New appointments to ARENA board

The Australian Government has announced the appointments of Samantha Hogg, Dougal McOmish and Stephanie Unwin to the board of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), commencing today (18 April).

The new appointees join Chair Martijn Wilder AM and board members Susan Jeanes and Margaret McDonald, who continue in their current roles. The news was revealed by Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg, who claimed 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.

Hogg is the chairman of Tasmanian Irrigation, a director of Hydro Tasmania and formerly the chief financial officer of Transurban. 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. Unwin has meanwhile held a range of senior positions in the energy and resources industries, including general manager commercial at Synergy and General Counsel at Verge Energy, and is currently the CEO of biomedical company Phylogica.

Frydenberg congratulated the new board members on their appointments and thanked the outgoing board members — Maria Atkinson AM, Jon Jutsen and Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO — for their 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,” he said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/3dmentat