Solarplaza Summit | Energy Storage North America

Sandy is an experienced international host and meeting designer who takes an engagement to the next level.

Tiffany Wang is a senior analyst on the Clean Energy Technology team at S&P Global Commodity Insights. She provides strategic market research on both behind the meter and front of the meter energy storage with a focus on the North American market. Tiffany holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Leigh is a 13 year veteran of the solar industry focusing on the technical operation and asset management of solar power portfolios. He currently directs the operations and asset management division of Avantus. He was previously director of products at meteocontrol and overseeing their line of monitoring metering systems, O&M service plans, quality test processes, and performance analysis for developing and existing PV assets. He currently volunteers for the education committee for Solar Power international, as well as a working group member for several international quality and performance standards committees with DOE and IEC.

Richard Matsui advises investors accelerating the Energy Transition. He was previously the Founder/CEO of kWh Analytics, the leader in Climate Insurance. He invented the Solar Revenue Put, a financial instrument adopted by leading investors ranging from DE Shaw to AES to protect nearly $5 billion of solar power plants. kWh Analytics is backed by private venture capital and the US Department of Energy. Prior to that, he was a consultant with McKinsey & Company based in Greater China, where he helped found the Firm’s solar practice in 2007. There, he established himself as a leading global expert on the solar industry by accumulating the most industry experience of all consultants within the Firm. He graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and is fluent in both English and Mandarin Chinese. He is proud to have been born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hesston Klenk is an experienced leader and policy and government relations specialist. His extensive experience includes land use policy, water policy, energy policy, renewable energy development, air quality, and state/federal permitting. Hesston currently leads state government relations in the Western and Central U.S. at AES Clean Energy. In this role Hesston and his team focus on policy initiatives which impact an evolving energy sector where he has a proven track record of finding common ground between government, private industries, landowners, and environmental groups on many complex issues. Prior to joining AES Clean Energy in 2022 Hesston spent 18 years working in the mining industry where he focused on government relations, communities and social performance, and Native American engagement. Hesston has led functional teams in several countries around the globe including Peru, Chile, and Australia.

Cedric is an industry pioneer and authority on renewable asset management and serves as Stem’s Vice President, Product. In this role, Cedric manages Stem’s industry-leading software and services for technical and commercial operation of energy storage and solar assets, including Asset Performance Management (APM), and Optimization & Simulation offerings. Prior to joining Stem, he led Product efforts at Omnidian, a leader in performance assurance for distributed energy assets. Earlier in his career, he helped build SunEdison’s asset management business, and founded SOLICHAMBA to deliver consulting and market intelligence services to a variety of clients including solar project developers, equipment manufacturers, O&M providers, and investors. He also authored the industry’s most trusted market reports in partnership with GTM Research, a Wood MacKenzie business. Born in France, Cedric holds an MS in Engineering from IMT Atlantique and an MBA from the University of Nantes.

Edward May is an experienced energy executive with over 15 years in private equity and investment banking, as well as in project development, plant operations, and management. He possesses significant expertise in renewable energy and has a deep understanding of distributed generation and energy storage, including grid impacts, business models, and technoeconomic modeling. Through his firm, EIP, Edward supports corporates and early-stage companies, while also actively co-developing energy storage projects with partners across the country.

Vanessa is a senior analyst with our Energy Transition Practice, covering the U.S. energy storage market with a particular focus on grid-scale battery storage. Before joining Wood Mackenzie in 2021, Vanessa was a battery storage analyst specializing in downstream revenue analytics and long-term price forecasting. Earlier in her career she was an analyst in North American natural gas infrastructure and power markets at Genscape, now a Wood Mackenzie company. Vanessa is also a committee member and mentor with She’s in Power; a Colorado C3E program designed to grow and inspire women to be clean energy leaders. Education: BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder

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Shelby acts as the Government Affairs Manager for the Western United States on behalf of AES Clean Energy. In this role, Shelby monitors, motivates, develops, and defends state public policy that impacts the deployment of utility-scale solar, wind, battery electric storage, and green hydrogen projects for AES. Covering everything from tax policy to decommissioning standards, she works closely with state legislators, regulators, and state agencies to strike the ideal balance between an innovative, business-friendly atmosphere and sufficient industry oversight. Prior to joining AES Clean Energy, Shelby enjoyed roles at the industry trade association Advanced Energy United and the renewable energy advocacy organization Utah Clean Energy. She holds an MS in Environmental Science and a BA in International Studies, both from The Ohio State University.

Andrea Herman is an associate in the Austin office of Latham & Watkins and a member of the firm’s Tax Department. Ms. Herman advises clients on all tax aspects of the development, financing, and acquisition of renewable energy assets. Her clients include project developers, large financial institutions acting as investors and lenders, and private equity and infrastructure funds. She focuses on transactions involving renewable energy assets and the monetization of tax credits and other tax incentives, including project development, tax equity and debt financings, joint venture arrangements, and mergers and acquisitions. Her work involves a particular focus on the prevailing wage and apprenticeship and domestic content tax credit regimes. Ms. Herman also advises corporations, partnerships, REITs, private equity firms and major financial institutions on the tax aspects of public and private mergers and acquisitions, bank financings, and securities offerings.

Chris is the Vice Chairman of Wood Mackenzie’s Power & Renewables division where he is responsible for senior stakeholder engagement, thought leadership and advising on the strategic direction of Wood Mackenzie’s business. Chris travels extensively and regularly presents to senior industry, policy, and financial community stakeholders on Wood Mackenzie’s analysis across the value chain of the power industry. Chris brings to this role 30 years of global power industry experience. The first part of his career he led strategy consulting work for power companies and investors at Cambridge Energy Research Associates (now part of IHS/S&P). He then moved into finance as the Senior Vice President of investment strategy at GE Energy Financial Services (EFS) underwriting debt and equity financing of power related investments and then later managed a portfolio of power plants and a merchant transmission project owned by EFS. He then led the power organization at Genscape where he expanded Genscape’s real-time power markets monitoring business into analytics and software service businesses through both organic growth and acquisitions. Chris came to Wood Mackenzie through its acquisition of Genscape and now works with Wood Mackenzie’s 250 power & renewables researchers across the globe. Chris is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Muhlenberg College with degrees in Russian Studies and Political Science and holds a Master of Energy Management and Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and the Institut Français du Pétrole. He has completed executive leadership development programs at the University of Cambridge and at GE. He is based in Boston and has lived and worked previously in Europe.

Tao Kong is a seasoned renewable energy executive passionate about driving the transition to a decarbonized future. As Managing Partner of Luminous Energy Renewables, he is dedicated to developing and deploying large-scale renewable energy projects, including Wind, Solar, and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). Tao currently manages a BESS pipeline totaling over 8,000 MWh, which he has successfully developed with his team. This portfolio demonstrates his expertise in project development, market analysis, and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Luminous Energy Renewables, Tao served as COO of Alcen Inc., a leading renewable energy developer. During his tenure, he successfully oversaw the development and deployment of 2,400 MW of renewable energy assets, demonstrating his strategic acumen and operational excellence. Beyond his professional achievements, Tao is deeply committed to environmental sustainability and social equity. He believes that a future powered by renewable energy is essential to addressing climate change and ensuring a prosperous and equitable world for all. Through his work at Luminous Energy Renewables, Tao is actively working to make this vision a reality.

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Nick Maynard has been with Arevon for nearly four years and has more than 15 years of experience in engineering, construction, and the project management of large commercial and utility-scale photovoltaic & BESS projects in the United States and Guam. His experience in renewable energy includes engineering, finance, and construction support for greenfield development and merger and acquisition projects. Before joining Arevon, Nick led the design, installation, and commissioning of approximately 2.0GWdc of solar PV projects, amounting to approximately $2 billion in capital. Since joining Arevon, Nick has engineered another 1.5GWdc of PV and 760MW of BESS in California, Nevada, and Indiana. As the Senior Director of Engineering, Nick’s responsibilities include executive reporting, the establishment of processes and procedures, fatal flaw analysis, negotiation of EPC technical language, review of QA/QC reports, cold and hot commissioning, and owner engineer’s support. Nick obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.