Speakers Profile Laying the Groundwork for Offshore WindBuilding the Grid and Designing the Market for the Renewable Era

in Japanese

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  Peter Markussen
  Director, Energinet Denmark

  Peter Markussen is Director at Energinet, the state owned Danish Transmission and System Operator. Peter focuses on international cooperation and sharing of Danish experience with integration of renewable energy to accelerate the global green transition. Peter Markussen has more than 20 years of experience with the energy sector in Northern Europe and has deep insights on electricity markets and energy system development. Before his employment at Energinet, he has hold different management positions at a Danish electricity generator. His educational background is a master's degree in political science.

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  Bo Normark
  Industrial Strategy Executive, EIT InnoEnergy

  Bo Normark has a long industrial experience in the power system area and the related industrial implications of energy transition in commercial, public, private, and policy environments. He has over 30 years of experience in ABB where he served in many managerial roles including global responsibility for High Voltage DC (HVDC), Flexible AC Transmission (FACTS) and High Voltage Cables. The last 15 years he has been working with EIT InnoEnergy building new industries in the renewable sector. In this capacity he was instrumental in creating the European Battery Alliance with a strong focus on sustainability and supply chain topics. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and Dr.h.c. in the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. In 2024 he was awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences Gold Medal for his efforts in smart grids and battery systems as he has had a central impact on the development of energy storage and electrification in Sweden and Europe. He has been, and still is, a driving force in inspiring Swedish and international technology development in electric power and electrification.

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  Atsushi Nishioka
  Country M/S Manager, HVDC Japan, Hitachi Energy

  Atsushi Nishioka joined Hitachi in 1991, where he was involved in the development of Adjustable Speed Pumped Storage Hydroelectric power plant systems and other power generation applications. He moved to transmission and distribution systems in 2010. In 2015, he became CEO of the joint venture between Hitachi and ABB (at that time) focused on HVDC business. Following Hitachi's acquisition of ABB’s power grid business and the establishment of Hitachi Energy, he joined Hitachi Energy Japan and has been engaged in HVDC project development in Japan.

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  Teruo Ohno
  General Manager, Transmission and Distribution IT & OT Systems

  Teruo Ohno graduated from the University of Tokyo and joined the Tokyo Electric Power Company in 1996. He obtained MS at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (EECS) in 2005 and PhD at Aalborg University in Denmark (Energy Technology) in 2012. He was responsible for the analysis of HVDC systems in the NEDO “Next Generation Offshore HVDC System R&D Project (FY2015-2019)”. From 2023, he works at Transmission and Distribution IT & OT Systems LLC where he is in charge of developing the next generation control center system which optimizes the nationwide balancing control. He is the co-author of “Power System Transients” (CRC Press), “Cable System Transients” (IEEE-Wily), and “Electromagnetic Transients in Large HV Cable Networks” (IET).

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  Junji Shimazaki
  Manager Marine Technology, Equinor Japan

  He holds an MSc in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from Osaka University. After graduating, he began his career as a structural engineer at MODEC, where he was primarily involved in the structural and naval design of Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) systems, as well as the concept design of floating offshore wind power systems. He later relocated to Brazil, taking on the role of project engineer responsible for the operation and maintenance of FPSOs.
  He is currently with Equinor, working on offshore wind farm development projects. He is responsible for bottom-fixed and floating foundation design, construction and installation planning, and operation/maintenance planning. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Japan, specializing in Marine and Ocean engineering.

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  Hiroshi Takahashi
  Professor,  Faculty of Social Sciences, Hosei University

  Hiroshi Takahashi specializes in public policy and energy policy. He obtained a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, MA, USA and a doctoral degree from the University of Tokyo, and currently serves as Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Hosei University. His former career includes Deputy Director at IT Policy Office of Cabinet Secretariat, Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo, and Research Fellow at Fujitsu Research Institute, and Professor at Tsuru University. He has actively participated in the policy formation of Japan’s electricity system reform and renewable energy policy as a member of the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, a special advisor to the Cabinet Office and a member of Regulatory Reform for renewable energy deployment. He is the author of "International Political Economy of Energy Transition" (2021, Nihon Hyoron Sha), "Energy Policy Studies" (2017, Iwanami Shoten) and "Market Liberalization of Electric Utilities" (2011, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shuppansha), among others.

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  Masaki Higurashi
  Director, New and Renewable Energy Division, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) 

  Coming soon

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  Toshiro Kataoka
  Deputy Director, Business Planning Office, TEPCO Power Grid

  Joined Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in 1999. He was primarily engaged in power system operations, including power system analysis, and later held positions related to planning, regulatory systems, and contracts. From 2019 to 2021, he was seconded to the Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators (OCCTO). He assumed his current position in 2023.

  　　

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  Kenichi Matsumoto
  Chairman, Volue

  Founder and Chairman of Japanese subsidiary of Norwegian company Volue specialized in power price forecasting and power business optimization.
  He has worked in the energy sector for four decades with experience in various businesses ranging from investment, project financing, construction and operations optimization for oil & gas, upstream to downstream LNG, refining, chemicals, as well as power and various infrastructure projects. At Volue, he is focusing on how efficiently the European experience and digital solutions can be introduced to Japan so that it can achieve Net Zero by 2050. 

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  Shuji Mayama
  Chief Engineer, Power Cable Project Engineering Division, Sumitomo Electric Industries

  Joined Sumitomo Electric Industries in 1989 and has been engaged in the research, development, and implementation of power transmission systems. In recent years, he has focused on the development and construction of large-scale wind power transmission and substation projects, as well as subsea DC transmission cable projects.

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  Hisafumi Manabe
  President & CEO, Marubeni Offshore Wind Development

  He joined Marubeni Corporation in 1998 and has served as President and CEO of Marubeni Offshore Wind Development Corporation since 2020.
  With extensive experience in offshore wind power, he has led numerous key projects, including the Fukushima Floating Offshore Wind Farm demonstration, the Kitakyushu NEDO Floating Offshore Wind Farm, and the development of the Ossian Project off the east coast of Scotland. He has also been instrumental in the development of the Akita Noshiro Offshore Wind Farm, the Southern Akita Offshore Floating Wind Farm demonstration, and the Yamagata Yuza Offshore Wind Farm.

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  Teruyuki Ohno
  Executive Director, Renewable Energy Institute

  Teruyuki Ohno joined Renewable Energy Institute in 2013. He has actively participated in the policy formation of Japan’s climate change measures as a member of national and local governments' committees. Before joining the Institute, he was Director General of the Bureau of Environment, Tokyo Metropolitan Government for three years, covering a broad range of environmental issues including energy, climate change, waste management, pollution control, natural environment, and sustainable development. His notable achievements include the “No Dirty Diesel Vehicle Strategy in Tokyo” which reduced the air pollution and PM emissions, and implementation of Japan’s first Cap-and-Trade Program in Tokyo in 2008, involving the industries and successfully building a grand consensus. His active leadership in promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency led to the formation of the foundation of Tokyo’s energy policy. He is also a Board Member of WWF Japan. He received the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award from the California Air Resources Board in 2014. His publications include "Energy Strategies of Municipality Governments" (Iwanami, 2013, Japanese) among others.

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  Mika Ohbayashi
  Director, Renewable Energy Institute

  Mika Ohbayashi is Director at Renewable Energy Institute since its foundation in August 2011. Before joining the Institute, from 2010 to 2011, she worked in Abu Dhabi for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) as Policy and Project Regional Manager for Asia Oceania. Prior to that, she worked at the British Embassy to Japan as Climate Change Project Advisor from 2008 to 2009, and served as Director at the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies from 2000 to 2008. She started her career in the energy field by joining the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center in 1992. In 2017, she was awarded the ISES Global Leadership Award in Advancing Solar Energy Policy - in honour of Hermann Scheer by the International Solar Energy Society.

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  Seiichiro Kimura
  Principal Researcher, Renewable Energy Institute

  Seiichiro Kimura (Ph.D., P.E.jp) joined Renewable Energy Institute in 2018. Specializes in cost-benefit analysis, techno-economic analysis with market penetrating simulation in the energy system. He started his career at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2004, and was engaged in development of hydrogen energy until 2010. After working for International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research of Kyushu University, he became an associate at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management between 2014 and 2018, where he was engaged in research on interconnecting electric power systems with the aim of increasing energy self-sufficiency through its own resources and eventually becoming a nation capable of suppling energy to other countries (energy-exporting nation). He received B.Sc. from Tokyo University of Science, M.Sc. from Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Ph.D. from Kyushu University.
  At Renewable Energy Institute, his research focuses on studies related to electricity grids, storage batteries, power systems and international grid connections. He has also been responsible for formulating visualized charts and maps for the Power Supply/Demand and Power Flow of Interregional Interconnections data on the Institute’s website.

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