide experience in the field of detailed engineering, technical projects, procurement contract management etc. Currently Mr. Katiyar leads the Business Development initiatives at TPDDL and deals with the in-organic growth of the company. His current roles include:
• Evaluating Business Development Opportunities across the Globe
• Dealing with various multilateral agencies for development of appropriate reform model for power distribution sector
• Key speakers with different stake holder’s engagement group for Distribution reform in various countries.
• Spearheading the Teams for meeting the deliverables Targets as a part of Technical Service Provider engagement in four DISCOMs in Nigeria
• Development of different business models for delivering wide range of services to Peer Group organizations.
• Monitoringbackward integration in the value chain, mainly through setting up Renewable Energy projects for TPDDL.