Ara Ake EDB Challenge: Learnings & insights
An event discussing the learnings and insights from the Ara Ake EDB Challenge
As Aotearoa New Zealand moves towards a low-emission energy future, the Ara Ake Electricity Distribution Business (EDB) Challenge was initiated by Ara Ake to bring together electricity distribution businesses and innovators to collaboratively tackle decarbonisation challenges.
This challenge kicked off in 2022, with Ara Ake working closely with EDBs to identify and articulate their specific problems, conducting a global search for innovative solutions to pilot on New Zealand's electricity distribution networks.
The challenge addressed the complexities of investing in, managing, and operating electricity networks to support New Zealand's decarbonisation goals while ensuring a reliable and equitable electricity distribution service. The outcome was eight EDBs partnering with four global innovators, committing to pilot projects.
After a year of testing, the pilots are complete, and their findings were presented at this event.
Programme
Presentation one:
- Mathias Brand | Future Constraints Team Leader, Unison
- Yuyin Kueh | Power Systems Lead, Orion
- Brendan Banfield | CEO and Founder, Gridsight
Presentation two:
- Sean Osborne-Curtis | Technology and Innovation Engineer, Powerco
Presentation three:
- Dr Allan Miller | Director, ANSA
- Renato Bitac | Network Planning Manager, Aurora Energy
- Farzeen Faiz | Power Systems Engineer, Orion
Presentation four:
- Astad Kapadia | Head of DSO Strategy, Counties Energy
- Pablo Arboleya | CTO & Cofounder, Plexigrid