Now in its third year, NZ Geothermal Week is held in and around the Taupō Volcanic Zone, where New Zealand's world-class geothermal industry is concentrated. The week showcases and celebrates this thriving industry, which is well-positioned to help Aotearoa New Zealand, transition to a sustainable energy future.
Renewable geothermal resources can deliver not only baseload electricity, but also off-grid heat energy for industrial processes and production systems, and sustainable recovery of minerals. Baseload electricity and heat energy can also be used to produce other renewable fuels such as hydrogen and wood pellets.
With over 20 events for industry and business, schools and communities, everyone has a chance to get involved in sharing and learning about what geothermal has to offer.
We invite you to take this opportunity to share and learn more about the New Zealand geothermal industry and join our journey towards a renewable energy future where the environment, local communities and businesses thrive.
Speakers
We are excited to have an extensive line-up of quality speakers, panellists and facilitators sharing their achievements, insights, visions and plans for New Zealand's geothermal industry, many of whom are world-class in their field.
Lee Astridge Director - No 8 HR
Geothermal Industry Workforce Workshop - Facilitator
Lee Astridge is the founder of No.8HR, a specialist recruitment and human resources business operating in the Australasian agribusiness sector. As a performance and strategy' coach Lee is passionate and committed to helping business owners achieve better bottom-line performance through effective people strategies.
She has over 25 years' experience in strategic HR and people development roles which includes global experience gained in a range of positions including senior leadership, management and technical specialist in-house roles. Lee also advises to a number of governance and operational boards across a variety of businesses.
Although proudly a generalist,' her time most recently has been with clients focused on organisational strategy, design, and culture change, alongside management and leadership capability analysis and development.
Lee is a professional member of the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand and holds tertiary management and HR qualifications. She has built a reputation as motivational facilitator who challenges clients to identify new insights and consider new paradigms for themselves, their teams and their businesses.
Ifor Ffowcs-Williams CEO - Cluster Navigators
Geothermal Industry Cluster Workshop - Facilitator
Ifor is acknowledged as one of the most influential cluster practitioners in the world, with hands-on experience extending to over 50 countries.
Ifor has been an advisor to The World Bank, EU, OECD, UNDP, international aid agencies and national & regional economic development agencies on six continents.
Ifor is a Founder, Past President and Member of the Board of Advisors of TCI Network - the global practitioners network for competitiveness, clusters and innovation (Barcelona).
He has served on Cluster Advisory Boards in Denmark, India, Mexico and Africa, and on the European Cluster Observatory.
Ifor is the author of the Cluster Development Handbook', the first comprehensive guide to the What? the Why? and the How? of cluster engagement.
Katherine Newman WING NZ Ambassador & EngineerContact
WING Networking event - Speaker
Katherine Newman is a Reservoir Engineer at Contact Energy. Originally from Texas, she began her career in Oil and Gas and has enjoyed a transition into the Geothermal industry since moving to New Zealand in 2019.
Katherine is now leading the reservoir commissioning for the upcoming Tauhara Power Station, and she serves as the chair of Training and Development for the Women's Network at Contact.
Katherine is also proud to be the Chair of WING New Zealand, where she leads a team of professionals who focus on high-impact industry initiatives to challenge norms and empower members.
Chelydra Percy CEO - GNS Science
GNS Breakfast - Speaker
Chelydra Percy is the new Chief Executive of GNS Science, taking up the role on May 1 2023.
Before being appointed as GNS chief executive, Chelydra served as Group Chief Executive of BRANZ (Building Research Association of New Zealand), a role she had held since 2013.
She comes to GNS with plenty of experience in the CRI (Crown Research Institute) sector, having previously worked at Callaghan Innovation, AgResearch
Mike Dunstall GM Geothermal Resources & Development, Contact Energy ABRA Winter Seminar Series
Mike is the General Manager of Geothermal Resources and Development at Contact Energy, leading new power and direct heat opportunities and exploration for new geothermal resources. His team have worked on Te Huka, Te Mihi, Tauhara and redevelopment of Wairakei, from conception through consenting, construction and operation. Mike has been on the Board of the New Zealand Geothermal Association and is an editor of the Geothermics science journal. Previously, Mike worked in wholesale electricity markets and development of wind and hydro power projects. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and has experience in the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and the United States. In 2015 Mike was the Deloitte Energy Awards New Zealand Energy Executive of the Year.
Greg Ussher
Presenter - NZGA Winter Seminar
Greg has 40 years involvement with geothermal exploration/delineation and his ability with directing multi-disciplinary teams has led to his present role as Jacobs senior advisor for geothermal energy. Greg has a proven ability with integrated geothermal assessments from experience in a large number of detailed reviews and numerical reservoir simulation studies. Understanding of the developmental and commercial aspects of renewable energy projects has been gained from a range of due diligence, resource valuations, and assessments of geothermal resource potential and project management plans. His work optimising projects has led to a sound overview of all types of geothermal power plant and their relationship with the geothermal resource. Greg has been a regular contributor to the geothermal training program at Auckland University and a range of other capacity development activities inside Jacobs, with New Zealand development assistance programs, and more widely in the geothermal industry. t
Lee Astridge Director - No 8 HR
Geothermal Industry Workforce Workshop - Facilitator
Lee Astridge is the founder of No.8HR, a specialist recruitment and human resources business operating in the Australasian agribusiness sector. As a performance and strategy' coach Lee is passionate and committed to helping business owners achieve better bottom-line performance through effective people strategies.
She has over 25 years' experience in strategic HR and people development roles which includes global experience gained in a range of positions including senior leadership, management and technical specialist in-house roles. Lee also advises to a number of governance and operational boards across a variety of businesses.
Although proudly a generalist,' her time most recently has been with clients focused on organisational strategy, design, and culture change, alongside management and leadership capability analysis and development.
Lee is a professional member of the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand and holds tertiary management and HR qualifications. She has built a reputation as motivational facilitator who challenges clients to identify new insights and consider new paradigms for themselves, their teams and their businesses.
Ifor Ffowcs-Williams CEO - Cluster Navigators
Geothermal Industry Cluster Workshop - Facilitator
Ifor is acknowledged as one of the most influential cluster practitioners in the world, with hands-on experience extending to over 50 countries.
Ifor has been an advisor to The World Bank, EU, OECD, UNDP, international aid agencies and national & regional economic development agencies on six continents.
Ifor is a Founder, Past President and Member of the Board of Advisors of TCI Network - the global practitioners network for competitiveness, clusters and innovation (Barcelona).
He has served on Cluster Advisory Boards in Denmark, India, Mexico and Africa, and on the European Cluster Observatory.
Ifor is the author of the Cluster Development Handbook', the first comprehensive guide to the What? the Why? and the How? of cluster engagement.
Katherine Newman WING NZ Ambassador & EngineerContact
WING Networking event - Speaker
Katherine Newman is a Reservoir Engineer at Contact Energy. Originally from Texas, she began her career in Oil and Gas and has enjoyed a transition into the Geothermal industry since moving to New Zealand in 2019.
Katherine is now leading the reservoir commissioning for the upcoming Tauhara Power Station, and she serves as the chair of Training and Development for the Women's Network at Contact.
Katherine is also proud to be the Chair of WING New Zealand, where she leads a team of professionals who focus on high-impact industry initiatives to challenge norms and empower members.
Chelydra Percy CEO - GNS Science
GNS Breakfast - Speaker
Chelydra Percy is the new Chief Executive of GNS Science, taking up the role on May 1 2023.
Before being appointed as GNS chief executive, Chelydra served as Group Chief Executive of BRANZ (Building Research Association of New Zealand), a role she had held since 2013.
She comes to GNS with plenty of experience in the CRI (Crown Research Institute) sector, having previously worked at Callaghan Innovation, AgResearch
Mike Dunstall GM Geothermal Resources & Development, Contact Energy ABRA Winter Seminar Series
Mike is the General Manager of Geothermal Resources and Development at Contact Energy, leading new power and direct heat opportunities and exploration for new geothermal resources. His team have worked on Te Huka, Te Mihi, Tauhara and redevelopment of Wairakei, from conception through consenting, construction and operation. Mike has been on the Board of the New Zealand Geothermal Association and is an editor of the Geothermics science journal. Previously, Mike worked in wholesale electricity markets and development of wind and hydro power projects. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and has experience in the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and the United States. In 2015 Mike was the Deloitte Energy Awards New Zealand Energy Executive of the Year.
Greg Ussher Senior Advisor for Geothermal Energy, Jacobs
Presenter - NZGA Winter Seminar
Greg has 40 years involvement with geothermal exploration/delineation and his ability with directing multi-disciplinary teams has led to his present role as Jacobs senior advisor for geothermal energy. Greg has a proven ability with integrated geothermal assessments from experience in a large number of detailed reviews and numerical reservoir simulation studies. Understanding of the developmental and commercial aspects of renewable energy projects has been gained from a range of due diligence, resource valuations, and assessments of geothermal resource potential and project management plans. His work optimising projects has led to a sound overview of all types of geothermal power plant and their relationship with the geothermal resource. Greg has been a regular contributor to the geothermal training program at Auckland University and a range of other capacity development activities inside Jacobs, with New Zealand development assistance programs, and more widely in the geothermal industry.
Katherine Luketina Geothermal Scientist, Waikato Regional Council
Panellist - NZGA Winter Seminar
Katherine Luketina has been a geothermal scientist with Waikato Regional Council, New Zealand since 1997. She has an MSc in Physics from the University of Auckland and a PGDip Environment Management from Waikato University. She is involved in evaluating geothermal resource consent applications, policy development, environmental and resource monitoring and reporting, and local, national and international liaison.
Charlotte Downes Programme Director, The Diversity Agenda
Panellist - NZGA Winter Seminar
Charlotte Downes is the Programme Director for The Diversity Agenda, the award-winning movement committed to helping the architecture and engineering consulting industry become more diverse and inclusive, through awareness, empowerment and action.
The Diversity Agenda has grown since inception to more than 150 members across the country and nearly 60 Chief Executives and business owners signing the Diversity Agenda Accord and being held publicly accountable for achieving truly diverse industries.
Having led talent acquisition teams globally, Charlotte brings a wealth of expertise. She previously spearheaded the Diversity and Inclusion program at Air New Zealand, before moving to Auckland Transport to lead the mahi in people experience and internal communications.
Charlotte's unwavering passion lies in laying strong foundations and propelling momentum to ensure that New Zealand's industries become inclusive spaces for all.
Professor Jim Johnston Co-Founder, CaSil Technologies Ltd
Presenter - NZGA Winter Seminar
Jim is the inventor of the CaSil Technology and co-founder of the CaSil Technologies Ltd. He has over 40 years' experience in new materials, products and technology research and development, and progressing them through pilot scale operation to commercialisation working with NZ and international companies. His research has founded three new technology-based companies and is a Director in them. He has extensive experience in silica and silicate chemistry and leads for the CaSil Technology, chemistry and product development and commercialisation programme.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry. He has received numerous awards including the Wellingtonian of the Year (Science and Technology), Royal Society of New Zealand Thompson Medal for Excellence in Science and Technology, the 2020 KiwiNet Baldwins Researcher Entrepreneur Award and the 2020 KiwiNet BNZ Supreme Award.
Dr Michael Schweig
Presenter - NZGA Winter Seminar
Dr Michael Schweig has significant expertise in chemical and process engineering and the CaSil technology, where he led the design, construction and operation of a PLC controlled CaSil pilot plant to successfully demonstrate the technology at this scale for ensuing commercialisation. He is knowledgeable in the engineering and regulatory requirements for geothermal process equipment, and is an expert in CAD, and dynamic flow modelling. He leads the engineering of the pilot scale development and commercial implementation of the CaSil Technology
Kevin Hart Chief Executive, NZ Wind Energy Association
Presenter - NZGA Winter Seminar
Kevin was appointed as Chief Executive of the New Zealand Wind Energy Association in April 2023, following an international career at General Electric (GE), as GE Digital's Regional Executive Leader for the Asia Pacific region. Kevin has over 35 years' experience in the energy sector, starting his career at the NZ Electricity Department, followed by 5 years working overseas in the US and a 15-year career at Transpower NZ. He then spent 7 years working for French energy supplier Alstom Grid, as Country Manager for NZ before joining GE, initially as NZ's Country Leader & then as CEO for NZ and Papua New Guinea. In 2018 he was appointed as GE's Asia Pacific Regional Leader for Digital covering 12 countries. His background spans transmission, distribution, generation, and digital technology in the energy sector, primarily in commercial, business development and leadership
Kevin has a passion for renewable energy, having served as a board member of the New Zealand Wind Energy Association on two prior occasions. He is married with two children, and lives in North Canterbury, New Zealand.
Craig Woolacott Senior Project Manager, Contact Energy
Presenter - NZGA Winter Seminar
Craig Woolacott is Contact Energy's Senior Project Manager, managing the EPC contract with Sumitomo Corporation for the design, construction, and commissioning of the Tauhara Geothermal Power Station. He has been in the energy sector for a couple of decades and has held similar roles for the owner during the construction of the Kawerau, Nga Awa Purua and Ngatamariki Geothermal Power Stations.
Wendy McGuinness Chief Executive, McGuinness Institute Te Hononga Waka
Panel Chair - NZGA Winter Seminar
Wendy McGuinness is the founder and chief executive of the McGuinness Institute Te Hononga Waka, which she established in 2004 as a way of contributing to New Zealand's long-term future. Wendy has worked in both the public and private sectors specialising in public sector reporting, risk management and future studies. Since establishing the Institute she has, with her team, published a range of reports as part of Project 2058, held a number of workshops aiming to enable young New Zealanders to better engage with the future, and attended four World Futures conferences. She continues to be fascinated by the development and implementation of public policy, in particular how New Zealand might shape its future in the long-term and, in doing so, how New Zealand might become an exemplar for the world.
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