New appointments to the board of the Australian Renewable Energy agency

PRESS RELEASE

The Australian Government is pleased to announce new appointments to the Board of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Ms Samantha Hogg, Mr Dougal McOmish and Ms Stephanie Unwin will begin their terms on 18 April 2018. They will join the Chair, Mr Martijn Wilder AM, and Board members, Ms Susan Jeanes and Ms Margaret McDonald, who continue in their current roles.

Together, the new Board possesses the skills and experience necessary to continue driving ARENA in its mission to increase the supply and lower the cost of renewable energy in Australia.

Mr Wilder is the Head of Baker and McKenzie’s Global Environmental Markets Practice. Among other roles, he is also an Adjunct Professor of Climate Change Law at the Australian National University and Chair of the NSW Government’s Climate Change Council.

Ms Hogg is the Chairman of Tasmanian Irrigation and a director of Hydro Tasmania. She was previously the Chief Financial Officer of Transurban.

Mr McOmish is the Chief Operating Officer of Sundrop Farms, an agriculture company pioneering sustainable production methods using desalinated sea water and greenhouses powered by concentrated solar thermal technology. Sundrop’s first facility is in South Australia.

Ms Unwin has held a range of senior positions in the energy and resources industries, including General Manager Commercial at Synergy and General Counsel at Verge Energy. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Phylogica, an Australian biomedical company.

Ms Jeanes is a director at Jeanes Holland and Associates, which assists companies developing and promoting sustainability. She was formerly Chief Executive Office of the Australian Geothermal Energy Association and Renewable Energy Generators Australia.

Ms McDonald is a director of National Corporate Analysis and was formerly the Chief Operating Officer of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Chief Executive Officer of Low Carbon Australia Limited.

On behalf of the Government, I congratulate the new Board members on their appointments. I also thank the outgoing members, Ms Maria Atkinson AM, Mr Jon Jutsen and Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO, for their outstanding service to ARENA. Each has made a significant contribution drawing on their specific areas of expertise which include environmentally sustainable building design, energy efficiency, carbon management and corporate governance.