SENIOR Manager - BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

ROBYN BROWN

Robyn has over 10 years of experience in the renewable energy sector.

She has participated in the development, bidding and financial close of wind and solar PV projects in the REIPPP programme as well as the C&I market, as well as being involved in overseeing procurement processes, project management and project acquisitions.

Robyn is an admitted attorney and conveyancer.  Her key areas of focus at ACED are business development and transactions.

Senior Manager - land & environmental

michelle herbert

BSc. Hons (Env. Science), B.Sc (Zoology), PMP®

Michelle joined in late 2023, has over 16 years post-graduate experience in environmental and social management, and is responsible for managing the environmental, land and permitting aspects of ACED’s projects to ensure compliance with local requirements and international best practices, IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles.

Prior to joining ACED, Michelle worked as an environmental and social consultant in both the public and private sectors where she was responsible for various environmental management processes related to resource infrastructure, oil & gas, and mining projects.

She is a registered Project Management Professional with the Project Management Institute and her experience is focused on integrating environmental and engineering practices to ensure a holistic approach to project strategy development, planning & risk analysis, and project execution.

head - procurement & construction

nic fee

BSc Building Management

Nic joined in January 2023 as Head of Procurement and Construction. Coming from a construction and project management background, Nic has over 25 years experience in the South African construction Industry and abroad, 15 of which as a contracts director at one of South Africa’s major listed construction companies. Nic’s construction and project management experience has covered all aspects of the procurement and construction management on major projects in the commercial, industrial, transportation and healthcare sectors. He holds a BSc Building Management degree from the University of Cape Town.

Nic’s role covers the management of the procurement and construction work streams of all ACED’S renewable energy projects through bidding and financial close and then construction through to commercial operation.

PROJECT MANAGER – PROCUREMENT & CONSTRUCTION

sam cook

Executive MBA, B Eng (Mech)

Sam joined in April 2023 to manage Commercial & Industrial (C&I) projects in the pre-construction and construction phases. In his capacity as Project CEO for C&I projects at ACED’s sister company, EIMS, he will have ongoing responsibility for asset management of C&I projects during the operations phase.

Sam has 20 years of broad experience in wind and solar energy, encompassing business development, technology commercialization and all project phases (development, construction and operation). After moving to South Africa in 2013, he was Senior Facility Manager responsible for 3 projects built in Round 1 of REIPPPP, and subsequently the Kouga Wind Farm until returning to ACED/EIMS.

Sam holds a B Eng (Mech) degree from the University of Queenslands (Australia) and an Executive MBA from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

project manager - procurement & construction

wessel lourens

MBA (USB), Pr Eng

Wessel holds a BEng in Civil Engineering and MBA from University of Stellenbosch and more than 10 years’ experience on large infrastructure and renewable energy projects. He previously worked for Worley Parsons as Civil Engineer where he was responsible for engineering and construction monitoring work – this is where he developed an interest in project management.

He then joined Power Construction as Project Manager within the wind energy industry – he gained exposure to 5 different wind projects where Power Construction acted as Civil BoP contractor. Wessel initiated contract negotiations and pricing, etc and worked in construction before he moved to iX Engineers in a more project management focused position – leading 5 project managers on large infrastructure and bulk water and pump station projects.

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

steyn de vos

B.Eng (Civil), MBA

Steyn joined in June 2021 and has over 9 years post-graduate experience. His role entails the project management of various development tasks from prospecting and project site selection, to securing land and site development through to financial close and construction. A key focus across these work streams is engineering integration and site optimization.

Prior to joining ACED, Steyn worked at a leading global renewable energy company as a Project Development Manager on multiple utility scale wind and solar projects in various stages of development. Tertiary qualifications include an MBA from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from the University of Stellenbosch. His earlier career involved the design and implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects across Africa and the Middle East, including 280MW of wind energy.

senior engineer & project manager - engineering

amy stevens

Amy’s primary role at ACED is to assist in the technical development of the company’s wind and solar portfolio from pre-feasibility up until financial close, providing technical support during the construction phase as required. She has over 14 years’ experience working as an engineer and project manager on energy and infrastructure projects.

Prior to joining ACED in January 2024, Amy worked as a senior engineer for an independent power producer, where she managed the technical aspects of multiple gigawatts of utility scale wind and solar projects. She has also worked for a consulting firm providing technical input and advice to lenders and independent power producers in the renewable energy space, and for a solar EPC company where she designed, and project managed the installation of several solar projects.

Project Manager - Land & Environmental  

KHOLOFELO RAMEETSE

BA, BSc. (Hons), M.Sc (Geography)

Kholofelo joined in May 2021 and is responsible for the project management of land and environmental permitting of projects. This covers involvement in obtaining all key authorisations and consents as well as project landowner engagement.

Prior to joining ACED, Kholofelo worked as a Project Development Associate for an independent power producer, where she was responsible for the land and environmental compliance of over 2GWs of wind and solar projects in various phases of development across the African continent. Prior to this, Kholofelo was an Economic Development Analyst for the same IPP, managing an operational wind facility’s Enterprise Development & Socio-Economic Development projects implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

project manager – land & environmental

simamkele ntsengwane

BSc. Environmental Geology, BSc. (Hons)

Simamkele joined in 2022 with over 8 years of experience and is responsible for the project management of land and environmental permitting of projects. This covers involvement in obtaining all key authorisations and ensuring compliance with local requirements and international best practice.

Prior to joining the ACED team, Simamkele worked an environmental assessment practitioner predominantly for renewable energy, linear developments, and water-sector related projects for both public and private clients – most recently managing and undertaking Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for commercial wind farms and transmission lines in the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape as well as site selection projects in Lesotho.

transactor - business development

matthew godrich

B.Bus.Sc Finance & Accounting, CA (SA)

Matthew joined ACED in 2024 and is involved in transaction structuring and capital raising for renewable energy projects, as well as being involved in new business development.

Prior to joining ACED, Matthew was employed at Nedbank where he spent the majority of his time in the Energy Finance team within Nedbank CIB focusing on Projects in South Africa and across the African continent.

Matthew holds a B.Bus.Sci in Finance and Accounting, CA(SA) and is a CFA Charterholder.

project & team administrator

pikwe vasey

B.Soc.Sci

Pikwe joined ACED in 2009, and has over 15 years post-graduate experience. She is responsible for providing co-ordination and administrative support to the ACED team and has been intimately involved in the successful delivery of over 700MW of wind and over 400MW of solar PV projects.

She assists with landowner and stakeholder liaison as well as adhoc assistance on the numerous and varied aspects of development work such as applications to government departments, project submissions and presentations, maintaining of permits and licenses, etc.

office administrator

nuraan molti

Nuraan joined ACED in 2023, and brings over 20 years of experience in the legal sector – 7 years of which were spent in the Property & Corporate Commercial Departments at ENS, one of South Africa’s big 5 law firms.

She has extensive office & operations management experience, manages administration, compliance & document preparation, and is responsible for the team’s wellbeing as well as ensuring the smooth running of the office.