Highlights Of The Program

2 days business program:

Learn from real-world case studies by industry leaders.

SHOWCASING INNOVATION:

Discover the latest technology and techniques from across the industry.

leaders talk:

Hear from top-level experts about how to stay ahead in a fast-changing industry.

MULTIPLE STREAMS:

A business program that is multi-disciplinary, giving you a broad view of the industry.

SMART TECHNOLOGIES:

Explore the latest smart and AI-driven solutions, and see how they can be used in your business.

roundtable discussion:

Join talks with industry peers. Share ideas, make connections, and find new partners.

Program 2026

DAY 1 :
WEDNESDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER, 2026
08:00 - 08:50
REGISTRATION AND MORNING REFRESHMENTS
08:50 - 09:00
OPENING ADDRESS
09:00 - 09:25
UNLOCKING AUSTRALIA'S DISTRIBUTED ENERGY INTELLIGENCE
Emily Gadaleta
Tesla

Emily Gadaleta

Tesla

  • Arguing that DER deployment is essentially solved, Australia must now focus on asset orchestration
  • Explaining how real-time signals enable retailers to deliver flexibility as simple bill savings
  • Demonstrating that Tesla's VPP assets respond to real-world signals while preserving consumer agency
09:25 - 09:30
Q&A SESSION ON MAKING DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES WORK SMARTER ACROSS AUSTRALIA
09:30 - 09:55
COMMUNITY POWER NETWORKS – LEARNINGS SO FAR
Steve Lewis
Ausgrid

Steve Lewis

Ausgrid

  • Outlining Ausgrid’s low-voltage design to extend DER benefits beyond customers with assets
  • Quantifying the pilot scale across 32,000 customers, 130 MWh of storage, and 66 MW of new solar
  • Sharing early lessons on partners’ tender design, complexity, and orchestration at a world-first scale
  • Revealing how community batteries can cut peaks, lower costs, and improve equity across suburbs
09:55 - 10:00
Q&A SESSION ON SCALING COMMUNITY BATTERIES FOR FAIRER GRID OUTCOMES
10:00 - 10:25
POWERING THE LONG GAME: HIGH-CAPACITY LDES FOR GRID RELIABILITY
Jay Che
HiTHIUM Energy Storage

Jay Che

HiTHIUM Energy Storage

  • Analysing how 8-hour LDES can strengthen grid firming, stability, and renewable integration
  • Securing utility-scale BESS through fire testing, advanced safety design, and risk mitigation
  • Optimising large-scale storage deployment to deliver grid services and reliable dispatch
10:25 - 10:30
Q&A SESSION ON SCALING LONG-DURATION STORAGE FOR GRID RELIABILITY
10:30 - 11:00
MORNING COFFEE BREAK IN THE EXHIBIT AREA
11:00 - 11:30
PANEL DISCUSSION ON SMART GRIDS AND THEIR ROLE IN SHAPING AUSTRALIA'S ENERGY FUTURE
  • Harnessing Australia's world-leading rooftop solar, battery, and EV uptake through smarter grid design and ownership
  • Mapping what customers need from smart grids and why their involvement in design shapes outcomes
  • Comparing HV line upgrades against smart grid solutions for remote areas on reliability and LCOE
  • Pinpointing how much grid intelligence should remain centralised versus shift to the edge for real-time stability
  • Validating grid-forming inverter performance across black-start, frequency support, and fault ride-through in Australian deployments

Dylan Frangos | HoustonKemp

David Prins | Etrog Consulting Pty Ltd

Graham Davies | Resonant Solutions Pty Ltd

Saravanan Sivanandhan | Emerald Tech Engineering

Megan Jackson | Tesla

11:30 - 11:55
REGULATORY FRAGMENTATION AS A DRIVER OF GRID TRANSFORMATION
Geoff Petersen
Gilbert + Tobin

Geoff Petersen

Gilbert + Tobin

  • Examining the shift from national consistency to state-led regulation through REZ policy
  • Weighing faster delivery, stronger coordination, and community alignment against complexity
  • Drawing on recent examples to assess whether flexible regulation aids transition infrastructure
11:55 - 12:00
Q&A SESSION ON WHETHER REGULATORY FRAGMENTATION HELPS OR HINDERS THE GRID
12:00 - 12:25
INTEGRATING DER WITH THE NEM: NEW MARKET OPPORTUNITIES MEET REGULATORY
Peter Limbers
Maddocks

Peter Limbers

Maddocks

  • Exploring market-leading DER projects across energy gentailers, networks, and property developers
  • Examining innovative contracting, financing, and business models emerging at the forefront of the energy transition
  • Navigating key regulatory developments to show how evolving market rules are enabling new DER opportunities
12:25 - 12:30
Q&A SESSION ON UNLOCKING DER WHERE MARKET INNOVATION MEETS ENERGY REGULATION
12:30 - 13:30
NETWORKING LUNCH & VISITING THE SMART GRIDS EXHIBITION
13:30 - 14:00
PANEL DISCUSSION ON ORCHESTRATING AUSTRALIA'S DISTRIBUTED ENERGY REVOLUTION ACROSS NETWORKS AND COMMUNITIES
  • Scaling Australia's CER deployment from fragmented pilots to a nationally consistent framework across DNSPs, AEMO, and communities
  • Harnessing batteries, EVs, and flexible loads as orchestrated DER assets to unlock real grid value beyond rooftop solar
  • Bridging the equity gap so DER benefits reach Indigenous and underserved communities, including those on prepayment plans
  • Decoding what communities want from distributed energy and how networks can build meaningful engagement at scale
  • Accelerating workforce readiness to keep pace with rapid DER growth across regional and community-based networks

Greg Hannan | Hannergrid Consulting

Davood Dehestani | Smartizer

Giles Gunesekera | Global Impact Initiative

David Anstee | Withywindle Consulting

Fortunate Farirai | The Gordon

14:00 - 14:25
DECARBONISATION THROUGH MICROGRIDS AND DER IN EDGE-OF-GRID NETWORKS
Jey Shivakumar
Cossill & Webley Consulting Engineers

Jey Shivakumar

Cossill & Webley Consulting Engineers

  • Examining edge-of-grid network constraints, capacity limits, and reliability challenges today
  • Evaluating current decarbonisation options and how they perform against real network constraints
  • Detailing WA utility-scale microgrids at Peel Business Park, Eglinton Village, and Ocean Reef case studies
  • Demonstrating residential DER services that cover capacity shortfalls and strengthen local supply
14:25 - 14:30
Q&A SESSION ON PRACTICAL DECARBONISATION FOR EDGE-OF-GRID NETWORKS
14:30 - 14:55
VISION AI FOR REAL-TIME GRID INTELLIGENCE AND DER OPTIMISATION
Thomas Culver
The Robot Factory

Thomas Culver

The Robot Factory

  • Automating inspection of lines, substations, poles, and transformers to detect faults and intrusion
  • Enhancing situational awareness by identifying outages, arcing hazards, and triggering alerts
  • Integrating edge-based vision models to reduce latency, bandwidth use, and enable autonomy
  • Advancing predictive maintenance by combining visual data with DER forecasting inputs
14:55 - 15:00
Q&A SESSION ON APPLYING VISION AI TO SMART GRID OPERATIONS
15:00 - 15:20
AFTERNOON COFFEE BREAK IN THE EXHIBIT AREA
15:20 - 15:50
PANEL DISCUSSION ON SMART GRIDS
15:50 - 16:15
THE EXPANDING ROLE OF BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE IN SUPPORTING THE NEM
Wendel Hortop
Modo Energy

Wendel Hortop

Modo Energy

  • Charting the rapid growth of battery energy storage on the NEM from early installations to today's fleet
  • Dissecting how BESS captured FCAS market share and how the fleet responds to live market signals
  • Contextualising grid-forming BESS capability and why it matters as synchronous generation retires
16:15 - 16:20
Q&A SESSION ON BATTERY STORAGE MARKET DYNAMICS AND GRID FORMING IN THE NEM
16:20 - 16:45
DIGITAL TWINS FOR ENERGY NETWORK RELIABILITY AND RESILIENCE
Ee Hui Lim
Monash University

Ee Hui Lim

Monash University

  • Combining asset data, system configuration, and simulation to assess true network reliability
  • Applying lessons from battery-backed DC systems to reveal reserve, redundancy, and risk
  • Identifying weak points early to improve DER integration, maintenance, and service continuity
16:45 - 16:50
Q&A SESSION ON USING DIGITAL TWINS TO STRENGTHEN NETWORK RESILIENCE
16:50 - 17:20
RESERVED PRESENTATION
17:20 - 18:20
NETWORKING DRINKS RECEPTION
DAY 2 :
THURSDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER, 2026
08:00 - 08:30
MORNING REFRESHMENTS
08:30 - 08:40
OPENING ADDRESS
08:40 - 09:10
PANEL DISCUSSION ON GRID-SCALE STORAGE, BESS, AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES DRIVING ENERGY TRANSITION
  • Evaluating whether mandatory Generator Performance Standards for BESS support or constrain Australia's energy transition goals
  • Navigating pre-development capital challenges, emerging M&A trends, and shifting investor priorities in the BESS market
  • Harnessing hybrid storage architectures to address sub-second grid instability as renewable penetration increases beyond battery-only capabilities
  • Unlocking long-duration energy storage technologies beyond lithium-ion and the policy mechanisms needed for commercial viability

Rachel Chiah | SKRINE

Costa Casiou | SPINFRA

Wiehann De Klerk | EnyGy

Shrivardhan Kantharia | Vijai Poly Products Pvt. Ltd.

09:10 - 09:35
POLICY OPTIONS FOR ENABLING ETES AND THE DECARBONISATION OF PROCESS HEAT
Nathan Steggel
Aratherm

Nathan Steggel

Aratherm

  • Benchmarking eTES levelised cost of heat against gas across NEM regions for FY24/25 and FY25/26
  • Stress-testing how tariffs, gas prices, and electricity dynamics shift eTES cost competitiveness
  • Simulating ARENA grants, production credits, and price support effects on the eTES project financing
09:35 - 09:40
Q&A SESSION ON ETES ECONOMICS AND GRID POLICY OPTIONS
09:40 - 10:05
DESIGNING SOCIAL VALUE INTO SMART GRID INVESTMENTS: FROM ASSETS TO COMMUNITY
Laura Stewart
PATHMAKER

Laura Stewart

PATHMAKER

  • Reframing smart grid investment to generate social value alongside reliability and efficiency
  • Embedding social outcomes into planning, governance, delivery, and procurement decisions
  • Enabling collaboration with communities, councils, and First Nations partners on outcomes
  • Aligning technical, financial, and social objectives to deliver durable community benefits
10:05 - 10:10
Q&A SESSION ON DELIVERING COMMUNITY VALUE THROUGH SMART GRID INVESTMENTS
10:10 - 10:30
MORNING COFFEE BREAK IN THE EXHIBIT AREA
10:30 - 11:00
PANEL DISCUSSION ON COMMUNITY MICROGRIDS AND VIRTUAL POWER PLANTS DRIVING FLEXIBILITY AND ENERGY SECURITY
11:00 - 11:25
GETTING THE MARKET AND REGULATORY SETTINGS RIGHT FOR FLEXIBLE DEMAND
Aylin Cunsolo
Ashurst

Aylin Cunsolo

Ashurst

  • Defining flexible demand and quantifying value from load shifting, onsite generation, and storage
  • Examining pricing, tariffs, and market reforms needed to unlock demand-side participation
  • Exploring commercial models, including aggregators, VPPs, and flexibility-as-a-service
11:25 - 11:30
Q&A SESSION ON UNLOCKING FLEXIBLE DEMAND THROUGH MARKET REFORM
11:30 - 11:55
MODERN INDUSTRIAL MICROGRIDS AS A BLUEPRINT FOR THE FUTURE MAIN GRID
Michael Jansen
Power Technology Engineered Solutions

Michael Jansen

Power Technology Engineered Solutions

  • Examining power system strength and control levels within modern industrial microgrid architectures
  • Grounding inverter-dominated grid resilience in the fundamental capabilities and safety requirements needed at scale
  • Profiling the Cadell Almond Orchard cascaded microgrid as a case study in distributed edge control and fault tolerance
11:55 - 12:00
Q&A SESSION ON INDUSTRIAL MICROGRIDS AS A MODEL FOR MAIN GRID DESIGN
12:00 - 12:25
THE FUTURE OF BATTERY: AI-DRIVEN CONTROL FOR GRID-READY STORAGE
Raymond Lim
EnergyHub Malaysia

Raymond Lim

EnergyHub Malaysia

  • Exploring how AI-enhanced BESS units deliver synthetic inertia and sub-second grid response
  • Applying digital twins and reinforcement learning to balance fleet degradation and profitability
  • Highlighting how falling battery costs and grid instability make intelligent BESS central to renewables
12:25 - 12:30
Q&A SESSION ON INTELLIGENT BATTERY SYSTEMS SHAPING THE FUTURE OF GRID INTEGRATION
12:30 - 13:30
NETWORKING LUNCH AND VISITING THE SMART GRIDS EXHIBITION
13:30 - 14:00
PANEL DISCUSSION ON DEFENDING THE DIGITAL GRID THROUGH NEXT-GEN CYBERSECURITY AND RESILIENCE STRATEGIES
14:00 - 14:25
HIGH-EFFICIENCY SOLAR DRIVING AUSTRALIA'S NEXT WAVE OF UTILITY HYBRID INVESTMENT
Andrew Gilhooly
TCL SunPower Global

Andrew Gilhooly

TCL SunPower Global

  • Harnessing high-efficiency solar advances to scale giga-class utility hybrid investment in Australia
  • Validating the certifications and performance standards that determine solar panel longevity at scale
  • Grounding investment decisions in real-life giga-scale utility hybrid solar deployment case studies
14:25 - 14:30
Q&A SESSION ON HIGH-EFFICIENCY SOLAR AND AUSTRALIA'S GIGA-SCALE ENERGY FUTURE
14:30 - 14:55
POWERING AUSTRALIA'S GRID REVENUE STACKING, POLICY SIGNALS, AND TRANSFORMATIONS
Matt Baumgurtel
Hamilton Locke

Matt Baumgurtel

Hamilton Locke

  • Examining how revenue stacking improves battery returns through arbitrage and ancillary services
  • Assessing policy signals shaping storage investment and long-term project bankability in Australia
  • Exploring how DER aggregation and AI support a more flexible and responsive electricity grid
  • Strengthening cybersecurity while balancing sustainability and regulatory demands in grid digitisation
14:55 - 15:00
Q&A SESSION ON POLICY SIGNALS SHAPING AUSTRALIA'S ENERGY FUTURE
15:00 - 15:15
FEEDBACK AND RAFFLE DRAW
15:15 - 15:30
CLOSING REMARKS

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