Pacific Hydro has announced the appointment of Joseph Keenan as the company's new Chief Operating Officer, effective from 15 April this year.

“Following an extensive global search, I am very pleased to welcome Joseph to Pacific Hydro,” said Rob Grant, Pacific Hydro’s CEO. “Joseph brings a wealth of experience to the Pacific Hydro group and will lead all our corporate functions including finance, engineering, strategy, risk, human resources, legal, marketing and communications.”

Mr Keenan comes to Pacific Hydro from Orica, where he has most recently held the position of President of Orica Latin America, based in Santiago. In that role, he was responsible for all commercial, operational and manufacturing facilities across Latin America. He has previously held many roles with Orica, including Vice President of Orica Canada and Senior Vice President of Global Marketing.

“I am delighted to join Pacific Hydro and be part of its next phase of growth,” said Mr Keenan. “I am looking forward to meeting the corporate and business units’ teams across Australia, Brazil and Chile in the coming months.”

Pacific Hydro has in excess of 3,000 MW of hydro power and wind farm projects at varying stages of development, construction and operation in Australia, Brazil and Chile. Its operating wind farms and hydro plants abate an estimated 1.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution every year.

The company supplies its clean energy generation to electricity retailers and mining companies across its operating regions. It is currently developing its first wind farm in Chile and have partnered with mining giant Vale to develop two wind farms in Brazil. In Australia, Pacific Hydro also services medium and large organisations as an energy retailer.