HÅKAN AGNEVALL

Wärtsilä
President & CEO

Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation, total efficiency and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers.

In his most recent role before joining Wärtsilä, he was the President of Volvo Buses and member of the Volvo Group Management.

In his earlier career Håkan has held senior management positions with ABB and Bombardier in the fields of power systems, robotics and industrial automation. He has extensive international experience, having worked and lived in the U.S., Canada, Thailand, Brazil, Switzerland and Sweden.

Håkan holds an MSc in Engineering Physics from the Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden paralleled with a BSc in Business Administration at the University of Lund, Sweden. He also holds an MBA from IMD, Switzerland.

Jussi Heikkinen

Wärtsilä
Director, Growth & Development, Americas

Jussi Heikkinen is the leader of Market Development and Marketing for Wartsila Energy Solutions (former power plant) business in the Americas. He is currently based in Houston, TX, USA.

Mr. Heikkinen has 35 years of professional experience in Wärtsilä Power Plant business in various managerial positions. He has lived in Finland, Sweden and USA. He has developed several new businesses for Wärtsilä through the years and has had a leader role in developing the skill set and approach on modelling power systems and quantifying the value of flexibility in power systems.

Mr Heikkinen holds a MSc degree in Energy and Power Plant technology.

Larry Holloway

Kansas Power Pool
Assistant General Manager – Operations

Larry joined the Kansas Power Pool (KPP) in 2009 as Operations Manager and was promoted to Assistant General Manager – Operations in 2014. Larry is responsible for managing the operations of the KPP, including the coordination of KPP load and resources in the SPP Integrated Market, acquisition of generation resources and transmission service, cost and load forecasting and development of the KPP budget and member rates, KPP member capacity accreditation testing and compliance, and participation in the Southwest Power Pool. Prior to joining the KPP, Larry was employed by the Kansas Corporation Commission as Chief of Energy Operations where he primarily served as the KCC’s electric utility policy expert. Before that Larry spent 12 years in the nuclear power industry working in nuclear power operation, construction, and startup. Larry holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, from the University of Kansas, as well as a Master of Engineering Management degree from Washington State University. Larry is also a registered Civil and Mechanical Professional Engineer in the State of Oregon.

Risto Paldanius

Wärtsilä
Vice President, Americas

Risto Paldanius brings over 20 years of energy and power generation experience to Wärtsilä. For the last decade, Risto advanced the flexible generation energy business strategy and development in the Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia markets. He played a key role in the Greensmith Energy acquisition and integration with Wärtsilä Energy Business positioning the company as the leading global energy system integrator. He has also lead the global Business Development and proposal team for Wärtsilä Energy Storage and Optimization unit. In his current role he leads Wärtsilä Energy in Americas Area.
Enthusiastic ambassador of 100% Renewable Future enabled by Flexible Power Generation and Energy Storage!

Wade Shafer

IHS Markit
Director—North America Power and Renewables

Wade Shafer researches North American power markets and electric power decarbonization strategies. Based in Washington, DC, he analyzes power market fundamentals and follows policy, technology, and generation trends. His decarbonization strategy work includes net zero generation portfolios, resource adequacy in low-carbon power systems, hydrogen for seasonal energy storage, electrification, and the implications of electric vehicles for the power grid. Utilities, power plant developers, energy and automotive companies, and private equity firms use his work and seek his advice for resource and strategic planning, generation asset valuations, and public policy. Wade holds a BS from The George Washington University and an MS from Johns Hopkins University. He has more than a decade of experience working in electric power and other infrastructure industries.

Dan Shelledy

Wärtsilä
Senior Business Development Manager, Energy Solutions

Kate Sherwood

Wärtsilä
Business Director, Energy Storage

Kate Sherwood is Wärtsilä Energy’s North America business director for energy storage, providing market-leading hardware, software, and services solutions to large-scale project clients. She has over 20 years of general management, sales, and marketing experience, with a proven track record of accelerating growth and profit. Prior to joining Wärtsilä, Ms. Sherwood served as Vice President of Sales-North America at Centrica Business Solutions, P&L leader at 3M, and spent over a decade in the energy storage, solar, & demand response industries, holding leadership roles with Advanced Microgrid Solutions, SolarCity, SunPower, and Voltus. Prior to her work in the energy industry, Ms. Sherwood spent over a decade in finance, marketing, and strategy consulting with the U.S. Department of Justice, Sun Microsystems, and Accenture. Ms. Sherwood holds a MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. cum laude from George Mason University. She is based in Austin, Texas.

Luke Witmer

Wärtsilä
General Manager, Data Science, Energy Storage and Optimization

As a kid growing up in the heart of Africa, energy access and reliability could not be taken for granted. During the 5-month city-wide power outage caused by a fire at the local power plant, solar powered DC lighting enabled Luke’s family to maintain their quality of life in the heart of darkness. In 2014, Luke earned a PhD in solar energy engineering from the Pennsylvania State University. After a year and half with a data fusion startup company in the Washington D.C. area, Luke found his way to Wärtsilä where he has been ever since. In his current role, Luke manages the R&D of automated hybrid power plant dispatch systems for island grids and autobidding systems for merchant electricity markets, plus leads energy and power system simulation efforts.

Cassandra Heller

Wärtsilä
Senior Business Development Manager, Energy Storage and Optimization, Americas

Cassandra Heller is the Senior Business Development Manager with Wartsila Energy Solutions, focused on Energy Storage and Optimization in the America’s region. She has 15 years of experience in the global energy Industry, focusing on various aspects over the years such as thermal power, network distribution management, and offshore oil & gas before moving into the energy storage and renewables sector a few years ago. She has managed projects in many global markets over the years, however a large portion of her experience has been based in Latin America with a strong presence also in the US.

In her current role, she supports all Energy Storage and Optimization projects including hybrid systems paired with renewable and thermal assets, as well as standalone and islanded systems. She is passionate about lighting the path to higher penetration of renewable energy while making systems more resilient and reliable in today’s changing markets and climates. She holds a Corporate MBA from Florida International University with undergraduate degrees in International Business, and languages.

Ryan S. Kennedy

Wärtsilä
Business Development Manager

Ryan Kennedy manages sales and business development of power generation assets throughout the Midwest region of the United States and has 10 years of experience in the energy industry. Prior to joining Wartsila in 2017, Ryan worked for Kiewit as a Business Development Manager and was responsible for sales in the Midwest region of the United States. Ryan holds an MBA in Finance from UMKC and is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps..

Calvin McSweeny-Pourtalet

RWE Renewables
Lead Energy Storage Modeler

Past experience includes working on enhancements for utility-grade capacity expansion models while at the EDF Innovation Lab (Bay Area) and pursued an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

Jessica Harrison

Midcontinent Independent System Operator
Senior Director of Research and Development, Market and Grid Strategy

Jessica Harrison is the Senior Director of Research and Development (R&D) in the Market and Grid Strategy division of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). In this role, she coordinates MISO’s R&D policies, objectives and initiatives. Her focus includes pursuing R&D initiatives and partnerships, researching emerging technologies and supporting the integration of future grid resources. Ms. Harrison holds dual Master of Science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Technology and Policy and in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the University of Michigan.

Clif Lange

STEC
Manager of Wholesale Marketing and QSE

Clif Lange holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Houston – Victoria and has 20 years of experience in the electric industry. He began his career with STEC in February 2000 as a Qualified Scheduling Entity (QSE) Operator where he learned the basics of wholesale market function and resource operation before becoming the Assistant Manager of Wholesale Marketing and QSE in 2006. In 2015, he was promoted to the position of Manager of Wholesale Marketing and QSE. He is responsible for designing and implementing strategies related to wholesale electric markets and he also manages natural gas procurement and hedging strategies. He oversees QSE operations at STEC, which includes both day-ahead and real-time functions, as well as the financial settlement of all wholesale market transactions, natural gas transactions, and purchase power agreements. He is heavily involved in the ERCOT stakeholder process and is currently a standing member of the Wholesale Market Subcommittee and is the vice-chair of the Technical Advisory Committee which advises the ERCOT Board of Directors on matters pertaining to reliability as well as wholesale and retail market operation.

Sushil Purohit

Wärtsilä
President

Sushil Purohit is the President of Wärtsilä & EVP. As a member of the Global Energy Business Management Team, Sushil brings an innovative expertise in assessing profit and loss of new energy infrastructure and services. He will start our event with remarks about the resilience and sustainability built into the power of Wärtsilä’s smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions.

Yayoi Sekine

BNEF
Head of Decentralized Energy

Brett Seube

Entergy Services
Manager, Capital Projects

Jon Rodriguez

Wärtsilä
Energy Business Director, Engine Power Plants