Our team

Our leadership team brings more than 70 years of combined experience in resource, energy and infrastructure projects, from origination and concept through feasibility, investment decision, construction, operation, closure and rehabilitation.

Between them the directors cover project management and engineering, environmental approvals, community and stakeholder relations, raising and structuring project finance and investment, and the commercial, regulatory and legal work that sits around a transaction.

We bring in specialist partners for technical and delivery capability, but we never outsource the core of a deal: we originate it, agree the outcome with every stakeholder, structure the transaction and the finance, and take the position and manage the risk ourselves.

Management

James Doyle

Managing Director

As Managing Director, James leads Virentia from strategy and origination through acquisition, funding and delivery. He brings more than 20 years’ experience shaping, developing and delivering major projects in resources, energy and infrastructure across Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and the UK. His career spans both delivery and development: in leadership roles on large-scale civil and resources projects, then originating and developing complex PPP, acquisition and project-finance transactions in infrastructure, transmission and renewable energy.

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Luke McDonald

Founding Director

Luke has spent more than 20 years in energy and resources and has founded several energy and mining companies, including Virentia. He founded Renewable Energy Partners (REP), now one of Australia’s largest renewable energy developers with a pipeline of more than 10 GW across wind, solar, battery and pumped hydro. His focus is the whole lifecycle of a major project, from inception through development, construction and operation to decommissioning.

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Sebastian Burgman

Founding Director

Sebastian is a co-founder and director of Virentia and a co-founder of Renewable Energy Partners (REP). He has more than 20 years in corporate development, structuring and executing transactions across professional services, infrastructure, energy and resources. At Virentia he provides strategic insight and support across the business and its transactions.

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Advisory board

Professor Robin Batterham AO

Senior adviser

FREng FAA FTSE. A chemical and mining engineer specialising in mineral processing, waste remediation and sustainable mining practice. Kernot Professor of Engineering at the University of Melbourne, and formerly Chief Scientist of Australia, President of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and Group Chief Scientist for Rio Tinto.

Neil Evans

Senior adviser

More than 40 years delivering large infrastructure projects, from inception, design and construction through to due diligence on acquisitions. Neil has sat on numerous project boards and leadership teams and has been Project Director on major projects around Australia.

Shane O’Kane

Strategic adviser

More than 30 years in structured finance across a wide range of industry sectors, specialising in bespoke solutions for transactions with multiple stakeholders. Shane’s work spans emerging innovations, research organisations, property, agriculture and renewable energy.

Behind the team

The specialists who deliver the work come together with us in one integrated technical, commercial and financial solution. Our partners page sets out who they are and how it works.

Meet our partners