CORENA is a non-profit group run primarily by volunteers |

CORENA is a not-for-profit group with nation-wide membership. It was incorporated on April 22, 2013, under the name Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia Incorporated. Our ABN is 92 929 665 880. Download our Constitution, Revised July1 2014. You can also view our 2019-20 annual report (includes financial statement and audit report).

We believe complete financial transparency is vital. View our June 30 2014 financial report. Audit reports are here and here. The 2014-15 audit report and financial statement are included in our 2014-15 annual report here. Ditto for 2015-16 here, 2016-17 here, 2017-18 here, and 2018-19 here. All donations to our climate projects can be seen in the honour rolls on the project pages, and expenditure on projects can be seen in the work details shown on the individual project pages which you can find via the links on the Completed Projects page or in the secondary menu at the bottom of each page.

The CORENA Inc committee members take care of administrative tasks on a voluntary basis. They are Paul Harris (Treasurer), Margaret Hender (Secretary), Adam Karl, Jonathan Maddox, Briony O’Shea (Chair), John Rolls (Public Officer), and Heather Smith (Deputy Chair). In-person meetings are held in Adelaide, but we conduct many of our meetings via Zoom to enable members in other states and territories to participate, and we also receive their input, via e-news, email, and a members’ Facebook group.

The Public Fund Management Committee members are Monica Oliphant AO, John Rolls, Simon Jones, Ekkehard Groskreutz, Margaret Hender, Paul Harris, and Briony O’Shea. Approval from this committee is required for all project expenditure from the Public Fund, and these committee members also provide project advice.

In April 2016 the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts added our Public Fund, Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia Fund, to the list of environmental funds granted tax deductible donation status. Accordingly, donations of $2 or more are now tax deductible.

Monica Oliphant AO – Patron of CORENA; Public Fund Committee member

Monica was recognised in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for distinguished service to the renewable energy sector as a research scientist, particularly through pioneering roles in solar photovoltaics and power generation, and to national and international organisations.

Monica runs her own Consultancy, “Monica Oliphant Research Scientist; specialising in Residential Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy”. She was President of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) 2008/09.
Monica is an Adjunct A/Professor at the University of South Australia in the Sustainable Energy Centre and is also an Adj A/Prof at the Flinders University of South Australia and Charles Darwin University. She worked as a Principal Research Scientist for 18 years at the former SA electricity Utility, ETSA, and has participated on a number of Australian Federal and State Government Committees, the main ones being the 2003 MRET Review, Board Member of the South Australian Premier’s Round Table in Sustainability, RenewablesSA, and the CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship.
In recent times regular trips have been made to China and Monica is a Senior Advisor for IEEPA (International Energy Conservation, Environmental Protection Association, Beijing) and the UNIDO International Solar Energy Centre for Technology Promotion and Transfer, Lanzhou.
She won the Ecogen 2011 Award for the “Most Outstanding Contribution to the Clean Energy Industry” and in 2012 was awarded the World Renewable Energy Network Pioneer Award at the World Renewable Energy Forum in Denver, Colorado and was inducted into the Australian Solar Council Hall of Fame.

Ekkehard Groskreutz – Public Fund Committee member

With a degree in mechanical engineering (Dipl. Ing.) from Germany, Ekkehard brings his management experience from over 20 years in leading roles with Europe’s largest manufacturer of mining equipment. Since the establishment of his energy consultancy in 2001 and achieving Clean Energy Council accreditation (A311 986) in 2003 for the design and installation of grid connect and off grid renewable energy systems the focus has diversified from renewable energy generation to include all aspects of energy efficiency and sustainable energy engineering. The realisation that best results can be achieved by combining expert knowledge from a wide range of individuals and technologies is shaping the present form of structure and activities under the Eco Energy Holdings Group of companies which Ekkehard leads.

Paul Harris – CORENA Treasurer; Public Fund Committee member

Paul’s interests in renewable energy go back to high school in the 1960s (where he made a simple solar hot water panel and a solar still) and range from solar (electrical and thermal) through wind and micro-hydro to biomass and biogas. Paul is an agricultural engineer by training, with broad interests covering structures, machinery, hydraulics and electricity, and he taught engineering related subjects at Roseworthy Campus for his whole working life.

Margaret Hender – CORENA Secretary; Public Fund Committee member

CORENA founder
Climate Emergency Declaration campaigner
No More Bad Investments (NMBI) campaigner
Retired freelance translator

Simon Jones – Public Fund Committee member

Founding Member, Community Energy Adelaide Hills.
Board Member, Whale and Dolphin Conservation ( Australasia )
Board Member, Adelaide Hills International Sculpture Symposium.
President, Adelaide Hills Artists Association.
Board Member, The Hut Community Centre.
Councillor, Mt. Lofty Ward and committees, Adelaide Hills Council. Lifetime activist with Greenpeace.

Briony O’Shea – CORENA Chair; Public Fund Committee member

Briony is a chemical engineer with a Master of Laws in International Law, her thesis for which focused on international carbon policy implementation. Having spent her career in the energy industry, her main focus is on renewable energies and future fuels such as hydrogen and biogas to support the transition to a low carbon future. She is particularly interested in the removal of regulatory barriers to the successful transition to future fuels in Australia’s traditional gas infrastructure, and the enabling of a green hydrogen economy to complement Australia’s transition to renewable electricity and to accelerate our transition to net-zero carbon emissions across all sectors. In 2019, Briony was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel to France, Germany, UK, and Norway, to understand how other countries are successfully managing the transition to hydrogen in their gas distribution networks.

John Rolls – Public Fund Committee member; Public Officer

John is a physical scientist with a research degree in chemistry. He spent most of his professional life in the South Australian public service in various aspects of water resources management. He subsequently worked in Energy SA on various aspects of energy policy with particular reference to climate change response.

For many years his most active concerns have been anthropogenic climate change and energy efficient residential design. Since his retirement he has been an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at University of South Australia’s Barbara Hardy Institute, where he investigates and writes about the psychological and other social barriers to societal response to climate change. He has been an active member of the environment movement in SA for many years, and is currently a Councillor for SA on Australian Conservation Council.

His roles with CORENA reflect a belief that governments have demonstrated a gross incapacity to adequately respond to climate change, and that ordinary citizens must increasingly take on that role in a practical sense.

How CORENA began

The original spark for CORENA came from a light-hearted quip. I was enthusing about the stationary energy plan, published by Beyond Zero Emissions in 2010, to a fairly mainstream relative. When she heard that Australia could transition to 100% renewable energy in 10 years at a cost of just $8/week per household, she said, “Great! Where do I send my $8 per week?“

An idea was born. It occurred to me that possibly hundreds of thousands of householders were thinking the same thing. Why not establish a ‘place’ where all these people could send their contributions (of any amount) to collectively pay for practical renewable energy projects that reduce carbon emissions immediately. So we did.

Since then of course, numerous people have been involved in shaping CORENA. My thanks to them, and to all of you who are turning the original spark into reality.

– Margaret Hender