SunCable names ex-Origin exec Ryan Willemsen-Bell as CEO
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The news: Renewable energy venture SunCable has appointed former Origin Energy executive Ryan Willemsen-Bell as its new group chief executive.
The numbers: Controlled by Atlassian co-founder and CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes, SunCable's flagship project, the Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink), aims to deliver up to six gigawatts of green electricity to Darwin and Singapore.
The context: Willemsen-Bell joined Origin in 2009 and was appointed general manager of future fuels and carbon in early 2022. He previously spent nearly a decade in various roles at Qantas.
The appointment comes after the AAPowerLink received approval from the federal government to become Australia's largest solar farm in August, and was granted conditional approval by Singapore's Energy Market Authority in October.
Mitesh Patel has served as SunCable's interim CEO and chief operating officer since 2023, when a consortium led by Cannon-Brookes' private investing vehicle Grok Ventures won a bid to acquire the venture.
What they said: "I have spent much of my career within Australia's energy market pursuing the adoption of emerging technologies and, most recently, developing large-scale infrastructure projects to support carbon abatement," said Willemsen-Bell.
"I'm excited I can continue to focus my passion on developing a nation- and region-defining project."
Grok Ventures CEO Tan Kueh said: "SunCable is on a mission to support decarbonisation of the Asia-Pacific region and Ryan's contribution to the renewable energy sector and nation-building projects will be invaluable to SunCable as it progresses development of its flagship Australia-Asia PowerLink project."
The source: SunCable media release
