Dr. Andreas Hauer studied Physics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany. He made his PhD at the technical University in Berlin. Now is Head of the Division “Energy Storage ” at the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research, ZAE Bayern, with about 80 emploees. Dr. Hauer is an international known expert on energy storage in general and specialized on thermal energy storage. For 7 years he was the secretary of the Executive Committee of the Energy Storage Programme within the International Energy Agency IEA.

Toshiyuki SHIRAI is Director of Advanced Energy System Division, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
After joining METI, he served for various positions in METI, being responsible for economic and industrial policy, manufacturing industry policy, economic cooperation policy, and trade policy.
He also served as first secretary in Embassy of Japan in Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as senior energy analyst in International Energy Agency based in Paris, contributing to World Energy Outlook.
He graduated from University of Tokyo (M.S.) as well as from Georgetown University (MBA).

Presentation Title: Optimum use of distributed energy resources to maximize the use of renewable energy as a major power resource
Abstract:To achieve the current the energy mix in 2030, METI promotes new business models that provide balancing reserve and supply power using distributed energy resources, in an effort to increase the use of renewable energy as a major resource of power generation. This also helps enhance the regions to resilience to nature disaster.
The presentation introduces the introduction of Feed-in Premium system, the enhancement of aggregation business and VPP system demonstration project, together with the latest trend of renewable energy in Japan.

Jeffrey Miller is the Representative Director of Hikari Rei, LLC.  He is responsible for providing advice and strategic support to U.S. companies seeking to enter the Japanese market in the areas of renewable energy, IT, and other areas.  Mr. Miller co-founded Hikari Rei in May 2018.  
Prior to joining Hikari Rei, Mr. Miller supported the early stages of Fukushima Dai-ichi accident response on the U.S. Department of Energy Accident Response Team in Spring 2011.  Following this, from July 2011 to August 2016, Mr. Miller served as the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Japan Office in the U.S. Embassy Tokyo working on a range of issues in the electricity and environmental sectors.  In addition to DOE, during his 20-year career, Mr. Miller has also worked for the U.S. Department of State, as well as for Battelle Memorial Institute at DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on national security and critical infrastructure protection programs.
Mr. Miller holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Muhlenberg College and during his junior year was in the Waseda University International Program. He holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law and is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and the State of Maryland.