AEMO Chief Executive Matt Zema dies

The managing director and chief executive of the Australian Energy Market Operator, Matt Zema, died suddenly on Saturday, the organisation said in a statement.

Zema, aged 55, died on Saturday. He had led the organisation, with runs Australia’ National Electricity Market and more recently took over the running of the South West Interconnected System in West Australia, since its creation in 2008.

“On behalf of all AEMO, we extend our heartfelt sympathies and condolences, and strongest support to Matt’s wife Teresa, their son Demetrio, and the Zema family and friends at this difficult time,” said AEMO Chair Dr Tony Marxsen in a statement.

“Matt has been not just our leader, but the heart and soul of this organisation for eight years. This is a great loss for not only our people and our organisation, but for the Australian and international energy communities.” said Dr Marxsen.

Zema had previously been CEO of the Victorian Energy Networks Corporation (VENCorp) which was responsible for operating the principal transmission system for gas in Victoria and for the planning, procurement and augmentation of the Victorian electricity transmission network.

Prior to this, Mr Zema worked in general management roles with PowerNet Victoria, GPU PowerNet and GPU International. Zema was appointed by the Federal Government to the independent expert panel review of the Renewable Energy Target in 2014.

“Matt’s deep knowledge, passion and commitment to the energy sector and the wider Australian community will be remembered and we will continue to build on Matt’s legacy and work harder than ever to make AEMO an even better organisation, to the benefit of Australian energy consumers,” said Dr Marxsen.

AEMO Executive General Manager Stakeholders and Information Karen Olesnicky has been appointed acting Chief Executive Officer and has the full support of the AEMO Board and Executive Leadership Team.