Chloe Munro Scholarship 2022 recipients

Kim van Hattum
Head of Development
Mint Renewables

Tell us a bit about yourself personally and professionally

I’ve been working in the Australian renewable energy sector since 2000. At that time, the industry was developing the very first commercial utility-scale wind projects and solar was technically feasible, but eye-wateringly expensive. Since then, my career has been primarily focused on large-scale renewable energy project development and construction.

I love engaging with the broad range of people involved in making green energy projects come to life – the farmers, Indigenous custodians, consultants, local communities, technicians, construction specialists, equipment manufacturers, financiers, investors, grid operators, energy customers and end users. I also really enjoy exploring all the wild and wonderful parts of Australia that come with being a green energy developer.

When I’m not at work, you’ll find me playing uber driver for two teenagers, working on the next project on our hobby farm or organising a bushwalking adventure.

What was your pathway into the renewable energy industry?

After completing environmental engineering in the late 1990s, I experienced my first wind farms while backpacking around Africa and Europe. This led me to apply for a junior position as a wind power development officer at Pacific Hydro, a Melbourne-based ASX listed company with about 10 staff and a small fleet of hydro assets across Australia and the Philippines, looking to branch out into other renewable technologies.

I enjoyed over two decades of finding, developing and constructing dozens of large-scale renewable energy projects across Australia, including involvement in the first landholder discussions through to full operation at Codrington, Challicum, Yambuk, Portland, Clements Gap, Yaloak and Crowlands wind farms and Haughton solar farm. I was also part of Pacific Hydro’s retail electricity start-up, Tango Energy, helping bring more price-competitive green electricity products to small and large retail customers.

What inspired you to pursue leadership within the renewables industry?

While we have achieved some impressive outcomes in the industry over the last 20 years, that all pales into insignificance when considering the challenge we have in front of us to transition the energy system in the timeframe and at the scale required to achieve a liveable climate – there’s fewer than 100 months until 2030. This will require us to attract and retain the brightest, bravest and best from around the world and help them perform at their peak in a collaborative and cohesive way. I hope by learning to be a better leader, I will be able to create the kinds of high-performing teams we need all across the industry to achieve the immense task in front of us.

In a male-dominated industry, what advice or encouragement would you give women who want to work in the clean energy sector?

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received was to “feel the fear and do it anyway”. To me, that is about acknowledging a fear, anxiety, doubt or imposter syndrome symptom, then parking it to one side and just getting on with it. I’ve used this approach in taking on new roles, engaging with hostile community members, calling out poor behaviour of peers and contractors, asking for pay rises and raising really difficult conversations with senior executives and CEOs. This advice works for everyone, but I have found women are particularly good at letting social fears and anxieties hold them back from doing what they know is right.

Why is it important to support female leaders in the clean energy industry and what improvements could be made to increase the number of women in renewables?

It’s important to support female leaders in the industry so women can see real-life examples of the career paths available to them in the clean energy sector. While female participation in the industry is above the average in the broader energy and utilities sector, many women in the clean energy industry still experience being the only woman in their meeting, in their team or on their site.

There’s lots of simple improvements we can make to increase the number of women in renewables, but it’s different in every organisation. I encourage every business to engage with the women who work in their business, who work with their business, who apply for roles in their business and who leave roles in their business, to ask what they like and what they wish for that would improve their experience of working with the company. It might be as simple as not using the female bathroom on a construction site as the storeroom or helping arrange a mentor to provide some guidance and support. The answers are all there. We just need to ask the right questions and have open minds.