Meet the Program Lead: Ben Spedding from Energy and Carbon
Ben Spedding is one part of the new Energy Optimisation and Power leadership group - sharing the role with Steve Reddington. Ben and Steve have taken over from John Day, who did a magnificent job as program lead.
Read below to learn a bit more about Ben.
Can you give us a bit of your personal background?
Live on the Mornington Peninsula. Married with two children (6 and 4 yrs old). Enjoy sports, in particular triathlon and mountain biking, as well as camping. About to build a house.
And what is your professional background?
Started my working career as an outdoor recreation leader, before making the switch to the water industry in 2003 with South East Water. Have worked in wastewater treatment operation, environment team and now in energy and resource recovery planning.
What inspired you to want to become the program lead for Energy and Optimisation?
After getting involved with IWN several years ago to lead the feasibility and technical stream for the Largescale Renewable Project, I had great insight to the benefits that IWN bring to the Victorian water industry and beyond. Being a program lead will not only benefit me from a development viewpoint, but I also get satisfaction from helping others and the industry as a whole, to battle our challenges head on in a collaborative manner.
What project within the program interests you the most?
I’m a little bias, well maybe a lot bias, however the largescale renewables project has been a wonderful project to be part of. Stemming from a simple idea from my co-program lead Steve Reddington, into over three years of work to eventually having 13 water corporations form a new entity to secure a power purchase agreement for over 78 GWh. It just shows how the Victorian water industry is forward thinking and happy to collaborate for a better outcome.
What are you hoping to get out of your new role?
The role as Program Lead will hopefully give me the opportunity to enhance my project management skills with the need to manage a wide range of people and projects from different water corporations. The role also has very strong links to my new position in energy and resource recovery, therefore the two will be able to complement each other. It is also very exciting to be broadening the scope of the program to include carbon.
And if anything, what do you want to give back to IWN?
I would like to give back to IWN well led projects with great outcomes for the industry, also being able to spread the word of the great work IWN does as a whole.