Smart Grid Ireland 2025 Innovation Conference Speakers
Ajay Kumar Sutrakar - Manager - Biomethane Development Office
Ajay Kumar Sutrakar serves as the Manager of the Biomethane Development Office (BDO) under the "Biomethane for Carbon and Community" (BCC) initiative. Co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the EU Just Transition Fund (2021-2027), the BCC project collaborates with the Tipperary County Council, the Technological University of the Shannon, the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation, and the Tipperary Energy Agency. This initiative positions Ireland at the forefront of biomethane development, decarbonization, and community-focused energy solutions, specifically targeting the Tipperary Decarbonising Zone (DZ) and the wider Just Transition Fund region.
With nearly two decades of expertise in project management and a commitment to advancing the energy transition, Ajay brings substantial experience in bioeconomy, circular economy, and renewable energy innovations. His academic credentials include a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Government Engineering College, Rewa, an M.Tech in Design Engineering from IIT Delhi, and an MBA from Trinity Business School, Dublin. Previously, he led the Hydrogen, Biomass, Waste to Energy, and Combustion Division at NETRA (NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance) at NTPC Limited, India’s largest energy conglomerate.
Allegra Reister - Advanced Energy - Google
Allegra Reister leads software pilots, partnerships, and investments for Google's Advanced Energy Team to support clean energy and grid resiliency goals. Prior to Google, she worked at startups in the energy and healthcare sectors and was a Technology Consultant at Accenture. Allegra holds an M.S. in Sustainability Science from Columbia University and a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California.
Alex Houston - Network Operations Manager - Northern Ireland Electricity Networks (NIE Networks)
Bio to Follow
Bevin Cody - Manager - Strategy, Stakeholder Engagement, Innovation & Electrification - ESB Networks
Bevin Cody leads ESB Networks’ Strategy, Stakeholder Engagement, Innovation and Electrification team where she is responsible for overseeing the development of future focused solutions to meet the needs of customers and supporting the delivery of ESB Networks’ Networks for Net Zero strategy. She has worked in the electricity sector in the UK and Ireland for over 20 years in a range of corporate communications and strategy roles. Prior to taking up her current role, she was the Corporate Reputation Manager for ESB Group. She has a BA in Politics and Business Studies and an MBA from Trinity College Dublin and has participated in the Corporate Affairs Academy at the Säid Business School in Oxford University.
Bob Barbour - CEO - Centre for Competitiveness
Colm Byrne - Director - Glas Energy
Born out of the desire to tackle energy related carbon emissions and an instinctive passion to play a leading role in the emerging distributed energy landscape, Colm Byrne founded Glas Energy in 2002 in Kilkenny, Ireland. As an entrepreneur with over 23 years industry experience in renewable energy, Colm has built up an extensive understanding of the energy landscape including generation, management, distribution and the storage of energy.
Colm has been instrumental in the delivery of almost 2000 projects incorporating all renewable sources, energy storage and energy efficiency/management.
Alongside Mark Dwan, Colm co-founded the not-for-profit organisation DaysE – Donate as you save/supply Energy in 2014. The focus if DaysE is to deliver impact through energy as a medium. Through collaboration with DaysE, energy consumers can donate the value of their ‘energy waste’/energy credits or their excess electricity to ‘not-for-profit’ beneficiaries. These funds and/or units of energy can be used to offset energy those that need it most. For example DaysE is currently raising funds for its ‘Power For Palestine’ initiative providing portable solar powered power banks for Palestinian refugees.
DaysE has also recently launched Irealnds first Community Virtual Power Plant (CVPP) in Graiguenamanagh and is preparing to launch this nationally.
Darren Hanniffy - Director - OutForm Consulting
Darren Hanniffy is a Chartered Engineer with twenty-five years of experience in designing and implementing complex engineering, public utilities, telecoms, health, and humanitarian projects globally. Throughout his career, Darren has held various director-level leadership positions and has successfully led multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams in Central America, Europe, Africa, and Asia
Darren is known for being a results-oriented leader with a proven ability to deliver sustained change within budget and to agreed standards across multiple business environments.
A Director at OutForm Consulting and throughout his career, he has managed several transformation projects, employing collaboration and Lean practices with organisations such as Gas Networks Ireland, Uisce Éireann (Irish Water), Northumbrian Water, Cadent Gas, Irish Rail, and SSE.
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David Sutton - Strategic Business Development Manager - BnN
David is BnM's Strategic Partnerships Manager. He is responsible for developing the partnerships necessary to drive BnM’s energy pipeline, with particular emphasis on Eco-Energy Parks.
Prior to joining BnM, David was VP of Strategy at CRH plc. Previously, he worked across a range of sectors including utilities, nuclear and renewables. David is past Chair of the Energy & Climate Action Committee of Engineers Ireland. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from University College Dublin and a bachelors degree in engineering from University of Galway.
Donna Kearney - Principal Engineer - EirGrid
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Elisa Wood - Energy Changemakers
She co-founded Microgrid Knowledge and was editor-in-chief and co-host of the publication's popular conference series from 2014 to 2023.
In addition, she co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she led a team of energy writers who produced content for energy companies and advocacy organizations for two decades.
She has been writing about energy for more than three decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals and mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.
Fergus O Toole - Manager - Active Customers and Smart Metering - Commission for Regulation of Utilities(CRU)
Fergus O’Toole is the Manager for Active Customers and Smart Metering at the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. Fergus is responsible for the implementation of aspects of EU Directives in relation to Active Customers and Energy Communities as well as new market services, including energy sharing. Fergus has over 15 years’ experience in retail energy markets, managing customer protection frameworks and competition as well as having spent four years as Deputy Director for Consumer Protection in the CCPC.
Gerry Noone - Flexibility Business Development Manager, DMSO Design Team - ESB Networks
Gerry Noone, Flexibility Business Development Manager with DMSO, ESB Networks. Responsible for delivering uptake of the flexibility products delivered by Distribution Markets and System Operation. Previously held several commercial roles within ESB and ESB Networks including Product Strategy and Sales and Marketing across Telecoms and Electricity sectors.
Gloria Callinan - Project Support Officer Sustainable Energy Skills - Technological University of the Shannon
In August 2021, Gloria Callinan joined the TUS Sustainable Development Research Institute, based in the Thurles campus as a project support officer. Gloria works on a variety of European funded research and development projects, focusing on sustainable energy skills. The focus of our work in SDRI is sustainable development and in particular Gloria works on construction skills projects such as Construction Blueprint and Build up Skills Ireland 2030 and on energy communitites projects such as POWER-E-COM. Thematically construction skills projects can fall into a number of categories such as energy efficiency, renewables, circular economy and digitisation and decarbonisation of the construction sector and built environment in Ireland.
Collaboration with European partners and industry stakeholder engagement are important aspects of the work in the SDRI and so on any given day meetings, events and conferences or research workshops, desk based research, interviews and writing reports called deliverables are part of the job. Working on new proposals and responding to funding calls with needs, barriers and challenges identified from our research is also an important aspect of our work, so that research can translate into impact and action on the ground for the target groups we work with.
Dr. James Young - Decarbonisation & Sustainability Engineer - Centre for Competitiveness
James graduated from Queens University, Belfast with a First Class Honours with Masters in Chemical Engineering (2015), before completing a PhD on a part-time basis (2020) alongside a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) funded by Innovate UK for 3 years (2015 – 2018).
James’ area of specialisation is associated with the valorisation of waste from agricultural and the agri-food sector. As part of this work James has researched, designed, installed and managed processes within existing businesses and built new businesses, treating these waste streams to produce nutraceutical products for human consumption on a global scale. This has widened to include the utilisation of waste from other sectors and understanding how these can be re-purposed by a safe and feasible method.
With the onset of net zero targets and the need for decarbonisation, James has focused his work towards the decarbonisation and emission reduction of agriculture and how energy can be produced from agricultural waste streams with recovery of other co-products. His goal is to demonstrate that sustainability and decarbonisation is possible through interlinking of activities on a cross-sectoral approach, which he is in the process of proving as technical lead within the first Zero Carbon Co-operative (ZCC) in the UK and Ireland.
During his career to date James has worked with local and global companies in sectors such as accounting, manufacturing and engineering. He has engaged and lobbied government locally and nationally and has published research in renowned peer-reviewed journals.
Joe Sheridan - Community Power
Bio to Follow
Joel McCreery - Future Networks Engineer - NIE Networks
Joel McCreery is a Future Networks Engineer at NIE Networks. Joel has been responsible for the delivery of NIE Networks’ Low Voltage Active Network Management and FLEX innovation projects. He is involved in a range of other initiatives integrating new approaches and technologies to NIE Networks, aiming to improve network visibility, operational systems and TSO-DSO coordination. Currently, Joel is focused on flexibility market development and enabling the transition of flexibility services into day to day operations.
Kent Narvhus Oksdøl - Data Platform Sales Leader - GE Vernova
Kent Narvhus Oksdøl leads EMEA sales for GE Vernova’s GridOS Data Fabric, the first data platform built for full grid orchestration. He works closely with utilities to modernize their data infrastructure, enabling flexibility, resilience, and faster progress toward decarbonization. With a strong track record of turning complex technology into business value, Kent brings deep expertise in digital platforms and data strategy. His mission is to help grid operators leverage data as a strategic asset in the energy transition.
Layton Hill - VP of Strategy for UK&I - Schneider Electric
Layton Hill is the VP of Strategy for UK&I at Schneider Electric, a seasoned commercial leader with a deep understanding of market dynamics and future trends. With a rich background spanning product development, go-to-market strategy, marketing, sales leadership, and general management, Layton brings a holistic perspective to the evolving energy landscape.
Notably, his previous roles as Director of eMobility and Prosumer equip him with unique insights into the integration of decentralized energy resources and the critical role of digital solutions in unlocking a greener future. Layton is passionate about leveraging technology and strategic foresight to accelerate the energy transition.
Mark McGranaghan - EPRI Fellow - EPRI Europe
Mark McGranaghan is a Fellow at EPRI, located at the EPRI Europe office in Dublin. He received his BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toledo (Ohio) in 1977 and 1978, respectively. He has authored more than 70 technical papers and articles on topics ranging from power quality to insulation coordination. Mark has been a leader in the areas of power quality, development of the smart grid, and distributed resource integration for over 20 years. He is an IEEE Fellow and in 2014 received the Charles Proteus Steinmetz Award for his expertise and dedication to power engineering standards development.
Malcolm Hay - Commercial Director - GlobalLogic
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Paul Schütze - Senior Project Development Manager - Bord na Móna
Paul is a Senior Project Development Manager at Bord na Móna, where he leads the commercial development of the Edenderry Eco Energy Park. This project focuses on advancing renewable energy initiatives at the Edenderry site, including green hydrogen production, biogenic carbon capture, large energy user facilitation, and other sustainable developments. Under Paul’s leadership, the team secured Ireland’s first planning permission for a green hydrogen project.
Before joining Bord na Móna, Paul worked with EirGrid as a Senior Project Manager, connecting various renewable energy projects to the national electricity grid. He also held the role of Project Development Manager in the Engineering Team at Indaver Ireland.
Sarah O'Suilleabhain - Dalkey Hillside SEC
Sarah is a climate activist and has recently completed a masters in climate change at DCU. Her research titled "Irish Communities Owning Energy: What's Stopping Them?" explored the barriers facing communities hoping to develop community owned renewable energy projects. She leads a number of climate action projects in her local community, including Dalkey Hillside Sustainable Energy Community, and has spent 6 years on the board of Friends of the Earth Ireland.
Sam Alexander - Chairman of Grid and Technical Service - CoolPlanet
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Shane Predergast - Programme Manager - SEAI
Shane worked for the NSAI where he became an expert in automotive homologation. His current role for SEAI is as Programme Manager for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure & Policy, Mobility and Smart Networks.
Timmy Dooley TD - Minister for State - Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment
Timmy Dooley is Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Fisheries and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with special responsibility for the Marine. He was appointed to these roles on 29 January 2025.
Tim Hatton - Director of Intelligence Enterprise - GlobalLogic
