ARENA’s founding CEO Ivor Frischknecht will be stepping down from his post at the end of his second term.
Mr Frischknecht, who will remain in the role until a new CEO is appointed, has informed the agency’s board that he will not be seeking reappointment when his term expires in August this year.
“After six years, I’ve decided now is the right time to move on to new challenges and spend more time with my family. This has been a difficult decision, but I’m pleased to be able to hand over the reigns at a time when ARENA is playing a more integral role than ever in the transformation of the energy sector,” he said in a statement.
“I’m confident I am leaving ARENA in very capable hands with a team of dedicated, smart and inspiring people who are making a significant contribution to changing our energy system for the better.”
“ARENA has more than $550 million of funding remaining to invest over the next four years, so there is a lot of work still to be done but we have the best team on the job and a clear plan for future investments.”
Mr Frischknecht, who joined ARENA in 2012, was the driving force behind over 300 renewable energy projects that delivered technical and commercial innovations in solar PV, batteries, biofuels, hydrogen, solar thermal, tidal energy, pumped hydro, distributed energy and demand response.
During his six-year spell at the helm of the agency, ARENA has provided over $1 billion in funding to make large scale solar commercially competitive in Australia.
