On September 9th the 24th World Energy Congress kicked off in Abu Dhabi under the theme “energy for prosperity”. The congress entailed a four-day interactive programme where delegates attended plenary sessions, panel discussions, debates and workshops, centred around the critical issues currently faced by the energy industry.

The Young Energy Professionals Network is aiming to grow its currently sparse membership in the South Island and could establish a Christchurch branch. Co-chair Mark Todoroff says there is "not much" of a YEPN presence in the South Island at present.

This year, the World Energy Council received more applications than ever before: 241 of them! This is an increase of nearly 40% compared to last year and a clear sign of the increasing visibility and importance of the programme.

Joshua Riddiford, Energy News 
Industry leaders including Transpower's grid development general manager Stephen Jay, outgoing Electricity Authority chief executive Carl Hansen and Contact Energy's regulatory affairs and government relations head Louise Griffin have volunteered to mentor the sector's younger professionals. The Young Energy Professional Network's new programme randomly matches mentees, who sign up to the programme, with a mentor in their city to meet that month. The mentor and mentee will then organise their own meetings.

YEPN were invited to present at the 2018 downstream conference. Presenters Dr Daniel Gnoth (Senior Data Scientist, Powerco), Margie McCrone (Regulatory Advisor, Genesis), and Jonny Parker (Energy Manager, Victoria University) delivered a talk focusing on the soft human skills and connectivity young professionals may need to take the reins of a rapidly changing industry. Environmental challenges, machine learning, electrification of transport, and increased consumer desire for grid independence will lay new challenges to the professionals of tomorrow. So could it be the human traits of creativity, continued learning coupled with professional connectivity that allow us to adapt to future challenges?

The country's future energy leaders are being sought by the BusinessNZ Energy Council. There are 100 Future Energy Leaders worldwide chosen by the World Energy Council and the BEC is seeking nominations from New Zealand professionals by 5pm Monday. Bennet Tucker, recently appointed FEL-100 board secretary, says becoming a future energy leader provides exposure to global energy professionals and issues and ideas with international resonance.

The BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) is delighted with the appointment of Bennet Tucker from Transpower, a member of the New Zealand Young Energy Professionals Network, to the WEC board for global future energy leaders, the FEL-100.

The Young Energy Professionals Network aims to have an autonomous chapter in Auckland by September as it looks to grow its membership in 2018. The group has about 120 members. Most of these are based in Wellington but YEPN co-chair and Powerco gas asset strategy manager Nicolas Vessiot says the group wants to reach those outside of the capital city.

The ‘3Ds’ – the global energy sector is being transformed by three trends that are impacting demand and supply at an unprecedented pace: decarbonisation, digitisation and decentralisation. The energy system is in transition. New technologies and systems are set to revolutionise the way we produce and consume energy. These new technologies will lead to unprecedented levels of efficiency and require new ways of thinking. What are the key elements to achieve this transformation? What new skills are required across the energy sector to support the change?

Young Energy Professionals Network announced a new three year strategy. For more information click read more