News

Sharing Snowy Stories

19/03/2018

As Snowy Hydro embarks on an expansion of the Snowy Scheme a unique digital storybook project is underway to capture the voices and experiences of ten former workers.

Snowy Hydro and Woden Community Service have partnered on the project which sees former workers who are all in their 80s and 90s share their stories of determination, success and resilience with current and future generations.

Paul Broad, Snowy Hydro’s Chief Executive Officer, said that former Snowy Scheme workers overcame significant engineering and construction challenges to build one of the greatest and most complex hydro power systems in the world.

“It took ingenuity, dedication and hard work to build the Snowy Scheme. Our former workers are a critical part of our company’s history and strength, and capturing their stories is very important.

“We often reflect on and marvel at the achievements of the original Snowy pioneers. Today, as we’re designing and planning the Snowy 2.0 project we’re grateful to have the expert records and technical data from the workers who came before us”, Mr Broad said.

Woden Community Service in collaboration with PhotoAccess and Gen S Stories have the privilege of working with the former workers and bringing their stories to life.

Chris Redmond, CEO of Woden Community Service, said the idea for this project grew from a senior’s social group for ex-Snowy workers, set up by Woden Community Service in August 2016.

“The group is led by Sandy Van Der Toorn, our Seniors Social Group Coordinator. Sandy’s father worked on the Snowy Scheme and she has many fond memories of growing up there.

“We’re also very lucky to have the expertise of Jenni Savigny from Gen S Stories on this project. She enables people of all ages to use the medium of digital storytelling to share their story and assists them to tell it in their own voice (literally). We look forward to working with Snowy Hydro to make this project a success”, Mr Redmond said.

Snowy Hydro has provided $25,000 to fund the project which is due to be complete in the middle of this year. A formal premiere of the stories will be held in June 2018.

News

Snowy Hydro scores two Australian Business Awards

22/08/2016

Snowy Hydro Limited has been recognised as an ABA100 Winner in The Australian Business Awards 2016 in two categories – Community Contribution and Communication Excellence. This is the sixth time Snowy Hydro has been recognised by the Australian Business Awards for their outstanding Community Partnerships Program.

Managing Director & CEO of Snowy Hydro, Paul Broad says the award affirms their commitment to taking care of the communities in which they operate and setting the standard as a trusted corporate citizen. The Community Contribution award recognises Snowy Hydro’s achievements in successfully implementing a program that is not only innovative, but as industry leaders push the wider business community towards excellence. The Community Partnerships Program targets investment where it will have a positive impact and generate long-term benefits for the communities of the Snowy Mountains region. The program includes support for the Snowy Hydro SouthCare Rescue Helicopter, Cooma Universities Centre, Young Driver Training as well as local festivals and events.

“We don’t just support charities and not-for-profits; we build partnerships with organisations that are dedicated to supporting better outcomes for the people who live and work in the Snowy Mountains region. The vitality and economic viability of these communities is critically important to Snowy Hydro as these are the towns where our staff and their families live and work.”

In addition, Snowy Hydro was also recognised as an ABA100 Winner in the Communications Excellence category for our Snowy Hydro NEWS quarterly community newsletter.

Over the past decade Snowy Hydro has been dedicated to significantly improving communication with the communities it operates in to build relationships, help people understand its business operations and obligations and improve community engagement.

“Through this newsletter Snowy Hydro has seen a measurable improvement in communication, engagement, perceptions and business understanding in our communities. Being awarded the Australian Business Award for Communication Excellence signals that this communication tool is not only successful, but our number one communication tool with our local communities.
“For over a decade, The Australian Business Awards have recognised organisations that prioritise innovation and technology as drivers of local and international markets,” Australian Business Awards Program Director, Ms Tara Johnston, said.

“The ABA100 Winners have demonstrated a commitment to technologically transformative innovation through business initiatives that have propelled them to success in a highly competitive business environment. These organisations not only position themselves as industry leaders, but also push the wider business community towards excellence.

“Those organisations that can continue to evolve alongside ever changing business models will secure their longevity, continually contributing to the marketplace by disrupting the status quo in a positive way,” Ms Johnston added.

Each year the ABA100 Winners are recognised through a variety of different award categories that demonstrate transformative business and product innovation. Corporate, government and non-government organisations are recognised for their ability to drive innovation through the application of technical expertise in the management of industry leading initiatives, and for the research and development of high-performing products and services.

Initiatives are evaluated based on their transformative capacities via a detailed analysis of the method, execution, performance and outcomes of their initiative. A focus is placed on initiatives that have a demonstrable transformative effect both internally within the business and externally in the wider business community.

For more information on The Australian Business Awards and the 2016 ABA100 Winners go to www.australianbusinessawards.com.au.

News

Snowy Hydro Appoints Chief Operating Officer

02/02/2016

Longstanding Snowy Hydro Limited executive, Roger Whitby, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer and mining executive John McGagh will join Snowy Hydro as the company’s inaugural Chief Digital Officer.

The Executive team appointments are in response to the retirements of current COO Ken Lister and Executive Officer, Information and Control Systems, Ian Cooke, who have both dedicated decades of their lives to Snowy Hydro.

Currently Executive Officer – Trading, Roger Whitby has extensive engineering and trading experience, marrying market experience with technical expertise and in-depth knowledge of Snowy Hydro’s unique operations.

“Roger is one of Snowy Hydro’s most accomplished Executives,” CEO Paul Broad said.

“His appointment as COO will bring together Snowy Hydro’s trading, water, environment and operations team to form a seamless link between the water under our management, our portfolio of generation assets and the National Electricity Market.

“Roger will oversee not only the operation, maintenance and capability of the iconic 4100 megawatt Snowy Scheme assets but also our three gas fired power stations – Laverton North (320MW) and Valley Power (300 MW) in Victoria and Colongra (667MW) in New South Wales – as well as our diesel peak generators in South Australia.

“The nature and geographical location of our portfolio of assets gives Snowy Hydro its competitive edge and I am confident in Roger’s ability to drive further improvements in our asset capability, responsiveness and reliability.”

Commencing in March 2016, experienced mining executive John McGagh will join the Snowy Hydro Executive team in the position of Chief Digital Officer. John has spent the past 30 years in a range of roles at Rio Tinto, the most recent of which was as Head of Innovation.

“He comes to Snowy with a global track record in technology and has been at the forefront of innovation in the mining sector particularly in big data and robotics,” Mr Broad said.

“John is a change agent and has runs on the board in terms of improving business performance with technology and innovation by building partnerships with the private sector and academia.

“I am excited to hear John’s vision and ambitions for our systems, processes and assets and how we can get more out of our business by further embracing change, automation and technology. John’s leadership and strategic skills will also be a welcome addition to the Snowy Hydro executive team.

“I pay tribute to both Ken Lister and Ian Cooke who have dedicated their lives and careers to Snowy Hydro, our iconic assets and our people. Along with Roger, Ken and Ian were part of the team that brought together the trading and generation companies to form Snowy Hydro Limited in the early 2000s.

“Ken and Ian are both recognised leaders in the Snowy Mountains community and I have no doubt they will continue to be strong contributors in the Cooma region.”