About
Nexsphere is an Australian-owned and operated company with a mission to significantly impact and accelerate Australia’s transition to a green economy.
The company was founded in 2017 by Glen Kierse, an international expert in infrastructure and energy development, and Leanne McDougall, a finance professional who is passionate about our natural environment, because they believe there is still time to build a sustainable future.
As such, Nexsphere has brought together a highly qualified team to help identify, fund and develop projects that make a real difference. Ultimately, these projects will be responsible for delivering green energy solutions that help Australia reach and exceed its emissions reduction targets.
People
CEO and Co-Founder
Glen Kierse
For more than 30 years, Glen has been a leader in some of the largest and most influential financial, infrastructure and government organisations, both in Australia and overseas.
Glen’s experience includes roles with World Bank Group, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australian Government), Macquarie Group, ANZ Banking Group and Westpac.
Glen is a graduate of Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government, and his time at Harvard instilled in him a duty to improve public leadership and policy in order to create societies that are more sustainably prosperous. He founded Nexsphere with a strong purpose to make a tangible difference in delivering a sustainable future that focuses on a just, green transition.
Co-Founder
Leanne McDougall
As Co-Founder, Leanne brings world-class international finance experience to Nexsphere, as well as a passion for the natural environment.
She has worked in roles leading large teams of risk management professionals at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Bank of Queensland and most recently Suncorp, working across Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
Early in her career she worked on the then emerging sustainable energy sector in the USA, at a time when wind farms were gaining initial acceptance. This experience spurred her desire to take action that would help move Australia to a green and clean energy grid, and ultimately start Nexsphere.
Leanne holds exceptional academic qualifications, including a Bachelor of Economics, Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws, Graduate Diploma of Legal Studies and is admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW. She was a visiting scholar at Boston University’s School of Law.
Environmental Director & Chief Scientist
Dr Anna Lewis
A specialist in environment, sustainability and stakeholder engagement, Anna is a highly motivated environmental professional, with 20 years’ scientific experience through research, industry and government positions.
An honorary Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Anna’s research combines both environmental and social sciences to inform management and policy, and has been applied across the coastal and marine sciences, ecology, tourism and sustainability sectors. Dr Lewis has a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science, Masters in Environmental Management and PhD in Environment Management supported by CSIRO.
Anna completed her honours research on sting-ray ecology in Western Australia. Through her work with the Pacific Whale Foundation, she has worked for two years in Hawaii and Queensland participating in humpback whale photo identification fieldwork and analysis. As a senior scientist/ project manager, Anna developed and participated in sea turtle monitoring programs and oiled wildlife response capability for oil & gas clients including BHP, Apache and Chevron, in a consulting role. In a marine consultant role, Anna has also developed Environmental Management plans for seismic vessels on the northwest shelf for NOPSEMA.
Commercial Director
David Balint
With more than 25 years spent in a variety of senior banking roles with ANZ Bank, David has high-level finance experience that he is now leveraging for the benefit of Nexsphere.
Having worked across many industries and several continents, David is skilled in Corporate & Debt Advisory; Credit/Debt Funds; Leveraged & Acquisition Finance; Project, Asset & Structured Finance; Relationship Management; and Risk Management.
A Master of Finance from RMIT, David also has valuable advisory experience in industrial, government and infrastructure projects, both domestically and internationally.
People
CEO and Co-Founder
Glen Kierse
For more than 30 years, Glen has been a leader in some of the largest and most influential financial, infrastructure and government organisations, both in Australia and overseas.
Glen’s experience includes roles with World Bank Group, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australian Government), Macquarie Group, ANZ Banking Group and Westpac.
Glen is a graduate of Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government, and his time at Harvard instilled in him a duty to improve public leadership and policy in order to create societies that are more sustainably prosperous. He founded Nexsphere with a strong purpose to make a tangible difference in delivering a sustainable future that focuses on a just, green transition.
Co-Founder
Leanne McDougall
As Co-Founder, Leanne brings world-class international finance experience to Nexsphere, as well as a passion for the natural environment.
She has worked in roles leading large teams of risk management professionals at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Bank of Queensland and most recently Suncorp, working across Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
Early in her career she worked on the then emerging sustainable energy sector in the USA, at a time when wind farms were gaining initial acceptance. This experience spurred her desire to take action that would help move Australia to a green and clean energy grid, and ultimately start Nexsphere.
Leanne holds exceptional academic qualifications, including a Bachelor of Economics, Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws, Graduate Diploma of Legal Studies and is admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW. She was a visiting scholar at Boston University’s School of Law.
Environmental Director & Chief Scientist
Dr Anna Lewis
A specialist in environment, sustainability and stakeholder engagement, Anna is a highly motivated environmental professional, with 20 years’ scientific experience through research, industry and government positions.
An honorary Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Anna’s research combines both environmental and social sciences to inform management and policy, and has been applied across the coastal and marine sciences, ecology, tourism and sustainability sectors. Dr Lewis has a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science, Masters in Environmental Management and PhD in Environment Management supported by CSIRO.
Anna completed her honours research on sting-ray ecology in Western Australia. Through her work with the Pacific Whale Foundation, she has worked for two years in Hawaii and Queensland participating in humpback whale photo identification fieldwork and analysis. As a senior scientist/ project manager, Anna developed and participated in sea turtle monitoring programs and oiled wildlife response capability for oil & gas clients including BHP, Apache and Chevron, in a consulting role. In a marine consultant role, Anna has also developed Environmental Management plans for seismic vessels on the northwest shelf for NOPSEMA.
Commercial Director
David Balint
With more than 25 years spent in a variety of senior banking roles with ANZ Bank, David has high-level finance experience that he is now leveraging for the benefit of Nexsphere.
Having worked across many industries and several continents, David is skilled in Corporate & Debt Advisory; Credit/Debt Funds; Leveraged & Acquisition Finance; Project, Asset & Structured Finance; Relationship Management; and Risk Management.
A Master of Finance from RMIT, David also has valuable advisory experience in industrial, government and infrastructure projects, both domestically and internationally.
Our values
Nexsphere is driven by four key values that embody who we are.
Take initiative
We take action to solve big problems.
Be determined
We are committed to providing a better future.
Make a difference
As an Australian company, we are supporting our communities.
Stay curious
We bring together smart people to do amazing things.
Purpose
Leading the change to a green economy for Australia
Nexsphere was formed with the purpose of leading Australia’s change to a green economy. With climate change and the state of our environment a growing concern for Australians, we aim to deliver meaningful solutions that help the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy – before it’s too late.
As an Australian company, we achieve our purpose by investing in our communities, and partnering with Australian universities, other research bodies and leading industry professionals to complete R&D for the purposes of tackling problems associated with climate change and delivering on a just green transition to renewable energy. By backing smart people, we are able to find and develop industrial-scale, economically viable, transformative solutions, ensuring Australia’s energy needs are met with green power.
With this in mind, we are committed to a sustainable future, accelerating Australia’s net zero emissions targets, and moving beyond this target to achieve meaningful impact for future generations.
Corporate Governance
Nexsphere’s Board directly oversees our climate-related objectives and is responsible for a corporate governance framework that sets out the rules, practices, and processes used to direct and manage the company.
As such, the Board guides and monitors the business and affairs of Nexsphere and is responsible for establishing systems and protocols that ensure control and accountability.
Nexsphere’s corporate governance framework, and a range of supporting policies and procedures, help the company effectively manage the interests of its many stakeholders, including senior executives, suppliers, investors, the government, and the community.
As part of this process, the company reviews its corporate governance policies and procedures on an annual basis to ensure they remain appropriate and relevant.
Frequently Asked
Questions
Nexsphere is proudly Australian owned and operated. We were founded in 2017 by Glen Kierse and Leanne McDougall when they decided to be part of the solution in transitioning Australia to a green economy and a sustainable future.
Nexsphere is interested in projects that:
- Facilitate Australia’s transition to a green economy
- Contribute to Australia’s net zero emissions targets (and beyond)
- Are sustainable
- Generate local employment and benefits
- Are at scale or scalable, capable of a return on investment, potentially through commercialisation, in the long term
- Generate intellectual property in the green economy space
Nexsphere is currently investigating offshore wind and hydrogen projects in addition to projects that support a just green transition.
Nexsphere’s executives are experienced professionals with decades of involvement in the development and financing of energy projects in Australia and overseas.
The way we work is to partner with local and international organisations who can assist with the successful development of our projects.
Nexsphere works with leading Australian and international consulting firms that bring skill in the planning and development of some of the world’s largest offshore wind projects.
Nexsphere’s first project is the Bass Offshore Wind Energy (BOWE) wind farm. Located in north-eastern Tasmania, BOWE is a large-scale offshore renewable energy project to design, construct and operate a wind farm in Commonwealth waters in the Bass Strait, supporting Australia’s transition to a green, decarbonised economy. You can find out more about the BOWE wind farm at our BOWE project website.
To support the body of research in the green economy space, Nexsphere has a research and development unit called Nexsphere Technology.
Over the last two years, Nexsphere Technology has:
- Partnered with the University of Wollongong (UOW) and the Australian Maritime College (AMC) at the University of Tasmania, Launceston, to explore Multispectral Imaging, Detection and Active Reflectance (MiDAR). MiDAR is a recent technology pioneered by NASA’s Laboratory for Advanced Sensing (LAS).
Nexsphere is committed to technology that limits impact on marine ecology. Our goal is to develop a next-generation remote sensing technology for underwater imaging and the detection of whales and marine life.
- Engaged with the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) to commit ongoing support to innovative marine resource governance and supply chain projects.
The Blue Economy CRC brings together 40 industry, government, and research partners from ten countries with expertise in marine renewable energy. Through targeted and industry focussed research and training, the Blue Economy CRC paves the way for innovative, commercially viable and sustainable offshore developments and new capabilities that will see significant increases in renewable energy output and jobs that will transform the future of Australia’s traditional blue economy industries.
- Continued dialogue with CSIRO, University of Tasmania and the Australian Maritime College on projects in the offshore renewables space that are:
- An improvement to what is currently available on the international market
- Locally designed and manufactured
- Proprietary
- Will benefit local communities
- Contribute to decarbonisation
No.
We incorporate ESG issues into our decision-making processes, ownership policies and practices. Our Environmental policy can be found here.
Our goal of assisting the transition to a just and sustainable future is centred on the impact climate change will have on local communities and we strive to accelerate change that will minimise or avert this impact.
We support and invest in communities through education and job creation, creating positive and long-lasting economic results, and by supporting research and development that benefits the communities where our projects are located.
News
24th October 2023
Bass Offshore Wind Energy project welcomes wind zone consultation process
8th June 2023
Tasmanian Government signs MOU with Bass Offshore Wind Energy project to power Tasmania and drive local jobs
15th December 2022