The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has welcomed three new members to its board.
Outgoing board members Jonathan Jutsen, Maria Atkinson AM and Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO will conclude their terms this week.
The new board members are: Samantha Hogg, chair of Tasmanian Irrigation and current board member of Hydro Tasmania; Dougal McOmish, CEO of Sundrop Farms; and Stephanie Unwin, CEO of Phylogica, a biotech and medical devices company in Western Australia, and current board member of Zenith Energy.
The three new appointees join three current board members including ARENA chair Martijn Wilder AM, Meg McDonald and Susan Jeanes who have been reappointed.
The new members were appointed by Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg to two-year terms.
ARENA chair Martijn Wilder thanked the outgoing board members for their contribution.
“I would like to extend my thanks to all our outgoing board members Maria, Katherine and Jonathan for their efforts over the last two years including their work to set the ARENA’s investment priorities which include grid security and reliability, accelerating solar PV, energy productivity and exporting renewables,” Mr Wilder said.
“In the last two years, ARENA has had a significant impact – running the $92 million competitive round for large scale solar, a $36 million demand response trial with AEMO and the NSW Government.
“ARENA has also contributed funding to major pumped hydro feasibility studies, grid scale batteries in Victoria and South Australia and early stage research and development of solar PV and hydrogen.
“We are delighted to welcome our new board members to ARENA, who bring with them many years of collective wisdom drawn from leadership roles across the energy sector and from working in innovative businesses across the country.”
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht also thanked the outgoing board members for their contributions, and welcomed the new board members.
“ARENA has busy years ahead, with a very promising pipeline of projects ranging from virtual power plants to waste-to-energy projects, so we look forward to working with the new board to power ahead and continue building on what we’ve accomplished over the last six years,” he said.
“ARENA is sitting at the forefront of the transformation of Australia’s energy system, so this is an exciting time for a new board to join us on our journey to accelerate Australia’s smooth transition to a renewable energy future.
“The new board members bring with them expertise in leading innovation in agriculture, biotechnology and the electricity sector so we’re excited.”
