AUSTRALIAN
WIND INDUSTRY SUMMIT
4 MAY 2023 | MELBOURNE
ONSHORE WIND AGENDA
Join us for an unmissable day of knowledge sharing and networking
The program for the Australian Wind Industry Summit is changing in 2023. Attendees will come together for the Market Outlooks session, breaks and networking drinks, but split for focussed presentations on onshore and offshore wind.
View the agenda for the Onshore Wind sessions below or click here for the Offshore Wind sessions. Please note you cannot attend both.
ONSHORE WIND AGENDA
9AM-9.30AM
OPENING PLENARY
The Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton and Victorian Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio welcome attendees to the 2023 Australian Wind Industry Summit and set the agenda for the day.
Kane is the Chief Executive of the Clean Energy Council, Australia’s peak body for renewables. He has more than a decade’s experience in energy policy and leadership in the development of the renewable energy industry. Kane has advocated for and helped design the policies that have been critical to the renewable energy industry’s growth, and continues to be an active political advocate, public presenter and media spokesperson.
His previous roles include senior manager and advisor for Hydro Tasmania – Australia’s largest generator of renewable energy – and executive officer of Renewable Energy Generators Australia.
Kane has broad international management experience having previously worked in technology, living and working in Asia. He has held a range of advisory and board roles with government and non-government organizations in the climate change and energy sector, and is a non-executive director of Sustainability Victoria.
Kane is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, has a Masters in Social Science and Bachelor of Information Technology.
Lily D’Ambrosio is a member of the Australian Labor Party and has represented the electorate of Mill Park in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2002.
She has previously served as Minister for a variety of portfolios, including Community Development, Industry, Suburban Development and Environment.
But most notably she is Australia’s longest serving current Minister for Energy, having been in the role since 2014, as well as currently being the Minister for Climate Action, the Minster for Resources, and the Minister for the State Electricity Commission (SEC).
Minister D’Ambrosio is a leader in action on climate change, renewable energy and energy efficiency in Australia, and has led the modernisation of much of Victoria’s key environmental regulations. She managed the passage of a restored Climate Change Act, Victoria’s landmark climate legislation, which saw it become the first Australian state to legislate in line with the Paris Agreement for net zero emissions by 2050, a target that has since been updated to 2045.
Under her leadership, Victoria is seeing the fastest real reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the country.
Recently she announced Victoria’s commitment to nation leading targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including a goal of halving emissions by 2030 and reducing them by 75-80% by 2035.
She was proud to join with the Premier, Daniel Andrews, to announce the revival of the State Electricity Commission, with a mandate to build a portfolio of 4.5 gigawatts of publicly owned renewable energy by 2035, as part of a landmark commitment to reach 95% renewable energy in Victoria.
Minister D’Ambrosio is passionate about redesigning the Australian energy market to facilitate a smooth transition into a renewable, reliable and affordable energy future, and one that puts the interests of the public ahead of profits.
9.30AM-10.30AM
MARKET OUTLOOKS
The wind industry is booming. Australia’s largest ever wind farms are in construction, projects are being developed across the country, and the first offshore wind Feasibility Licences are up for grabs. The Australian Energy Market Operator expects more than 20 GW of wind capacity to be added in the next seven years. Join us in this session to hear how domestic and international policies, finance and investment, workforce development, technology trends and planning frameworks will shape the sector over the months and years ahead.
Anna is Policy Director – Decarbonisation at the Clean Energy Council – Australia’s peak body for the renewable energy sector, which represents more than 1,000 member organisations working across solar, wind, hydro, energy storage and green hydrogen in Australia.
Anna leads the Clean Energy Council’s policy and industry development work relating to the decarbonisation of the Australian economy and the country’s aspirations to become a renewable energy superpower, supplying low-cost, renewable energy to supply domestic and international markets.
Anna has been deeply engaged in energy and climate change policy for close to 20 years, working as Public Affairs Director for two national climate change reviews on behalf of the Australian and state governments (the Garnaut Reviews in 2008 and 2011), and as an adviser to the country’s Climate Change Authority. She has also held private sector roles in mining, infrastructure and media.
Anna holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Business Administration.
Lillian’s career has spanned the commercial, strategic, political and regulatory spheres of the energy industry. As Infrastructure Development Manager in AusNet’s commercial transmission business, she works with renewable energy and storage developers to identify investment opportunities for the energy infrastructure that will underpin the rapid transition of Australia’s energy system.
She is also a Non-Executive Director of the Clean Energy Council (CEC) and was recently identified as one of the industry’s top 100 leaders in The Australian’s 2023 Green List.
Previously, Lillian was Policy Director, Energy Transformation at the CEC. She has also held roles at Origin Energy, the International Energy Agency and in the Federal Government.
Lillian holds a Masters in Sustainability and Energy Management from Bocconi University in Italy and a Bachelor of Business (1st Class Honours in Economics and Finance) and Bachelor of International Studies from the University of Technology, Sydney.
She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Brett Wickham is the Managing Director of ACCIONA’s Energy Division in Australia and is responsible for leading ACCIONA Energy’s Australian team, its operations, strategy, and growth in the Australian market.
Brett is an experienced industry executive who brings commercial focus and international expertise to the role, having worked on renewable energy projects in 14 countries.
First joining ACCIONA in 2006 as Director Engineering, Construction & Operations in the Australian energy business, he then moved to South Africa in 2012 as Director Construction & Operations, helping establish the brand in that country.
From 2015 until mid-2017, he worked for ACCIONA at its energy headquarters in Spain as Director Projects Organisation, creating a new framework for the development of international solar and wind farms around the world.
Penny has 17 years’ experience in the delivery of complex marine infrastructure projects and has spent the last 14 years working in offshore wind. She has led the project development, approvals and environmental impact assessments (EIA) for more than 10 GW of offshore wind projects in the UK and Australia – and is now leading the development of Corio’s two Australian projects – Great Eastern Offshore Wind and Great Southern Offshore Wind.
Tim is the Executive General Manager, Energy Markets at Iberdrola Australia. In this role, Tim leads the trading and retail functions of Iberdrola Australia. Tim also oversees business development for firming and smart solutions. Up until November 2018, Tim was the Chief Economist of AGL Energy.
He is also a Climate Councillor, member of the Westpac Stakeholder Advisory Council and is on the Research Committee for the Centre for Policy Development.
Tim is an Associate Professor at Griffith University. He holds a PhD in economics for which he earned a Chancellors Doctoral Research Medal and a first-class honours degree in economics. Tim is also a fellow of the Governance Institute (FGIA FCG CS CGP) and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
10.30AM-11AM
MORNING TEA
11AM-12.30PM
SESSION A
RETURN OF THE REZ
Renewable energy zones provide opportunities to engage with stakeholders in a stuctured way and to frame the delivery of clean energy around good planning. This session will explore how smooth project delivery depends on aligning of logistics, transport, and accommodation needs while identifying, measuring and mitigating cumulative impacts on communities.
Claire has over 14+ years’ experience and a passionate focus on the energy industry, with a focus on project development and environment and planning services.
Claire has been responsible for feasibility and development stage site identification, preliminary environmental assessments, and detailed assessments and approvals for multiple renewable energy developments. She is primarily involved in early project stages – educating stakeholders and justifying overall programs, environmental de-risking, survey scoping and project planning including engagement.
With the pace of change currently being experienced in the energy sector in Australia, Claire has a keen interest in how that translates to transfer of learnings across regions, how information and data can be best shared and how we bring along our communities and stakeholders on this fast-paced journey with us for best outcomes.
Andrew is the founding National Director of RE-Alliance. RE-Alliance is a community not-for-profit working to deliver a renewable energy transformation filled with sustainable, long-term prosperity for regional Australia.
Andrew has been working with local communities and with industry for over ten years, to improve community engagement and develop community-led approaches to the delivery of community programs and funds.
In 2021 Andrew received the Clean Energy Council’s Outstanding Contribution to Industry Award. He has a background in community organising and has been an advocate for clean energy as effective climate action for many years.
John Titchen brings a wealth of executive management and senior leadership experience spanning more than 30 years in renewable energy. As Managing Director of Goldwind Australia from 2009 to early 2022, John led Goldwind Australia’s growth to become a major Australian renewable energy company.
With a significant operating and development stage wind and solar portfolio in Australia, Goldwind Wind Turbines are now contributing 1.5GW of emissions-free power generation, enough to power the equivalent of 1 million Australian homes.
Prior to Goldwind, John held roles within Hydro Tasmania, Roaring 40s and the Electricity Commission of NSW.
Martine Holberton has over twelve years working as a communications professional, seven of those years being in the government and renewable energy sectors covering external affairs, community engagement and communications.
Martine’s career in renewables began at City of Melbourne where, as part of a portfolio of sustainability projects and initiatives, she led the collective communications on the first-of-its-kind ‘Melbourne Renewable Energy Project’. MREP saw a group of local governments, cultural institutions, universities and corporations collectively purchase renewable energy from a newly built facility.
Martine is passionate about a clean energy future and working in renewables means she can be part of this essential transition. She is committed to working towards net positive impacts for the projects she works on. At Tilt Renewables this means ensuring community engagement is genuine, upfront, follows through with its commitments and importantly, seeks to deliver innovative benefit sharing initiatives for communities and the environment that create a legacy beyond the immediate benefits of a project.
Adam is the Acting Director of Planning & Policy at the Energy Corporation of NSW, which is responsible for the planning, design, development and coordination of electricity infrastructure, generation and storage project in Renewable Energy Zones across NSW.
His portfolio includes strategic whole of REZ land use planning, enabling infrastructure works, development of energy policy and support for upfront community engagement and benefit sharing.
Adam has worked for over a decade and a half in the energy and climate space across three levels of government including in development, financing, construction and operation of renewable energy projects.
He has qualifications in law, communications and project management and is a 2020 Churchill Fellow.
11AM-12.30PM
SESSION B
MONEY TALKS
Project revenue can change with the wind. So, to ensure ongoing success, wind farm proponents need to be nimble and responsive. They must adapt to market changes, regulatory interventions, and technological advances from initial investment decisions through to the end of the operational lifecycle.
Sussan has over 17 years experience within the Energy, Resources and Infrastructure sectors, and has been involved in originating and managing complex, structured transactions during that time. At the Commonwealth Bank, Sussan’s primary focus is to lead the financing of renewable energy transactions and to provide ongoing capital solutions to clients in the sector. Her prior experience spans financial analysis, asset management and deal advisory.
Sussan has a Masters in Applied Finance and Bachelor degrees in Commerce (Actuarial Studies) and Economics from Macquarie University.
For the past 14 years, Jan Daniel has been working at Vestas, with more than 10 years of experience in the commercial space, including leadership roles in Vestas Global Sales, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Since the beginning of 2022, he has been heading the commercial team for Australia & New Zealand, a key strategic market for Vestas. Jan Daniel is passionate about making this transition as sustainable and inclusive as possible. He is German-Colombian and has a background in Finance and Strategy.
Steve is a highly experienced finance professional with over 25 years’ experience within the energy sector in several senior finance and executive roles.
He joined the Tilt Renewables team as the Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary in October 2016. Prior to joining Tilt Renewables, Steve held senior finance and management roles at Palisade Investment Partners, Epic Energy, Roaring 40s and TRUenergy (now EnergyAustralia). Steve was also the Managing Director of Roaring 40s for two years.
Steve has a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and is a Chartered Accountant. Steve is also a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Abhi is an Energy and Carbon Market Expert am currently advising high end energy users on their decarbonsiation pathways while also assisting energy businesses with bespoke energy hedging solutions.
Jo is a Partner in the Projects practice at King & Wood Mallesons – a leading law firm underpinned by world class capability with over 3000 lawyers in 30 global locations. She advises sponsors and financiers on all aspects of the development, financing and acquisition of major infrastructure and energy projects and has worked in the Australian renewable energy sector for over 20 years; advising on projects including greenfield renewables projects, divestments and acquisitions, connection and transmission projects and energy trading.
12.30PM-1.30PM
LUNCH
1.30PM-3PM
SESSION A
KEEPING THE SHOW ON THE ROAD
One of the most critical considerations for asset operators and owners is ensuring that every aspect of a wind farm’s operation is optimised and compliant. Join us at this session to explore how best practice operations and maintenance at wind farms can protect revenue generation and social licence.
Jacqueline is a Special Counsel practising as environment and planning lawyer in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Melbourne Office. Jacqueline has extensive experience advising sponsors, investors and operators of renewable energy developments, particularly regarding the environmental and planning aspects such as obtaining state and Commonwealth approvals as well as managing cultural heritage and Native Title, native vegetation and grid connection issues.
Jacqueline enjoys assisting her clients involved in the renewables industry, including responding to evolving technologies and regulation and she has advised on the development and acquisition of numerous on onshore wind energy facilities and in more recent times has focussed on the burgeoning offshore wind sector.
Jacqueline has had an interest in the renewables sector stemming back to her university days when she wrote her Honours thesis on the legal mechanisms available to regulate impacts on roof top solar users. Jacqueline was recently recognised as a recommended Environment and Climate Change lawyer in Victoria by Doyle’s Guide.
Ba. Eng. and a Senior Consultant with Rom-Control, a company that repairs and refurbishes industrial control systems irrespective of make, model, age or function. Leon’s knowledge and involvement in wind and solar energy systems has helped many companies significantly reduce their maintenance costs and increase reliability by refurbishing rather than expensive replacements.
Richard has almost 40 years of experience in providing advice and expertise in his chosen areas of professional practice which includes: environmental risk assessment; environmental management planning; the application of environmental best practice to asset operations and maintenance; and the monitoring and auditing of environmental compliance associated with the servicing of wind farms.
Daniel is part of the Power and Renewables Assets team at Wood Mackenzie, where he leads product development and research into asset performance benchmarking, cost analysis and valuations. Besides coordinating LCOE activities, his particular focus is in operations strategy, cost benchmarking, digital technology and asset management. He joined Wood Mackenzie in 2018 after completing an MBA at London Business School, where he chaired the school’s Energy Conference in 2017.
1.30PM-3PM
SESSION B
Good neighbours make good friends
The wind industry’s approach to community engagement, social licence and managing environmental impacts has evolved significantly in the past decade. Rising community expectations and environmental standards will require us to continuously improve as practitioners. Join the session to hear about the latest on how wind projects are approaching these critical issues.
Felicity is a seasoned community regional economic development specialist and has spent the past 20 years living in the NSW Central West Orana region.
As Regional Economic Development Lead for Squadron Energy she oversees regional economic development initiatives with a particular focus on the Central West Orana region.
Her previous roles include Senior Research Fellow – First Nations Engagement & Research at Charles Sturt University and as CEO of Regional Development Australia Orana NSW.
Felicity has also worked in community relations with the Queensland Government, living and working in Cape York and Gulf of Carpentaria First Nations communities, far western Queensland and Cairns.
For nearly 15 years, William has worked for industry bodies and large corporates in policy, advocacy and community affairs tackling some of the most challenging public policy issues. Now with ACCIONA Energia, he leads government relations for and communications as the business builds the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere.
Brooke is an accomplished environmental impact assessment practitioner with more than 18 years of experience. She has exceptional expertise in planning large scale renewable energy infrastructure, particularly in wind farm development since 2005 and solar farms since 2009. Brooke has worked on more than 60 significant renewable energy projects in NSW, collaborating with various stakeholders such as developers, community groups, government officials, and industry experts. Her experience encompasses wind farm planning and site constraints, wind farm assessment methods, biodiversity survey and offset planning.
Brooke’s views were sought by the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner, for insights on large-scale energy infrastructure impacts on communities before the release of the office’s first annual report. Currently, as a principal planner for renewable energy assessments, Brooke provides direction, senior review, and top-level advice to clients, focusing primarily on state-significant wind, solar, and battery facilities under NSW legislation.
Anthony is responsible for leading Ark Energy’s portfolio of more than 6 GW of renewable energy developments in Queensland from pipeline to financial investment decision including origination, land agreements (including indigenous), resource assessment, project design, State and Commonwealth EPBC approvals, ESG and grid connection.
Anthony has 27 years’ experience in resource development and ESG related roles including BHP and Rio Tinto developments in QLD, NSW & SA. Raised in north QLD, Anthony was earlier involved in several State significant projects including Windy Hill Wind Farm and 500+ km of high voltage transmission line developments.
BEng Hons, JCU 1996.
3PM-3.30PM
AFTERNOON TEA
3.30PM-5PM
SESSION A
No disturbances in the force
As more variable renewable energy megawatt hours connect to the National Electricity Market, system strength issues increase, resulting in significant delays in connecting new projects to the grid. This exposes existing wind farms to increased curtailment and congestion, costing proponents millions of dollars, and risking project longevity. Considering current market risks, this session will explore market mechanisms and system design interventions to maintain system stability and enhance wind farm yields.
Amy Kean is a Director at Stride Renewables, Australia, a boutique energy advisory firm.
Amy has more than 20 years of experience in energy markets across the public and private sectors, nationally and internationally, and has a background in Science, Arts and Law.
Prior to establishing Stride, Amy was the NSW Government Renewable Energy Advocate. Amy has also worked at the REEEP, Clean Energy Council, Pinpoint Mastercard, Accenture, Hydro Tasmania and was a board member of Renewables SA, Renew and REEEP. Amy is a Director of ASX MPower and an advisor to the NSW Decarbonisation Hub.
Amy is a recipient of the NSW Green Globe award for Public Sector Leadership, the Energy Minister’s Leadership Award and Services to the Duke of Edinburgh Award from HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.
Lara has 20 years experience in Transmission/Utilities projects across Australia, NZ, UK, Iraq and Libya. She has extensive experience with large transmission network augmentations and greenfield terminal stations for connections such as wind, solar and battery energy storage systems.
In her work she advocates for the use of innovative technologies and sustainable solutions in order to support an efficient transition to the integration of renewables and to do so in a way that ensures new infrastructure is built with less embodied carbon.
Tom Geiser is the Senior Originator with Neoen. His primary role is to contract with clients, but he also assists in regulatory engagement, trading strategy, and asset optimisation.
He has worked in the energy sector for over a decade with experience in R&D, consulting, spot trading and retail. Tom has a Bachelor of Engineering and became fascinated by energy markets in his final year.
Rahul has experience in managing the delivery of grid connection solutions for wind, solar and battery projects through roles at EPCs, OEMs and developers.
Rahul has built an in-house power and control systems engineering team at Windlab to tackle the development of control and power system solutions to allow grid connection of Windlab’s massive project portfolio.
Sam Fyfield is the General Manager, Grid and SCADA at Goldwind Australia, and a member of the senior leadership team. Sam is an experienced professional in the electrical power industry in Australia and New Zealand.
Under Sam’s leadership, the depth of technical, commercial, and legal experience of the Grid and Scada team provides a leading capability in securing robust and efficient grid connections across New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.
Prior to Goldwind, Sam worked across the industry’s sectors within transmission, distribution, consulting, and generation businesses with a focus on increasing renewable energy penetration.
An active member of the Clean Energy Council’s grid directorate, Sam holds a BE (hons) degree majoring in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering.
3.30PM-5PM
SESSION B
Delivering end to end supply chains
The Global Wind Energy Council warns that the wind sector faces a supply chain crunch this decade. This session will explore how rapidly increasing global decarbonisation efforts are squeezing wind supply chains and how the industry is responding to the heavier focus on local manufacturing, logistics and recycling.
Peter Cowling is the Head of Country for Mint Renewables and the Chair of the Clean Energy Council. Peter has over 20 years’ experience in the renewable energy industry, including leadership roles with several wind equipment manufacturers in Australia and Asia.
He has been involved in the contracting and delivery of a large proportion of Australia’s wind generation fleet. He is a passionate advocate of a rapid but just transition to renewables in Australia.
He has been instrumental in a number of local content initiatives over time in the Australian wind industry, and was a founding member of the Connection Reform Initiative leadership group.
Maja Barnett is a Project Director at Tilt Renewables. Having worked in the renewables industry since 2002, she has experience in the end-to-end development of renewable projects from initial site investigation, new technologies and acquisition opportunities through to asset management and operations. In her current role, she leads the development of the 1.3GW Liverpool Range wind farm project.
She is the Chair of the CEC Wind Recycling Working Group which has been established to develop best practice approaches to recycling to inform industry and stakeholders. She is also a proud recipient of the CEC Chloe Monroe Scholarship for Transformational Leadership.
Simon Preston is a mechanical engineer, MBA, and has more than 20 years’ experience in diverse fields of manufacturing. Simon Preston and his team manufacture, supply and assemble wind-turbine anchor cages for the Australian renewable energy market. Their focus is on using Australian manufacturing, raw materials and labour, combined with innovation and design ingenuity, to deliver faster, safer, cheaper and more certain project outcomes.
Simon is Group General Manager for the Plates and Bolts division of Australian metal recycling service Sell & Parker, a group including Precision Oxycut and Allthread Industries, Australia’s largest plate-processing business and premier bolt manufacturers, respectively.
Lan is the Senior Procurement Manager at RES Australia and looks after major projects procurement and supply chain management across wind, solar and storage.
Guy joined GE Renewable Onshore Wind in February 2022. Currently he is the Executive Director, Global Sourcing.
Guy came to GE Renewable Energy from Nissan where he was the General Manager Quality Compliance based in Yokohama JAPAN.
Prior to joining Nissan, he spent approximately twenty years with General Motors, holding leadership roles in Purchasing and Quality. He has held roles based in Australia, Korea, United States, and Japan, and has significant global leadership experience, deep APQP knowledge, lean expertise, and global strategic planning skills.
Guy earned his Bachelor’s degrees in Systems Engineering and Physics from the Australian National University. He and his family are based in Australia.
5PM-6PM
NETWORKING DRINKS
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Want to get your company involved in Australia’s #1 event for the wind industry? For more information about sponsorship and exhibitor packages, contact rdownie@cleanenergycouncil.org.au
