The energy industry is facing multiple challenges. Today, climate change is taken as a given fact. Meanwhile the likes of China, India and other emerging countries have unprecedented power needs in a World that is already facing constrained energy resources. How will the world cope in this scenario? What are the strategies to address the ever increasing demand? Is the regulated or deregulated market model best suited to reliably meet this power demand?

Moderator:
Jeff Sterba
Chairman,
PNM Resources, USA

Shigemi Tamura
Advisor
Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc., Japan

Is nuclear power the best way to meet the ever-increasing energy needs of the planet, or do alternative energy sources provide a viable alternative? In recent years this has been a hugely contentious debate. Although the perception of the public on Nuclear Power has changed dramatically from unfavorable just a few years ago to viable in the advent of climate change, there is still unease on this because of safety concerns.

Moderator:
Roy Adair,
CEO
Senoko Power, Singapore

Myth or reality? The final judgment is still out there. Providers of Clean Coal Technology – from Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS), to Coal Washing, to Electrostatic Precipitation – says the technology is here and viable. Meanwhile environmental groups say that this is all “greenwash” because emissions and wastes are not avoided but are transferred from one waste stream to another. Experts weigh in on this.

Moderator:
Junior Isles
Editor-in-Chief
The Energy Industry Times , United Kingdom

With soaring fuel costs, mergers and acquisitions and an aging workforce – power utilities live in an environment that requires strategies to drive down costs while increasing the ability to monitor and control utility assets. Technology providers say smart grids are the solution – delivering efficiencies and economies of scale that promise to bring value and reduce costs. However, investment outlay is huge and interoperability remains a big issue.

Moderator:
Mark McGranaghan
Director
Power Delivery & Markets Sector, EPRI, USA

Casinos, skyscrapers, high-tech manufacturers are some examples of customer businesses to which the expectation of 100% power supply reliability is a need. What kinds of systems and technologies are available in the market that can help electricity companies deliver such promises? What kind of predictive maintenance has to be implemented? Effective energy efficiency measures can save at least one power plant in a great majority of the developed countries. Is this true? Intelligent buildings and systems are new trends in the market; are they in fact cost effective?

Moderator:
Mark Lauby
Manager
Reliability Assessments, NERC, USA

One man’s crisis is another man’s opportunity, as the saying goes. Would this apply to climate change as well? Certainly the renewable energy sector as well as the nuclear generation sector are seeing demand that is exceptional, but will the public reap any benefits on this in terms of lower power bills? Is there a way to generate a “greener” kind of power without burdening the public further?

Moderator:
Joe Laykin
Secretary
General Independent Power Producers Forum, Hong Kong SAR China

The private sector has shown diminishing interest in power sector investment in recent years due to poor return on investment. But now with unprecedented interest in the power sector, certain segments in the industry have changed their outlook on this and foresee opportunities like never before. But risk remains due to the nature of the industry: the setting of tariffs remains in the hands of government regulators and as governments change - contractual enforcement and commitments are at the mercy of new regimes.

Moderator:
James Locke
Project Director
Mott Macdonald, United Kingdom
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