Zuozhi Zhao

Dr. Zhao joined Siemens in March 2009. From 2009 to 2016 he has held the following posts: Component Design Group Lead in Gas Turbine Components; Program Manager Gas Turbine Technology, Development of Advance Design Methods; Head of the Gas Turbine R&D team in China; General Manager of the Gas Turbine Unit in China, involving development of the Gas Turbine Collaboration Model, support for the new Sales setup, Large Gas Turbine and Generator Licensing and Subcontracting Business, Large Gas Turbine Project Management, and Technology and Innovation activities in connection with the Power and Gas Division in China.

Since January 2017 Dr. Zhao moved to Berlin Germany, serving as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Power and Gas Division, Siemens AG. In this role, Dr. Zhao was leading the team in developing the most advanced gas turbine portfolio of Siemens, developing and executing the technology roadmap for the division, managing the R&D budget and programs over EUR 500 million, driving external collaboration with Chinese partners in areas such as gas turbine technology, developing digitalization technology, and exploring the new energy business fields.

in April 2020 Dr. Zhao Zuozhi joined New Energy Business of Siemens Energy, taking overall responsibility for Asia-Pacific and China business, and in parallel heading the Strategy Function globally. Starting from January 2023, Dr. Zhao is leading the Innovation Center Shenzhen of Siemens Energy and serving as the General Manager of Siemens Energy Shen Zhen Company.
From 2005 to 2009 he was employed at the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, New York. He collaborated closely with GE Aviation, GE Energy and the Boeing Company on various projects relating to the Design, Manufacturing and Inspection of Aero Engine, Gas Turbine and Aircraft components.

Dr. Zhao obtained a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Arizona State University and a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing. Dr. Zhao also serves as the Executive Director of China Gas Turbine Industry Innovation Alliance, and the adjunct researcher in Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Panel 1: A regional approach to energy decarbonization

Wednesday, January 17th
11:30 – 13:00   HG F 30 | Audi Max

Panelists: Christer Björkqvist (ETN Global), Torsten Buddenberg (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries EMEA Ltd), Fayette Collier (USG), Xuan Lv (SPIC, State Power Investment Company), John Gülen (Bechtel)
Chair: Zuozhi Zhao (Siemens Energy)

Panel Abstract

20 years ago, the perspective on key technologies for energy decarbonization, e.g. Solar PV, Wind Turbines, Batteries and eCar, was quite different than today’s view. Following the same logic, around year 2050 by when most countries are targeting to achieve carbon neutral, the view on key technologies which would enable the energy decarbonization would be quite different than today’s snapshot.

In this panel, we have five panelists from Europe, US, China and Japan. During the first 45 minutes, each panelist will share the overview of energy transition status and plans to achieve energy decarbonization from that region/country or industry (e.g. Aviation), followed by the status check on the key technologies and the focus for future enabling technologies. Then each panelist will share the individual efforts from his organization/company to help mature the technology readiness level as well as the cost position of the key technologies.

During the 2nd half of the panel, the panelists would discuss on how industries and institutes could work together to help address this global issue, given today’s geo-politics and macro-economic situation.