17 May 2018 - Global engineering and infrastructure advisory company Aurecon has appointed Doug Tapper as a Technical Director – Energy, to lead Aurecon’s energy business in Western Australia.        

As green shoots appear in Western Australia’s economy, Aurecon has recognised that the way in which energy is generated, traded and consumed is going to change dramatically. For large energy users such as mining, oil and gas, and the industrial sector, this will mean that their energy strategies must respond to the “future of energy” to improve the resilience of their business model and answer to the social, sustainable and economic expectations of their stakeholders.

“What we are seeing is the integration of renewable energy and storage technologies into large energy users’ energy solutions. It’s a game changer for the mining industry,” says Tapper.

His background embraces over 20 years of specialising in the fields of energy and infrastructure, with project management and substantial technical and commercial experience across a variety of technologies.

Dr Alex Wonhas, Managing Director – Energy, Resources & Manufacturing at Aurecon says, “I am delighted to welcome Doug Tapper into our team. The cost of energy has doubled over the last ten years with the impact on large energy users being that they are now having to explore options to better manage their costs and future. Doug will play a key role in delivering world-class energy solutions to our large energy-user clients in Western Australia.”

Aurecon continues to play a key role as an engineer and advisor to Australia’s energy sector, including designing a number of industry-defining renewable ‘firsts’, such as Australia’s first large-scale solar power project connected to the south-eastern grid (Royalla solar photovoltaic plant), and designing one of the largest solar farms in Australia (Bungala Solar Photovoltaic).

In addition, Aurecon was the specialist technical advisor to the Government of South Australia in 2017 for the implementation of its Energy Plan, including the world’s largest lithium ion grid connected 100 MW/129 MWh batteries. The company is also the engineering partner for Territory Generation’s Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for Alice Springs, providing 5 MW battery energy storage – one of the largest grid-connected storage solutions in Australia.

Tapper’s project experience has been in the areas of gas and diesel-fired generation, cogeneration, islanded power generation, conventional thermal plant and, more recently, in renewable technologies. Examples of key energy projects that he has been involved with include West Angeles (an 80 MW open cycle gas turbine plant in WA); the Worsley Multi-Fuel CoGen Project in WA, and the McArthur River Power Station (an 80 MW gas reciprocating and gas turbine facility).  

“What I am most excited about is being able to support our clients develop future-ready energy solutions, while looking at the whole life cycle of their energy assets,” comments Tapper.