Gerard Kelly
Director of Innovation, National Grid Partners

Gerard Kelly

Gerard leads the UK Innovation team at National Grid Partners where he oversees the delivery of disruptive innovation projects to the wider business with the potential to generate $5B of financial impact over the next 10 years.

Gerard is passionate about sustainability and is motivated to be part of the drive to Net Zero by helping develop the innovative technologies and impactful business models to help us get there. With more than a decade of experience in the energy sector Gerard has led multi-disciplinary teams in both startup and corporate environments. Before joining National Grid Partners, Gerard was CEO of Upya Technologies, a start-up helping last-mile distributors digitalize their operations and build scalable, sustainable businesses in frontier markets in more than 20 countries across Africa and Asia.

Gerard also worked at Bell Labs with a focus on energy and with BCG’s energy practice in London.

Gerard is a Chartered Engineer, holding an MBA from INSEAD and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Limerick, Ireland.