Clean Energy Investor Conference

Nicki Hutley is a highly experienced economist, with broad-based expertise in both macroeconomics and microeconomic policy, gained over more than three decades in financial and investment markets and in economic consulting.

After many years in the corporate world, including most recently as a partner with Deloitte Access Economics, Nicki is now an independent economist, advising government, business and not-for-profits on a wide range of policy issues, but with a focus on social and environmental impact. She is also a Councillor on the Climate Council.
Other consulting roles include Chief Economic Adviser to the Customer-Owned Banking Association, JANA Investments Sustainability Advisory Committee, and the Financy Women’s Index advisory board.

Nicki holds an Honours degree in Economics from the University of East Anglia. In 2021, she was elected President of the NSW Branch of the Economics Society of Australia. She is also a committee member of the Australian Business Economists.

Tim is the Executive General Manager, Energy Markets at Iberdrola Australia. In this role, Tim leads the wholesale and retail energy markets functions. He also leads business development for firming, hydrogen and smart solutions. Tim joined Iberdrola Australia in March 2020 from the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC). Up until November 2018, Tim was the Chief Economist of AGL Energy.

He is also a Climate Councillor, a member of the Westpac Stakeholder Advisory Council, an advisory board member for My Net Zero and is on the Research Committee for the Centre for Policy Development.

Tim is an Associate Professor at Griffith University and is widely published in Australian and international peer-reviewed journals. 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).

Tim has 30 years financial markets experience, including providing public interest related financial analysis on the energy transition since 2013, studying China, India and Australia.
Tim has founded Climate Energy Finance Australasia at the start of 2022, having worked with the global energy finance thinktank IEEFA over 2013-2021. Tim was co-founder of a start-up global listed clean energy equities fund with Westpac as a cornerstone investor. From 1998 to 2007 Tim was a Managing Director at Citigroup, Head of Australasian Equity Research. Tim has published over 100 reports on the global energy transition.

Tom is an experienced energy industry leader who has a passion for the future of energy. His expertise spans multiple disciplines including grid development, energy strategy formulation, commercial opportunity analysis, technical due diligence on energy infrastructure transactions, and generator connection studies. He has worked across multiple international markets including Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, the wider EU, and Africa.

Prior to joining Aurecon, and after completing his MBA at London Business School, he worked out of Düsseldorf, Germany for energy multi-national E.ON in a strategy management consulting capacity, leading engagements including strategic project management, new venture business model development and implementation, and energy strategy development and tracking for C-level and Board clients. Prior to this, he spent his career in Energex (now Energy Queensland) as an electrical engineer and manager in a variety of roles.

Tom has a proven track record in delivering transformational, high value advisory engagements for a diverse range of clients. In addition to technical expertise across the evolving energy supply chain, Tom brings a strategic mind-set to problem definition and solution development. He is motivated by helping clients unlock opportunities of the energy transformation and address their most pressing energy related risks.

Katie Barnett is a Partner in PwC Australia’s Energy Transition Deals and M&A team providing commercial, financial, transactional and power market advisory services to PwC clients since 2020. In over A$18 billion worth of completed deals and more than 50 transactions, Katie has deep utility-scale, renewable energy, power markets, M&A, equity and project finance expertise, having worked in energy investment banking for a decade, and subsequently gathering over a decade of corporate experience in development, construction and operations of solar, onshore wind, hydro, and geothermal in Australia and overseas.

Prior to joining PwC, Katie was the founding CEO and CFO of Powering Australia Renewables, a privately held $1.5b renewable energy business. Before PowAR, she was head of Project Finance, International Development at Origin Energy. Earlier in her career, Katie was a financial advisor in Babcock & Brown’s Infrastructure and Project Finance team.

Stephanie is a respected transformation leader with over two decades of experience across the Australian energy sector and broader economies it impacts. Stephanie has cemented her career in the energy sector holding leadership roles in technical, commercial, strategic, policy and advisory; with expertise in energy market policy and regulation, energy technologies and service innovation, networks and grid modernisation.

Stephanie is the CEO and Principal of Nexa Advisory an advisory firm helping public and private clients navigate the energy transition through trusted, value-added and future proofed advice and solutions.

She previously led the policy vision & strategy at AGL in relation to the reform of network regulation relating to new energy technologies & services. Stephanie had key roles in driving the clean energy transformation and establishing the national policy agenda around virtual power plants, and competition reforms in new energy technologies and services.

Nathan Blundell is a globally experienced leader with 20 years’ experience in the energy sector.
As Windlab’s General Manager of Development he oversees $30 billion of projects and a development pipeline of more than 20GW.

Nathan established his career in oil and gas, working across the full resource lifecycle for internationals BP, Shell and PetroChina both in Australia and the United States. His desire to expand his industry experience into renewables saw him complete his Masters in Sustainable Energy at the University of Queensland before joining Windlab in 2021.

With an ambitious portfolio and a clear vision for unlocking the resources and scale critical for Australia’s decarbonisation objectives, Nathan and his team are passionate ‘raising the bar’ for how industry responds to local-scale impacts of projects, and collaborates to deliver value in partnership with its diverse stakeholders to support a just transition.

Windlab is the 100% Australian company applying its world-leading technology and globally recognised expertise to find, construct and operate the nation’s top wind energy projects.

Lachlan has worked on a range of advisory, project finance, principal investment and equity capital markets transactions. He is currently responsible for advising on financing and development of more than 1,900MW of renewable energy transactions in Australia.

He has over 18 years experience in investment banking across New York, Mexico, London and Sydney and previously led MacCap’s Latin American Infrastructure Team.
Background

Lachlan is based in Melbourne and is responsible for leading the Green Investment Group ANZ.

Lachlan holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (First Class Honours) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)

Eva Hanly is the Director East Australia and New Zealand of Fortescue Future Industries, where she is responsible for leading the Company’s Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand projects.

She has more than 20 years’ experience in the energy and infrastructure sector and has held senior roles at Squadron Energy, WorleyParsons, Origin Energy and Transurban.
Before joining Fortescue Future Industries in 2023, Eva was the Chief Executive Officer of Squadron Energy, a company of Tattarang, which is the largest private investment company in Australia. In this role, Eva oversaw Squadron Energy’s goal of rapid decarbonisation and transitioning the energy system to renewable power sources.
Prior to this, Eva was Group Executive at Transgrid, where she was responsible for transitioning the company into new businesses and services aligned with the energy transition. She also led the functions for corporate strategy, commercial, innovation and technology, new energy ventures, and policy reform and economics.

Eva holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science and Government and a Masters of Business Administration from UNSW, as well as other qualifications from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Erwin has over 30 years’ experience in climate change policy advocacy. At IGCC, Erwin works with investors, governments, and stakeholders to build investable national climate policies.

Throughout his career Erwin has sat on research advisory committees and undertaken strategy development in low-emissions technology for the University of Melbourne, ANU, CSIRO and the University of Queensland. Erwin was Deputy CEO of The Climate Institute for nearly 10 years, where he was seconded to the Climate Change Authority as an expert in international climate change diplomacy. Erwin currently sits on ANU’s Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions external advisory committee.

Environmental scientist, author, adventurer and public speaker Tim Jarvis AM is committed to finding pragmatic solutions to major environmental issues related to climate change and biodiversity loss. Having worked in sustainability for 30 years, he currently provides strategic and practical sustainability advice to a range of corporate organisations.

Known for his historically authentic recreations of the Antarctic survival journeys of Sir Douglas Mawson and Sir Ernest Shackleton, Tim is founder and leader of The Forktree Project, a native revegetation project on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, Global Ambassador and Governor of environmental NGO WWF and a Vice President of Flora and Fauna International.

Sally McMahon is an economist with more than 25 years’ experience in energy and industry reform programs. Commencing her career investigating third-party gas access regimes, she has been an advisor and executive with economic regulators, governments, electricity and gas businesses, and investment funds in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and Canada.

Sally has held key roles in the evolution of jurisdictional energy markets and the establishment and ongoing development of the law and rules for the National Electricity and Gas Market. More recently, Sally has been Special Advisor to the Energy Coordinator in Western Australia on stage two of the Energy Transformation Strategy, an advisor on the regulatory framework for the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap and is the Independent Chair of the Market Advisory Committee, the Gas Advisory Board and the Pilbara Advisory Committee in Western Australia.

Sally holds an Honours degree in Economics from the Flinders University of South Australia and is a GAICD. Sally is also a member of the Economic Society of Australia and a former Chair of Women in Economics Network of WA.

Ms Miller leads the CEFC investment team responsible for the origination and execution of investments in Renewables and Sustainable Finance, overseeing transactions in the areas of large-scale solar, wind and battery storage.

Ms Miller has more than 20 years’ experience in clean energy and environmental finance. Since joining the CEFC at its inception in 2013, Ms Miller has played an integral role in the growth of the organisation, in particular, development of the $3 billion CEFC renewable energy portfolio, which is accelerating the delivery of more than 5,000 megawatts of new generation capacity.

Prior to joining the CEFC Ms Miller worked at Macquarie Bank and Baker & McKenzie in Sydney and London, with extensive experience in renewables and carbon investment and structuring, international emissions trading and policy advice. Ms Miller holds a Bachelor of Arts/Law degree with Honours from the Australian National University and is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Alistair is the CEO of VicGrid, which co-ordinates the overarching planning and development of Victorian REZs. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the energy industry, including a decade of senior leadership roles, in the forefront of the energy transition.

Alistair’s prior executive employment included various roles at AusNet Services at and the NT Power and Water Corporation, including running AusNet’s three main regulated businesses, driving better safety, cost, customer and reputational outcomes.
Before moving to Australia, Alistair spent 15 years with National Grid, UK, initially as an engineer, then moving into commercial roles. In 2000, he became a consultant with Ernst & Young in New Zealand before moving to PricewaterhouseCoopers in Australia, ultimately as Melbourne Energy Economics Practice Leader.

Kara is a Managing Director leading RBC’s renewables and energy transition investment banking practice in Sydney. With over 20 years of experience in financial and M&A, Kara advises clients on transactions across renewables, power and utilities, energy, and energy transition sectors.

Prior to rejoining RBC, Kara led Wells Fargo’s Power, Utility, and Renewables M&A practice where she advised infrastructure investors, renewables developers, and water, gas and electric utilties for eight years on the sale, merger, or acquisition of both public and private businesses across the United States.

Kara began working with renewables and energy transition companies over 15 years ago and has run sale and buyside processes for utility scale wind and solar generation, distributed generation, offshore wind, BESS, transition fuel and generation, transmission, hydroelectric and geothermal power generation. She has advised on complicated and sensitive transactions including unsolicited and hostile situations valuing in total over US$25 billion dollars of M&A transactions completed throughout her career.

David is an energy & infrastructure specialist and the firm’s Global Co-Head of Infrastructure. He has an unparalleled experience in the Australian energy sector, advising government and private sector clients on significant and complex renewable energy projects and market reforms, and regulators on the development of market rules and regulation. Notably, David is advising the NSW Government on its development of renewable energy zones, transmission contestability and access schemes, TasNetworks on the development of Project Marinus, market participants on the development of multiple pumped hydro, hydrogen and other renewables projects and on coal plant closure. He has acted on some of the largest energy M&A transactions in Australia and on the establishment of multiple renewable energy platforms.

Peter has over 17 years of experience in the energy sector both in Australia and across Europe, and has led Baringa’s Australian practice since it opened in January 2018.

Peter has worked in a diverse range of areas, including policy and regulation, business case analysis, asset valuation, transaction advisory and market due diligence, cutting across all asset classes including large-scale thermal, renewables, interconnectors, pumped storage, reciprocating engines and battery storage. He has worked with the whole spectrum of energy clients, including government, regulators, system operators, utilities, project developers, investment and infrastructure funds, lenders, network businesses and industry bodies.

Peter has led the development of the Australian NEM Reference Case, and is a trusted advisor to developers, investors and lenders in the Australian market.

Heidi Sick is an industry recognised energy leader that helps clients navigate the fast-paced transition to a cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy future. As the need for commercialising sustainable energy sources, improving infrastructure and improving efficiency accelerates, she brings extensive experience in renewables and the integration of these technologies into the overall energy system.

Her experience spans project and people management across the complete life-cycle of major complex energy projects.

As the Deputy Chair of the Australian Power Institute, Heidi’s leadership and commitment in transitioning to a clean energy future is founded in her purpose to make a positive impact.

Antony is a senior infrastructure professional with over 20 years of advisory and investment experience across APAC and Europe. Antony is head of RBC Capital Market’s Australian Power, Utilities and Infrastructure business in Australia.
Antony spent over a decade at Goldman Sachs, where he held the position of Head of Power, Utilities and Infrastructure Australia and New Zealand. Antony joined Goldman from CitiGroup Global Markets in London, where he was a member of the European Utilities team.