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Broad resigns as CEO of hydro developer Snowy Hydro

Broad resigns as CEO of hydro developer Snowy Hydro

Paul Broad, managing director and chief executive officer of Snowy Hydro Limited, has offered his resignation.

Since 2013, Broad has led organizational expansion and innovation. The company said he is best known to the Australian public for his leadership on the Snowy 2.0 project and for leading Snowy Hydro’s expansion into retail and renewable energy.

In June, an audit performed to examine the effectiveness of Snowy Hydro’s governance arrangement for early implementation of the Snowy 2.0 pumped storage hydro project found that the company’s governance was effective. In December 2018, Snowy Hydro made a final investment decision to proceed with the Snowy 2.0 project to add 2 GW of on-demand generation and about 350,000 MWh of large-scale storage to the National Electricity Market in Australia.

Snowy 2.0 includes the construction of an underground power station and about 27 km of tunnels within the Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales. This is an expansion to the Snowy Hydro Scheme.

In addition, under Broad’s leadership, the first Snowy Hydro renewable energy procurement program began in 2018 and has grown to encompass 12 contracts with wind and solar projects totaling 1.3 GW of energy generation.

Roger Whitby, chief operating officer, will lead the organization on an interim basis, with support from Broad to facilitate a smooth transition. The Snowy Hydro board will work to identify new leadership. It is not clear if the timeline for construction of the Snowy 2.0 project will be affected.

The Newcastle Herald ascribed Broad’s resignation to “falling out with energy minister Chris Bowen over green hydrogen vision for Kurri gas peaker.”