Speakers for Industry Session
Dean Sharafi
Group Manager – System Management
Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Australia
Dean Sharafi is heading System Management, the operator of South-West Interconnected System in Australia. Dean holds a degree in Applied Physics, a degree in Electrical Engineering and a degree in Business Management. He has over 25 years of experience in power system engineering which includes Power System Protection, High Voltage Systems, Asset Management and Power System and Electricity Market Operation. He is a member of Australian Institute of Management, a Member of Engineers Australia and a senior member the IEEE. Dean has been actively involved with IEEE Power and Energy Society initiatives and Cigre Working Groups over the last decade. Dean is a member of the Governing Board of the IEEE PES, representing Region 10. Dean has published many papers on power system protection, condition monitoring and asset management and power system operations. He also lectures as a Sessional Academic on Power System Earthing at Curtin University in Western Australia.
Teresa Smit
Power System Operations Manager – Western Australia
Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Australia
Teresa Smit is currently the manager of real-time operations, within the system operator of the South West Interconnected System in Australia. She has a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and 22 years experience in power system engineering. Her experience includes power system analysis, interconnected power system operations, real time operations, grid code development and emergency preparedness. A key focus was the recent integration of renewable energy into the South African grid. Teresa has been actively involved in Cigre for the last 10 years and is currently a member of Engineers Australia and the IEEE Power and Energy Society. She has lectured in power system analysis and presented post graduate courses in System Operations.
Steve Edwell
Chair Board of Horizon Power– Western Australia
Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Australia
Steve Edwell is a micro-economist specialising in the power sector. Steve has 25 years of experience in the Australian power sector as a senior Government Official, Regulator and consultant. He currently lives in Western Australia. Steve was a member of the Senior Officials Group with oversight of the establishment of the National Electricity Market on Australia’s east coast ; has led teams to implement power sector reforms in Queensland and Western Australia and designed and implemented a network access code and a capacity market in Western Australia. Steve has 12 years’ experience as a power industry regulator. He was inaugural full time Chair of the Australian Energy Regulator and an Associate Commissioner of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (2005-2010) and was a member of the Governing Body of the Western Australian Economic Regulation Authority from 2006-2017. Steve also has practical experience in the power industry. In 20115-16 he was project director for development of a 150 CCGT in the Pilbara region involving FMG, Roy Hill, TransAlta and Horizon Power. Steve has a particular interest in infrastructure regulation, capacity markets and remote and micro power systems and has undertaken various assignments regarding network access and capacity market design and pricing . He is currently leading a project for the Western Australian Treasury Department on capacity mix forecasting and integration of renewable energy. Steve also has widespread experience with Government owned businesses operating in the energy sector. In May 2018 he was appointed Chair of the Board of Horizon Power which serves the world’s largest and most sparsely populated utility territory across a wide range of terrains and climate zones.
Dr. R. Nagaraja
IEEE PES R-10 West Chapter Representative, Managing Director, PRDC, India
Dr. R. Nagaraja is the founder and Managing Director of M/s. Power Research & Development Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, INDIA. He has vast experience of 30 years in the field of power system simulation and consulting. His specialization includes Power System Analysis, Operations, Power Engineering Education and Power System Protection. He has conducted several power system studies and was a key contributor in the formulation of the wind energy grid code in India. He has worked extensively in the area of renewable energy integration and was instrumental in guiding the utilities to overcome the RE penetration issues. He is the architecture and chief mentor for the design and development of the MiPower – Power system analysis software package widely used by Electric utilities, Industries, Consultants and Educational Institutions for power system analysis and research purposes. Dr. R. Nagaraja has worked in the smart grid sphere and has guided the development of tools as part of SCADA and EMS in power industry. Dr. R. Nagaraja is Senior Member of IEEE and currently chapter representative for Power Engineering Society (PES) for R-10 West. He has contributed to IEEE by holding various positions and also as Chair for IEEE PES, Bangalore Chapter. He has served in the capacity of Co-Chair in the first edition of World Utility Summit held in 2016 and as Chair in WUS-2018.
Ernest Navaratnam
Group Chief Executive Officer of Cinergi SEA Sdn Bhd
Ernest Navaratnam is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Cenergi SEA Sdn Bhd (“Cenergi”) having been appointed in June 2017. Prior to this appointment, he was the Deputy Executive Director of Cenergi since November 2016. Cenergi is a Malaysian and Southeast Asian clean energy developer and investor in several key verticals such as biomass, biogas, energy efficiency, solar and mini-hydro projects. Ernest was previously the Senior Vice President of Malakoff Corporation Berhad. During his tenure in Malakoff, he was involved in Malakoffs international investments like Shuaibah IWPP in Saudi Arabia, Dhofar Power in Oman, Tlemcen Water Desalination Project in Algeria and Central Electricity Generation in Jordan. Ernest has been involved in the power generation industry since 1995. He has a BSc. ln Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University at Kingston, Canada.