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Michael Myer
Executive Chairman
Michael is a serial entrepreneur with experience in start-up ventures and sustainable development. He is passionate about bringing engineering and economic resources to projects to support our social and environmental challenges.
Michael started Queensland biggest venture capital fund CMC Ventures which built a multi-billion portfolio of investee companies.
He was Director of Myer Family Investments Pty Ltd, one of Australia’s largest private wealth holding companies, for over a decade.
He was a Director and Head of Business Development for Australia’s first high tech companies to list on the NASDAQ, QRS Inc. and Head of Asia Pacific sales for its predecessor PRJ & Associates.
Michael has been a leading practitioner of conservation sustainable development in the country having developed “Sunrise at 1770” at Agnes Water on the Great Barrier Reef. This development won the award for the Best Environmental Development in Queensland in 2007 (UDIA), the Best Environmental Development in Australia in 2008 (UDIA), and then the Silver Medal for the Best Environmental Development in the world (FBICA) in 2009.
As a grandson of Sidney Myer, founder of Myer Store, Michael has developed an extensive network and an ability to work with high level government and business leaders.
ROLE
Michael is closely involved in the development of hydrogen business and commercialising Sunshine Hydro’s projects. He plays a vital role in forming strategic partnerships and guiding the company’s vision.
Rick McElhinney
B.E(hon) / MIEAust
Chief Executive Officer and Director (CEO)
Rick is an experienced entrepreneur and angel investor, and a recognised author and speaker. His experience and interest in engineering and renewable energy underpins his skill in bringing start-ups to fruition through leadership.
Rick has experience on major infrastructure projects with Sinclair Knight & Partners in Australia and Sandwell Engineering (Ausenco) in Canada. He founded a US-based engineering software company CAD/CAM International, taken public in 1987, that is well-known for providing computer solutions to engineering companies.
Rick has held board positions in manufacturing and technology companies within the US, Canada and Australia. He was a shareholder and CFO in renewable energy company, Eco-kinetics, which grew from start-up to exceeding $100m in revenues in four years. The company was sold to ASX listed CBD Energy in 2010.
Rick is also a founder of Founders Forum, Gold Coast Angels, and Brisbane Angels and was awarded a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Association of Angel Investors in 2011.
Rick wrote the book “Using AutoCAD”, co-wrote “Commercialising Innovation” and has written articles for numerous industry magazines. He has also been a speaker at countless technology conferences, University programs and events for industry organisations and company technology days in the US and Australia.
ROLE
Rick sets the company’s strategy and works to execute it effectively, keeping everyone focused on the task. He is responsible for managing the company’s resources and the day-to-day operations.
Chris Baker
MIEAust / CPEng / RPEQ / APEC Engineer / Int PE (Aus)
Founder, Director and CTO
Chris is a civil and software engineer with an impressive ability to understand the deep details as well as the broad picture of several technical fields including software development, energy technology and geological terrains. He builds rapport effortlessly among business partners, team members and project communities.
Chris’s company, Creative Engineering Australia Pty Ltd, has previously developed software for geometric design of highways and complex highway interchanges, and other major civil engineering projects. The software has been translated into French, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, and Hungarian and has been used in 42 countries worldwide for a variety of infrastructure projects.
Chris is also a joint venture partner in Eco Boats Australia Pty Ltd, a leading marine electro-mobility company with offices in Sydney and Brisbane. Chris has been the technical lead for the design and implementation of electrical propulsion systems.
ROLE
Chris oversees our project portfolio. He leads the modelling team ensuring technically and economically sound business cases and is personally involved in securing lands for the key projects.
Virpi Barrett
MSc Energy Technology
Director of Green Energy Commerce
For more than 20 years in the energy sector in Europe and in Australia, Virpi’s career has been centred around energy trading. She is a senior leader who has seen the industry from the perspective of a developer, generator, system operator, retailer, large user and community energy group. She holds a MSc in environmental technologies of energy production.
Virpi was pivotal in the journey of Australia’s first community-owned renewable electricity retailer Enova Energy, from the initial fundraising to establishing and managing the wholesale functions, achieving the highest ranking in Green Electricity Guide by Greenpeace 2022 (10+/10) among many other awards.
With E.ON Energy Trading in Germany Virpi ensured compliant cross-border transfer of retail positions across 14 countries with annual value of 15 billion EUR. She also chaired E.ON Group’s multinational forum mandated to prioritise new sales product implementations and complex risk transfers across Europe.
In her early career, Virpi worked in a radiation control department in Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant in Finland and for the Finnish transmission system operator. She has also managed industrial, commercial and public procurement portfolios totalling about 1.5 % of her home country’s energy market (1.8 TWh pa).
Virpi is currently also a non-executive director of Geni.Energy, developing community energy solutions in Narrabri region.
ROLE
Virpi’s role is to negotiate the upstream and downstream off-take agreements, including wind and solar purchases and sales of 24/7 carbon-free electricity and green fuels.
Dan Raymond
Dip. Civil Eng / B.Env Sc (AES) / Cert. Journalism / Cert. Group Trainer and Facilitator
Director of Project Development
Dan is a highly regarded project development specialist combining over forty-eight years’ experience in civil engineering, environmental engineering, sustainable infrastructure, environmental assessment and approvals, project management, team leadership, public consultation, negotiation, policy development, risk assessment and strategic planning in Australia and Internationally. Dan is an acknowledged expert in the field of project, approvals, sustainability, renewable energy, climate adaptation and environmental impact assessment.
He is recognised for his integration of multi-disciplinary skills, innovative and visionary approach and complex reasoning and analysis capabilities into the development process.
He has in-depth expertise in all aspects of renewable energy, mining and resources, land and urban development, civil and built infrastructure, especially pumped hydro, BESS, Hydrogen production, roads and highways, water supply, water storage, waste and wastewater. He specialises in the determining swift approval pathways and environmental, economic and social impact analysis for development, infrastructure, energy and resource projects. He has detailed expertise in sustainability, risk and environmental management systems design, their appraisal and audit, sustainable development, sustainable infrastructure planning and design, community consultation, government negotiations at all levels and project management.
He has extensive experience in assessing and modelling developments, climate and climate change, water, wastewater, solar, pumped hydro, flow battery and other deep storage, hydrogen and wind energy systems. Dan has strong connections in the emerging flow battery space.
He is a qualified civil engineer, trainer and facilitator, a qualified journalist and an experienced negotiator.
ROLE
Dan leads the execution phase of Sunshine Hydro’s projects. He coordinates between various stakeholders to ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget.
Edward Hickson
B Eng. & B Comm
Director of Green Fuels
Edward Hickson (B Eng. & B Comm, Sydney University) is a highly successful agricultural entrepreneur. He uses his farming, engineering and project development skills to create exciting future facing businesses.
Ed grew up on a sheep farm in northwest NSW. After studying engineering and commerce at university he returned home to diversify the family farming business into irrigated cropping.
While looking for ways to better utilise irrigation water, he became interested in nut crops: a higher value product – compared to cash crops like wheat and cotton – without the high labour demands and perishability of other horticultural crops.
In 2012 Hickson started a pecan orchard upstream of his irrigated cropping business. In partnership with two high net-worth private investors, Hickson has created a 500ha irrigated pecan orchard – the largest privately owned pecan farm in Australia.
Over the past two years Sunshine Hydro and Ed have developed a special purpose partnership company to develop the Dumaresq Superhybrid™ project on his land.
ROLE
Ed is the Director of Green Fuels for Sunshine Hydro where he brings his agricultural, engineering, business development and operations skills to bear on our green fuels projects
Kevin Peakman
B.Eng (Chem) (Hons)
Director of Hydrogen Initiative
Kevin is an honours graduate in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, London University. He is leading the development of hydrogen production and hydrogen derived products including the conversion of biomass to liquid fuels including SAF.
He has 40 years of experience with hydrogen production and hydrocarbon processing, including steam reformer plant design and operation, electrolyser operation, hydrocarbon cracking, catalysed reaction technology operation, and liquid hydrocarbons storage, handling and distribution at both ambient and cryogenic temperatures.
Kevin is a member of several Standards Australia technical committees dedicated to developing and maintaining standards in the clean energy space, including hydrogen. He is also on the panel of experts assisting with the writing of the next version of the Australian Dangerous Goods rules.
Kevin was previously responsible for developing BOC’s clean energy technology, including LNG and Hydrogen. He developed BOC’s LNG and hydrogen fuel chain supply networks which involved the development of hydrogen production, distribution and refuelling technologies, as well as other customer solutions. Kevin was responsible for designing and building two micro LNG plants, the LNG distribution and supply chain equipment, and LNG Fuel Dispensing Systems.
He is particularly skilled in the art of the design and building smaller scale processing plant at a relative cost equal to or better than that expected for large scale plant.
Kevin had worked in the chemical industry and industrial gases in the UK, USA and Australia.
ROLE
Kevin’s expertise in hydrogen, methanol, and liquid hydrocarbon fuels and other molecular forms of energy is pivotal in the development the green fuel business as a standalone and as a critical part of any Superhybrid™.
David Wolfenden
Dip Tech (Civil Eng) / B.Eng, Dip Mgt / FIE Aust / LGE / FIMEA
Director Site Identification and Analysis
David is a civil engineer who throughout his 42-year Australian career has experienced many aspects of engineering and senior management. David also has experience in agriculture and working with landholders, and he works in a collaborative and environmentally sensitive manner.
David is well recognised within NSW local government circles for his thorough and comprehensive approach and his ability to get cost-effective results. His experience as general manager of a civil engineering and construction company provides him with an in-depth understanding of the challenges associated with major design and construction projects.
Key projects include road construction, water and sewer schemes, and bridge replacements – all in the multi-million-dollar budget range and requiring detailed planning and stringent cost control. David has previously managed an infrastructure asset portfolio of $300+ million and an annual budget of $27m (2006).
ROLE
David focuses on the identification and analysis of pumped hydro and green fuel production sites, including general location, site suitability , initial environmental assessment, physical and legal site access, availability of power, water, service centres, potential biomass supply and off-take demand.
Tim Cummings
B.Sc (Maths) / B.E (Chem) / GCBA
Principal Software Engineer
Tim is a software engineer, mathematician and chemical engineer. He can simplify and code the complex decision making and modelling required to optimise performance and interactions of multi-component systems such as Sunshine Hydro’s Superhybrid™.
Tim’s own company, Triptera Pty Ltd, has been developing software for engineering and business applications since 1995. Tim’s skills in engineering, mathematical modelling, financial accounting, business and logistics provide a sound basis for the code he develops in these fields. He has been a consultant for alumina, oil and gas refineries including performing pinch analysis of energy flows and software design for energy trading risk management. He has also worked in business and industrial manufacturing where interlinking data from separate systems and providing functional user interfaces are important.
Most of Tim’s software development has been in Java and Python. He presents to the Brisbane Java JVM Users and in 2018 founded the Beginners’ Python and Machine Learning group which now has 2500 members, where he presents in person and on Youtube live streaming. At Jeremy Howard’s Fast AI course in Brisbane in 2021 Tim and his team were finalists in the machine-learning challenge.
ROLE
Tim has created the AESOP software at the core of Sunshine Hydro’s Superhybrid™. He leads the team focused on IT, including development of the software, scenario modelling and running the digital twins.
James Shaw
New Zealand Strategy Advisor
The Hon. James Shaw is an accomplished leader with a passion for climate action. He has a remarkable political career as the leader of the New Zealand Green Party and diverse management consulting experience in London.
James served in the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2014-2024 and as Climate Change Minister in Dame Jacinda Ardern’s government from 2017-2023.
James is now an Operating Partner at global infrastructure investment management company Morrison and is on the Board of WWF New Zealand and Air New Zealand’s Sustainability Advisory Panel. He is also Director of Climate Opportunity and Global Development for Greenbridge Capital Management.
James also advises and supports several climate and nature related start-ups and not-for-profit organisations including Sunshine Hydro.
The architect of New Zealand’s net-zero framework, James brokered bi-partisan support for the Zero Carbon Act, reforms to the NZ Emission Trading Scheme, and the world’s first climate related financial disclosures regime and established Green Investment Finance Ltd.
Prior to entering politics, James had a 15-year career as a consultant based in London, working with clients all over the world. He has an MSc in sustainability and business leadership from the University of Bath School of Management.
ROLE
James provides advice to the Leadership team in developing and implementing the Superhybrid™ and green fuel strategy in the New Zealand context, including the biomass and biodiversity aspects of the business.
Neil Thompson
Superhybrid Strategy Advisor
As a professional management consultant, Neil has dedicated himself to identifying core problems and issues in business then creating strategic solutions that eliminate waste and build the foundation for success. He brings more than 25 years of experience guiding teams as they launch leading-edge business solutions.
Neil has been Adjunct Associate Professor of the Institute for Future Environments at Queensland University of Technology since 2009, developing Integrated Sustainable Design (ISD) IP for consulting engineers and board advisory firms. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor at The University of Western Australia focusing on ASX200 best practices to achieve net zero by 2050.
Neil is Visiting Fellow at The Australian National University, building on their research into 20,000 potential pumped hydro sites and developing a priority list of 16 sites suitable for Superhybrid™ ecosystems. Neil is also Managing Director of ITM Power, who manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions, including PEM electrolysers.
ROLE
Neil provides advice to the Leadership team in the development and implementation of the Superhybrid™ strategy, and in positioning the company to capitalize on opportunities and mitigate associated risks.
Neil also advocates to the Federal Government and related bodies such as AEMO via pro-bono university roles such as at the ANU, helping create the required policy settings within the National Electricity Market which ensure the success of the Superhybrid™ model.
Sorin Lupulescu
Pumped Hydro Technology Advisor
Sorin is a professional engineer and a specialist in hydropower operations and maintenance with over 30 years of asset management experience in the Australian power generation industry.
Sorin was the manager of Wivenhoe Power Station for over 10 years. Wivenhoe’s twin hydro machines (pump-turbine-generator sets) remain the largest and most powerful hydro machines in South East Asia and part of Queensland’s only pumped hydro plant.
Sorin worked with Tarong Energy and CS Energy, the successive owners of Wivenhoe Pumped Storage Hydro, as well as Hydro Tasmania, where he held the role of power schemes engineering manager, Fluor Global as operations engineer, and in his earlier career, as a maintenance engineer with Macquarie Generation at Bayswater Power Station.
ROLE
Sorin provides technical expertise and advice on all aspects of pumped hydro technology. This includes advising on the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of pumped hydro facilities.·
Donovan Burton
Climate Risk Advisor
Donovan is a highly experienced climate change practitioner with a diverse portfolio of experience. He specialises in climate governance and integrated scenario development.
Over the past 18 years Donovan has worked on over 350 climate change projects in Australia, Asia, the Pacific Island Nations and New Zealand. During this time, he has worked with financial organisations, property developers, infrastructure providers, transport networks, ports, information technology companies, insurers, UN agencies, research organisations and all levels of government.
Donovan is currently a Director of Informed.City where he supports clients in making informed decisions on climate-related issues, specialising in climate change adaptation, climate-related financial disclosure and climate-related governance. Donovan is also a member of the UNEP World Adaptation Science Program Working Group on Adaptation Effectiveness.
ROLE
Donovan assists in identifying, assessing, and managing climate risks to Sunshine Hydro. He provides up-to-date information on the latest climate science and policy developments and advises Sunshine Hydro’s leadership on climate risk issues.
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