20 May 2016

With less than 3 weeks to go before ACEF 2016 kicks off, we are delighted to bring you the latest news on Asia’s premier clean energy event. ACEF is unique in that it brings together government officials, project developers, sector experts, equipment and service providers, advocates, researchers, and development specialists, providing a platform to connect and exchange experience with policy and regulatory initiatives, technical innovations, market-based mechanisms, and have frank and fruitful discussions about lessons learned. We have several updates to help you make the most of your time and enjoy your participation in this exciting week of events.

This year, ACEF will feature four plenary sessions during the main forum on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (8-10 June). The plenaries are led by keynote speakers and thought leaders, with a focus on the sustainable deployment of clean energy in Asia, exploring some of the greater hurdles to overcome while also showcasing solutions and ways forward to address the challenges ahead. You can learn more about each of the plenary sessions below.

On Wednesday morning, 8 June, ACEF 2016 will officially open the Forum. This plenary will set the scene for the 3 days of the main forum and engage participants in considering some of the changing priorities and interventions in the Post-COP21 world. Part 1 of the Opening Plenary Session will feature messages from the President of ADB, welcoming participants to this 11^th edition of this important event for Asia’s clean energy practitioners. In the first keynote address, Rachel Kyte, Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Initiative, will share her views on the challenges and strategies for designing and implementing effective, sustainable, and equitable clean energy solutions that address the threat of climate change in a rapidly changing world.

Part 2 of the Opening Plenary will feature three keynote speakers who will provide a variety of perspectives on the way forward after the COP 21 climate agreement. These include Mr. Tae-Young Kim, Vice-President, Korea Energy Agency; Mr. Makoto Watanabe, Executive Director of Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO); and Dr. Bartosz Wojszczyk, President & CEO, Decision Point Global, a company that helps develop and bring to market disruptive clean energy technologies.

The plenary session on Thursday morning, 9 June, will focus on the challenges, barriers, and opportunities in the roll out of National Climate Plans across the region. It will be an interactive dialogue between various government agencies and ministries in charge of climate change, from both developed and developing countries as well as representatives from international organizations including ADB. The speakers will identify the gaps and barriers that stand in the way of countries successfully achieving NDCs, along with opportunities to (1) develop synergies, (2) strengthen cooperation to leverage the political momentum gained in 2015, and (3) capitalize on “early wins” to ensure the greatest impact.

The closing plenary of this year’s ACEF will include a round-up of the key takeaways from the week, including the challenges and opportunities that have been highlighted in the pre-forum Deep Dive Workshops, Technical Seminars, and the parallel sessions in the main forum. The plenary will include a panel discussion of distinguished clean energy professionals, followed by a closing address by Ralph Sims, Professor of Sustainable Energy at Massey University, New Zealand, who will once again provide a compelling synthesis and call to arms for Asia’s Clean Energy Community.

We are very pleased to confirm that Tae-Young Kim, Makato Watanabe, Stephen P. Groff, and Yongping Zhai, clean energy leaders in Asia, will be speaking in the plenary sessions at ACEF 2016. They will deliver their insights on solutions for accelerating clean energy development in Asia while meeting the challenges of COP 21 climate agreement.

Tae-Young Kim is the KEA’s Vice President and the Executive Director for the Strategy & Management Headquarters since 2015. He joined KEA (then KEMCO) in 1987, shortly after his graduation from Inha University in 1984, receiving Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Throughout his long career at KEA, he has held many positions including Director General at Regional Strategy Division, Green Energy Cooperation Division, Planning & Budget Division, Director of Chungbuk Branch Office, and Demand Side Management Executive Director. To learn more about Tae-Young Kim, click here.

Makoto Watanabe has served as the Executive Director of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization since October 2015 where he is in charge of the International Affairs Department, Smart Community Department and Kyoto Mechanisms Promotion Department. In 1987, Makoto Watanabe joined the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI, now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and has worked in various MITI bureaus and departments within the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy dealing with policies related to electricity, petroleum, ceramics manufacturing, construction materials, automobiles, and other sectors. At the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Mr. Watanabe gained experience in research evaluation and management. Mr. Watanabe has a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Tokyo. To learn more about Makoto Watanabe, click here.

Stephen P. Groff is responsible for the full range of ADB's operations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. His mandate includes establishing strategic and operational priorities in his areas of responsibility, producing investment and technical assistance operations amounting to approximately $5 billion annually, managing an existing portfolio of about $23 billion, and leading about 650 staff. Groff also supports ADB's President in managing ADB's overall operations, represents ADB in high-level multilateral fora, and contributes to managing its relationships with its 67 member country shareholders, other multilateral financial institutions, and key government, private sector, and civil society partners. Prior to joining ADB, Mr. Groff was Deputy Director for Development Cooperation at the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) where he led OECD's work on a wide range of development-related economic and political issues. To learn more about Stephen P. Groff, click here.

Yongping Zhai has been working on energy development in Asia and Africa for about 25 years. He is in charge of overall energy policy and operational support and coordination with ADB Energy Divisions of East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central and West Asia as well as the Pacific Region. Prior to his current position, Dr. Yongping Zhai was Director, South Asia Energy Division (2010-2015), ADB, covering energy sector operations in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In this capacity, he led ADB’s support to renewable energy, energy efficiency and power trade in South Asia. He also served as ADB’s Lead Energy Specialist (2008-2010), in charge of energy sector in Southeast Asia including Indonesia, Philippines, and the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). In particular, he was instrumental in leading ADB’s support to the power sector’s successful restructuring process in the Philippines. Moreover, Dr. Zhai has played a key role in promoting power trade and cooperation in GMS. To read more about Yongping Zhai, click here.

Knowledge Networking Session - Deadline Extended to Wednesday 25 May
We have extended the deadline for proposal submissions to present at the Knowledge Networking sessions to Wednesday 25 May. To be considered for the two Knowledge Networking sessions, two back-to-back sessions that will be held on the afternoon of Wednesday 8 June, please provide a short description (3 or 4 sentences) of the innovation, idea, initiative, or service you seek to share with the Asia Clean Energy Forum community. Additional instructions on how to register can be found on our website here.

The Knowledge Networking sessions are a platform for practitioners to present the very latest innovations and stand-out initiatives. During these one-hour, fast-paced and highly engaging events, participants will rotate between different tables every 10 minutes to learn about game-changing ideas, practical applications for new clean energy technologies, innovative new business models in the clean energy space, successful clean energy investment funds and strategies, and many more cutting-edge topics.
 
This year we are building on last year’s session which featured 26 speakers and expanding the number of opportunities to present at this event. Each speaker and participant will be given an online bespoke scheduling assistant to help connect speakers to participants before, during and after the Knowledge Networking event. One of the key learnings from last year was that the speakers and participants met a lot of people at this event, but did not always capture everyone’s contact details for follow-up meetings. This online scheduling assistance is provided on a trial basis and if it proves to successfully address the need for better communication amongst participants, this feature may be rolled out to other events at ACEF 2017.
 
For more information, and to register as a speaker or participant at the Knowledge Networking event, please contact ACEF 2016 Agenda Co-ordinator, Jessica Pelham (jpelham@nexant.com).

Registration Extended to 31 May
The deadline for registering for ACEF 2016 has been extended to Tuesday 31 May. If you are not yet registered for this year’s Forum, make sure to register before the deadline here.

Deep Dive Workshops and Technical Seminars
We present below a complete lineup of the 19 Deep Dive Workshops (DDWs) and Technical Seminars held on Monday and Tuesday of ACEF week (6-7 June 2016). These Pre-forum events provide a chance for in-depth discussion around specific topics or challenges. The events run over the course of a half-day or full-day event. The DDWs can take the form of in-depth working discussions, interactive panels, or training sessions. The Technical Seminars are typically shorter in length (90 minutes or half a day) and are focused less on brainstorming and problem solving, and more on sharing information on technical developments in the clean energy and climate field. For more details, check out the all the DDWs and Technical Seminars in the list below. Participants will need to register here whether they intend to attend the entire Forum or just the pre-Forum DDWs or Technical Seminars. Those attending pre-Forum activities will be contacted separately by the activity organizers.
 
All these events are featured on the website, and will be highlighted in more detail over the next 3 weeks on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn ACEF Group, and Twitter). Please share widely among your networks.

For more information and updates on ACEF 2016, go to our website at:
www.asiacleanenergyforum.org