INTHEBLACK February 2024 - Magazine - Page 18
MEMBER PROFILE
Above: Ross Burridge
AM FCPA on site at
TasNetworks, Lenah
Valley, Tasmania,
December 2023.
18 INTHEBLACK February 2024
Tasmania 30 years ago, which evolved into
looking after strategic investments.
One such investment was a joint venture
called Roaring 40s, an electricity generator
project formed in 2005 between Hydro
Tasmania and Hong Kong-based CLP Group.
The project introduced him to the world of
wind farms and the potential they offered for
transitioning to clean energy sources.
“I was involved with developing and
financing some of the initial wind farms in
the project, but then I was also involved in
the transactions to sell them into the new
joint venture,” Burridge says. “It gave me
exposure to the whole life cycle of managing
the equity side and the project financing side
of wind farms.”
After three decades with Hydro Tasmania,
Burridge made the switch to TasNetworks,
serving as acting CEO for one year and as
general manager for strategy, finance and
business services for more than seven.
In his current role, Burridge is charged
with running engineering and network
operations, among them connecting Marinus
Link to the Tasmanian electricity grid when
it is completed.
“We need to be able to deliver power
to the cable and receive power from the
Marinus Link cable once it is commissioned.
To do that, TasNetworks has its own
A$1 billion project to bolster the North West
Transmission Developments project, and that
reports to me,” he explains.
While fronting up the engineering function
might seem removed from Burridge’s finance
and accounting background, in reality, his
qualification and industry experience have
made Burridge the ideal candidate to lead
such a complex project.
“I think a commerce degree gives you
flexibility. I run the engineering part of the
business because I’ve got enough knowledge
about how electricity works, plus I’ve got
commercial experience,” he says.
It is that commercial nous that Burridge
draws upon to explain the future economic
benefits of the Marinus Link project, not just
