Denan is Associate Director, leading region-shaping power systems in Western Australia. Based in our Perth office, Denan is helping drive Western Australia’s energy transition through deep technical expertise and a vision for smarter, more resilient networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What has shaped your passion for the energy sector and power systems engineering?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ever since I saw my first transformer phase effective diagram, I was in. I haven\u2019t looked back since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My career has been shaped by my passion for the game-changing potential of solar energy and battery storage, which are growing exponentially each year. This duo is the cornerstone of Australia\u2019s clean energy future, and it\u2019s scalable, flexible and rapidly evolving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n I like being part of the sector that solves so many of our problems, ones that couldn\u2019t be solved a decade ago without solar and battery solutions. <\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n What\u2019s your career journey, and what kinds of projects are you working on now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Having worked in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Bahrain, I bring a global lens to my work. But I\u2019ve now settled in WA, where I\u2019ve spent most of my career. I joined AECOM from a role at Western Power, which was a surprisingly smooth transition. I was impressed by how integrated the team is. There are no silos or barriers, we just get straight into the work. It\u2019s genuinely collaborative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n Most of my recent work has focused on high-voltage grid infrastructure, like big, complex 500kV transmission projects. These projects are critical for WA\u2019s transition. <\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n We\u2019re figuring out how to integrate AC and DC systems, how to expand existing networks, and do it all while navigating environmental and social concerns. It’s a real intersection of engineering and policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What makes AECOM stand out?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We can deliver the hardware that connects renewable generation to where it\u2019s needed. We\u2019re building our team here in WA, training them and making sure they\u2019re ready for the scale of change ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n We\u2019ve got a rare mix of technical depth and practical delivery experience. We don\u2019t just model solutions, we\u2019ve built them, tested them and commissioned them. That\u2019s a unique position to be in. <\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n What challenges is the sector facing in Australia?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a big skills gap. When I started, there was a 30-year gap between me and the next senior power systems engineer. We just hadn\u2019t trained people in this space for decades, and now we’re feeling it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Community resistance is also big. We all know of NIMBYs [Not In My Backyards]. Now it\u2019s BANANA, which is Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything. Planning timelines are ballooning, and a lack of community acceptance is a huge barrier to getting the green light on projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither the government nor the private sector is stepping up to lead, creating a gap where strong leadership is missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What opportunities are there in the sector?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n REZs (Renewable Energy Zones) are thousands of kilometres from where energy is needed. Our existing systems are near capacity, and system strength and frequency control are still unresolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know this sounds like I\u2019m just listing more problems, but these are exciting challenges that make it a good time to be an electrical engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n I\u2019m very optimistic. There\u2019s no shortage of problems worth solving. <\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n There\u2019s more coming for batteries, because betting against them is a surefire way to lose money. We\u2019ll see more virtual synchronous machines too, to help manage inertia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n The grid is getting smarter, and so are we. <\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n So, how do you keep the balance? What do you like to do outside of work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m obsessed with astronomy. It\u2019s humbling. Looking up at the stars reminds me how small we are. I used to be one of the telescope operators at the Perth Observatory, taking people on tours of the night sky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Denan is our Power Systems Lead. Based in our Perth office, Denan is helping drive Western Australia’s energy transition through deep technical expertise and a vision for smarter, more resilient networks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1029,"featured_media":19624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,172],"tags":[6487,6541,228,6491,1984,1926],"yst_prominent_words":[335,887,458,582,971,3677,621,635,1932,614,4776,452],"class_list":["post-19623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-environment","tag-decarbonization","tag-delivering-on-decarbonization","tag-energy","tag-energy-transition","tag-environment","tag-power"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1029"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19623"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19636,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19623\/revisions\/19636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19623"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=19623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}