Thomas Behrendt: How a love for geography led to a career in renewable energy

What did you want to be when you grew up?

From memory, I went through different phases of interest. My best friend in primary school wanted to write books, and it was the plan for me to be the illustrator for it. At that time, I must have really ignored my complete lack of graphics skills.

Later, I was interested in studying medicine or becoming a pilot. But I wasn't successful in either, so I was forced to do something much closer to my skill set. I was really interested in Geography and became fascinated by the renewables revolution gaining pace.

What led to your role as Head of Project Origination?

It was clear to me that I wanted to work in wind development after I finished my master's degree in renewable energy. I started at CWP Renewables, now Squadron Energy, as a Development Officer when it was a very small business. This meant that I got a lot of exposure to many different aspects of development.

It helped me grow my understanding of the industry and development of projects.

Utilising those learnings, I was later tasked to grow the development pipeline and take more responsibility in an expanding team. I lived and breathed this work as a project developer before being offered the current role.

What does your role involve?

I am now heading the origination team and their efforts to secure and develop new projects. On one hand, I am guiding team members in identifying and developing early-stage development projects across Australia, including wind, solar, and firming projects. On the other hand, it is part of my work to ensure we have the right strategies and processes in place for the team to work effectively.

Working closely with the executive team and collaborating across different business units is challenging and rewarding at the same time. The development of large-scale projects is complex and requires a lot of people working towards the same goal. Helping to orchestrate this is one of the key challenges of the job.

What’s the most rewarding part about it?

This job is rewarding in many ways. If I have to highlight only a few aspects, it will have to include the interactions with landowners and community members in the rural areas we develop in.

I particularly enjoy working so closely with my team. There are so many great people from diverse professional backgrounds. They are highly motivated to make a difference and collaborate to achieve this.

But of course, nothing beats visiting a wind farm that we once envisaged in an empty paddock and that is now in operation, providing clean energy, jobs, and other benefits to rural areas. Seeing the hard work and patience paying off is worth the long wait.