Energy Talks by Qld Energy Club

Thursday 29 January 2026

Introducing Associate Professor Simon Smart and Professor Belinda Wade from The University of Queensland.

Australia’s climate transition is moving forward, but are we actually on track to reach net zero by 2050? 

In this episode of Energy Talks, Associate Professor Simon Smart and Professor Belinda Wade, both members of the Net Zero Australia Steering Committee, unpack the project’s latest findings including updated modelling of Australia's decarbonisation pathways and the team's inaugural Progress Tracker. 

Together, they explore what the modelling really says about renewable build rates, firming, carbon removals, infrastructure requirements and the scale of investment ahead. Just as importantly, they examine the non-technical challenges now shaping Australia’s transition: approvals bottlenecks, workforce capacity, community trust and the social licence needed to deliver projects at speed. 

With Queensland set to play a central role in the energy transition, this conversation highlights what’s working, where momentum is slowing, and what it will take to align ambition with delivery. 

Belinda and Simon are part of the wider Net Zero Australia team. The Net Zero Australia reports reflect the work of a large interdisciplinary project team. For full authorship and attribution, please refer to the reports available at: https://www.netzeroaustralia.net.au/

If you want clear, evidence-based insights into Australia’s net zero journey, this episode is essential listening.

The Queensland Energy Club welcomes Associate Professor Simon Smart and Professor Belinda Wade as our guest speakers for Episode 16 of ‘Energy Talks’.

Wednesday 20 August 2025 

Introducing Greg Elkins, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Global Power Energy.    

Global Power Energy is an advisory firm led by experts with extensive technical, regulatory and commercial experience across AEMO, generators, networks, and OEMs. Their team brings whole-of-system thinking to every engagement, offering system-wide insight and practical solutions - a one-stop shop for renewable energy project requirements.

With offices around Australia, Global Power Energy is home to over 500 years operational and regulatory experience in its leadership and specialist teams alone - a purpose-built consultancy that truly knows the power system from end-to-end. Their strength lies in translating technical knowledge into strategic thinking and commercial model design. 

Greg started his career in Townsville, Queensland. Then he joined AEMO as Manager of Network development at the time, which eventually turned into National Connections. After some time, he started Global Power Energy during COVID. After winning his first big client, the company just grew from there, into what it is today. 

In this podcast, Greg will discuss his journey from Townsville to leading Global Power Energy, his approach, questioning assumptions, balancing economics with engineering, driving collaboration and demonstrating where his point of difference lies, which is exactly what Queensland's energy future needs. 

The Queensland Energy Club welcomes Greg Elkins as our guest speaker for Episode 15 of ‘Energy Talks’.

Friday 25 July 2025 

Introducing Kyu Hong Lee, Chief Strategy Officer at Elecseed.   

Elecseed is a progressive Renewable Energy Developer and Consultancy providing innovation, technical eminence, funding, and multifaceted solutions to deal with the paradigm shift in how we generate, manage, and consume energy. 

With offices in Seoul Korea and Brisbane Australia, Elecseed identifies and leads specific market needs, not only to propel our drive to a greener future but also satisfy the immediate economic needs and demands. 

Kyu is an advocate of sustainability and passionate about clean technology. With a military background as a Captain in the Korean Airforce, Kyu went on to establish Orange Project Group and Elecseed Lab, foreign direct investment consultancy and development companies in the construction and renewables sector respectively. Through these companies his focus in bringing people together and setting up sound organisational and financial structure with international partners has taken shape. 

In this podcast, Kyu will discuss: doing business between Australia and Korea, the good synergy between the two countries; the challenges faced; and why the Koreans are investing in clean energy technology in Australia. 

The Queensland Energy Club welcomes Kyu Hong Lee as our guest speaker for Episode 14 of ‘Energy Talks’. 

Introducing James Allan, a Senior Director at Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, who leads Quinbrook’s Digital Strategies.

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners is an ESG-focused, ‘value add’ investment manager with a specialist focus on low carbon and renewable energy supply, storage, grid stability, and flexibility services including the algorithmic optimisation of dispatchable power assets using advanced AI data science.
James led Quinbrook’s acquisition of Habitat Energy in 2021 and has been involved with the wider Quinbrook investment team focusing on wind, solar, storage, green data centres, green hydrogen and decentralised investment strategies such as virtual power plants. He is responsible for the firm’s digital strategies including machine learning based algorithmic trading, hourly tracing and matching of renewable power and approaches to advanced weather prediction.

In this podcast, James will discuss three key topics: The next stage of grid decarbonization requires storage at scale to leverage abundant variable renewable energy; Green power delivered on a 24/7 basis is the ‘Holy Grail’ that will underpin future industry, from green data centers to green fuels and critical minerals; and Major power users increasingly need to be able to trace, on an auditable basis, the source of their hourly consumption as a pre-requisite to their social license and business case.

The Queensland Energy Club welcomes James Allan as our guest speaker for Episode 12 of ‘Energy Talks’.

Wednesday 29 March 2023

Introducing Andrew Bills, the Chief Executive Officer of CS Energy, a large Queensland-based generation company. He has over 25 years experience in the energy industry across the public and private sectors, covering power generation, retail supply, distribution, LPG and energy trading. Andrew’s previous roles include Executive roles at Origin Energy, Babcock and Brown Power, Stanwell Corporation and as a Director at PwC.

In this podcast, Andrew will discuss his journey as the CEO of CS Energy and his perspective on leadership during a time of crisis. Andrew discusses significant high-profile events that have taken place during his tenure, including the C4 incident as well as a cyber-attack, but focuses on how he has responded to such crises as a leader.
Andrew emphasises that the key to responding to a crisis is to prioritise people's safety, security, and well-being. He shares his thoughts on what he has learned as a leader, including the importance of collaboration, communication, and having a clear and consistent vision for the organisation.

The Queensland Energy Club welcomes Andrew Bills as our guest speaker for Episode 10 of ‘Energy Talks’.

Episode 11: Energy Talks. ‘FINNISH HYDROGEN START UP VISITS QUEENSLAND’ 

Wednesday 29 March 2023 

Introducing Matti Malkamäki, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Hycamite TCD Technologies, in conversation with Conrad Gaudin, Founder and CEO of Otec Pacific. Matti is a serial cleantech / deeptech entrepreneur and an active member of various hydrogen-related entities.

In this podcast, Matti will discuss Hycamite and how it could kick start Australia's Hydrogen aspirations in the industry and marine sectors. 

Hycamite is a Finnish fast growing and award-winning company that produces affordable, clean hydrogen and solid high-value industrial-grade carbon products by splitting (bio)methane with a thermo-catalytic process.

Hycamite provides a “last-mile hydrogen solution” – enabling companies to switch quickly to use hydrogen, without waiting for other hydrogen production or infrastructure to be completed. 

The Queensland Energy Club welcomes Matti Malkamäki as our guest speaker in conversation with Conrad Gaudin for Episode 11 of ‘Energy Talks’.

Introducing James Harman, CEO EDL

James Harman is a highly experienced executive who, over the last six years, has led EDL’s rapid global expansion – including investing in biomethane-to-transportation-fuel projects and biomethane-to-electricity projects in North America; and delivering innovative large-scale hybrid renewable microgrid projects in remote areas of Australia.

As the world seeks to decarbonise, there is no one size fits all solution. Many different technologies and parts of the economy will play their role.

In this podcast, James shares how EDL has been decarbonising for over 30 years, well before this was the norm. He discusses some of the opportunities he sees for Queensland to learn from what’s already working well in other areas of the world – including remote hybrid renewable power in WA and NT here in Australia, as well as the growing renewable natural gas industry in the United States
and Europe.

The Queensland Energy Club once again welcomes James Harman as our guest speaker for Episode 9 of ‘Energy Talks’.

Introducing Malcolm Rushin, who has led GHD’s hydrogen and future fuels offering in Australia since 2018. He now leads GHD’s Australian Future Energy offering which incorporates the significant GHD power business as well as future fuels.

Malcolm has significant experience as a Project Director, Project Manager and Study manager for complex process-oriented projects and has recently completed a number of studies for low carbon hydrogen production and transportation.

Since 2015 Malcolm has led a number and variety of projects intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the carbon footprint of Client’s operations. He has over 30 years of experience in the Oil & Gas and Hazardous Chemicals Industries in Australia and the UK that has included significant periods in design, project management, construction, commissioning and operations.

The Queensland Energy Club welcomes Malcolm, in conversation with Dan Brown for Episode 8 of ‘Energy Talks’.

Introducing Chris Wade, former CEO of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), joined by Dr. Heidi Edmonds Project Manager, Queensland Projects, at Beyond Zero Emissions, and also in conversation with Joseph O’Brien, Director and co-founder CopperString 2.0.

Chris has over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership, project development and investment across the infrastructure, clean energy and property sectors. During his time at NAIF, Chris led a significant enterprise change program to transform NAIF’s investment commitments during his tenure.  

Prior to Chris’s time at NAIF, he had a senior role at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) where he led the development of their infrastructure and property business.

Chris maintains a strong interest and passion for Northern Australia and its development and economic potential. 

In this podcast, Chris, Heidi and Joseph discuss their experience, reflections and energy developments, and how they see Northern Australia positioned for the new energy future and Northern Australia’s development as a regional energy export hub.  

The Queensland Energy Club welcomes Chris, in conversation with Heidi and Joseph for Episode 7 of ‘Energy Talks’.

Introducing Paul Richards, Global Head of Resources, Energy & Infrastructure ANZ based in Sydney, in conversation with Mark Couchman Director, Natural Resources Group ANZ based in Brisbane.

Paul Richards is a highly experienced banker in both domestic and international markets, with extensive leadership of client-facing, ‘connectivity’ teams. Paul is a values-oriented leader, driven by a passion for developing deep customer relationships, building inclusive and collaborative teams, innovation, and different thinking. At ANZ, Paul has responsibility for leading a team of specialist bankers and delivering solutions to ANZ’s largest customers in the Resources, Energy & Infrastructure segments.  

Mark Couchman is client-facing and driven to deliver value-added and commercial outcomes, with a focus on continued growth and expertise in the Natural Resources sector; and delivering on strategic opportunities in Queensland and PNG Resources projects.

In this podcast, Paul and Mark will discuss their career reflections, and experience, new energy developments, how they see Queensland positioned for the new energy future and what ANZ are doing to support Australia’s development as a regional export hub, which is detailed in ANZ’s newly released hydrogen handbook.  

The Queensland Energy Club welcomes Paul Richards in conversation with Mark Couchman for Episode 6 of ‘Energy Talks’.