Spotlight On: Hydro Tasmania CEO Ian Brooksbank

Hydro Tasmania CEO Ian Brooksbank talks with staff
Hydro Tasmania CEO Ian Brooksbank with staff

Having officially been appointed CEO of Hydro Tasmania, Ian Brooksbank tells Energy Source & Distribution he’s proud to be at the helm at such a pivotal time in the organisation’s history, building on an incredible hydropower legacy for the benefit of future generations.

Brooksbank is an accountant by trade, father of three, and—in his own words—“a keen but average golfer”. 

He has worked across most of the energy supply chain in financial and operational leadership roles, holding senior operational leadership roles for some of Australia’s largest generation assets. This has given him great exposure to the role electricity plays in supporting and growing Australia’s communities, businesses and industries.

“I am passionate about the opportunity to make a difference, to be a part of Australia’s clean energy future and that’s why I wanted to join an organisation that has already made an incredible contribution in renewables,” Brooksbank explains.

Related article: Hydro Tasmania appoints Brooksbank as CEO

Gordon Dam (Image: Hydro Tasmania)

“I began with Hydro Tasmania as chief financial officer in 2019. This was a perfect opportunity for me to share my commercial and financial insights to support Hydro Tasmania’s growth strategy and to guide effective and sustainable commercial management.

“I seized the opportunity to step into the role of acting chief executive officer at a transformational time in the business’ history. Recognising the unprecedented change that was occurring in the energy industry, Hydro Tasmania had positioned itself to become more resilient and more agile, ready to take advantage of the opportunities that would be created.”

Having been at the helm of Hydro Tasmania as acting CEO and now officially as CEO, Brooksbank says he’s inspired by the people behind the power generation.

“Hydro Tasmania is full of passionate, dedicated and hardworking people and I have been inspired by what they achieve in all aspects of our business.

“For me, the opportunity to visit our operational sites and interstate offices, talking directly to our people has been enriching and inspiring. It certainly opened my eyes to the complexity and breadth of our business across electricity generation, providing consulting services through Entura and customer care through our retail arm, Momentum Energy.

“With the support of the leadership team, we have guided Hydro Tasmania through a challenging time in our industry, providing stability and clear direction and delivering excellent outcomes.”

Brooksbank says the strength and success of any team comes down to organisational culture.

“For me, our people are our power. Culture is what will drive success and allow Hydro Tasmania to deliver on our strategies and goals. I am passionate about investing in, and prioritising as a business, genuine and positive sustained change in our culture and the role all of our people play in creating an environment of belonging, value, diversity and inclusion. 

“Having spent much of my working life in regional areas of Australia on operational sites, I can see how far we have come in building positive, diverse cultures—but there is still much more to do. I’m humbled and excited about the opportunity to lead Hydro Tasmania on the journey to achieve our ambitions both in terms of the growth in our asset base and to become the type of organisation we aspire to be. By getting that right, people will join us, stay with us, develop and grow with us and enjoy their whole experience with us.”

Another top priority is progressing Hydro Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation ambitions. With AEMO signalling the need for an increasingly rapid transition to renewables, Battery of the Nation and Marinus Link are more relevant than ever. But how quickly can these projects be scaled to answer the call?

“Hydro Tasmania is committed to bringing Battery of the Nation from vision to reality and to be ready to take advantage of the market opportunities for Tasmania created by the new 1500MW Marinus Link interconnector,” Brooksbank says.

“Basslink is 500MW of capacity, which gives you an idea of the opportunity for Tasmania to provide even more clean, reliable and affordable power. Marinus Link is the key for us—more interconnection unlocks the potential of our significant hydropower resources and we stand ready to support the country’s future energy market transition.

“It’s very encouraging to see strong ongoing government support at state and federal levels, recognising the importance these projects will play in Australia’s clean energy future and decarbonisation ambitions.”

Clean, renewable and a provider of dispatchable power, hydropower clearly has an integral role to play in Australia’s evolving energy market—with pumped hydro being particularly important when the grid is transitioning to a variable renewable future. 

“It is essentially about filling the gaps in supply when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing,” Brooksbank says.

“[Using pumped hydro] we can make best use of excess wind and solar generation in times of plenty. The energy doesn’t go to waste as it can be used to recharge our hydropower battery by pumping water back uphill to the upper storage ready to generate when needed. 

“For Tasmania, having existing infrastructure is a great advantage in terms of cost and speed to build pumped hydro and it is one of the reasons why we have the most cost-effective pumped hydro potential going.”

Our conversation turns to capacity upgrades for the Tarraleah scheme—one of the oldest currently operating in Tasmania.

“Tarraleah is a great example of the potential to repurpose existing hydropower assets to better align to future market opportunities and deliver more capacity from the same water resource,” Brooksbank explains.

“With support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), we looked at how to reimagine the scheme to increase capacity and flexibility—all valuable requirements for the future energy market. A redevelopment could see a contemporary new station delivering up to 220MW of flexible hydropower capacity (double the current capacity).

“We’ve reached a milestone on that exciting journey. The federal government recently announced a funding commitment that, together with investment from us and Tasmania, has triggered the start of assessing the commercial viability of redevelopment and a program of site upgrade works that help position the scheme for the future.”

With more than two decades of experience in the energy sector, Brooksbank has observed a great deal in a sector that’s rapidly evolving. 

Australia’s bold decarbonisation aspirations are already playing out in the market at pace, he says, with much higher penetrations of new clean energy sources such as wind and solar.

“The challenge often talked in this context is the energy trilemma of reliability, affordability and sustainability. But I believe the challenge becomes the opportunity. The electricity industry, our regulators and government can work collectively on the roadmap and the solutions that will bring the orderly, stable transition to this new energy future. 

“The challenge will be creating the long-term energy and climate policy that provides a framework for investment and market confidence. From Hydro Tasmania’s perspective, we have advocated for the policy mechanisms and measures that will bring lasting confidence, stability and certainty for the market as it undergoes disruption and change (for the better).

“Tasmania is on the cusp of an exciting future, powered by Battery of the Nation and Marinus Link, leveraging our natural advantages to grow our clean energy contribution. We have abundant, low-cost wind resources and hydropower potential and an incredible renewable energy legacy that positions us to lead the way. 

“We’re already demonstrating Tasmania’s expertise and innovation on the national stage with ground breaking projects on Flinders and King Island, where we are integrating renewables and moving communities away from a reliance on fossil fuels and diesel.

“We also have very clever teams who are making strong inroads into the market innovations that will drive our future. As the energy market evolves, we know the system will require more storage and the contract market will need to innovate to encourage new products. We’re continuing to look at the evolving market and the future commercial opportunities.

“I am passionate about realising these opportunities not just for Hydro Tasmania but for our state and Australia. It will bring enormous benefits flowing back in affordable power, much needed jobs, investment revenue and increased returns for the state to support vital infrastructure.” 

Related article: Hydro Tasmania launches progressive parental leave policy

Tarraleah penstocks (Image: Hydro Tasmania)

Back to the future

Ian Brooksbank recently unveiled an EV charger at the site of Hydro Tasmania’s very first power station, Waddamana.

Located in Tasmania’s geographic centre, the charger will fill an existing gap for EV motorists driving between the Bothwell/Kempton area in the south and the state’s north. It will also serve to attract more visitors to the area to enjoy the Waddamana heritage experience.

Brooksbank said the EV charger, supplied by Hobart-based renewable power company I Want Energy, will be free to use and available during the site’s opening hours.

“Hydro Tasmania is proud to launch this EV charging station open to the public, supporting greater uptake of the technology to helping reduce emissions,” he said.

“Hydro Tasmania is as committed to providing the state with renewable energy solutions as it was over 100 years ago.”

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