AWARDS FINALIST: James Irvine – Leading renewables for Clarus
When James Irvine joined Clarus in April 2022, the company’s renewable energy ambitions were still largely theoretical.
Three years later, he has delivered three significant renewable energy milestones and positioned Clarus as a national leader in the transition to biofuels.
With no team, no blueprint, and no precedent, Irvine first had to build the firm’s new business division, First Renewables, from the ground up.
Clarus says Irvine took the group’s initial plan – focused largely on hydrogen – and reshaped it to put more emphasis on the country’s biomethane opportunity.
Biogas
Clarus says Irvine led the firm’s biomethane project at Reporoa from concept to construction and commissioning.
He secured the innovative agreement with Ecogas in which food waste at the company’s Reporoa facility is converted to biogas and then upgraded to biomethane and injected into the local pipeline network.
The project, which delivered its first gas to the network in November 2024, is one of few globally to be developed entirely without public subsidies. It now supplies enough renewable gas to power 7,200 homes and reduces carbon emissions by about 11,000 tonnes annually.
In April this year, Irvine turned soil on the $300 million Tauhei solar farm – set to become New Zealand’s largest at 202 MWp. The project, spanning 182 hectares, will generate enough electricity to power 35,000 homes once completed by the end of 2026.
Clarus says Irvine not only selected and signed a deal with Harmony Energy as its international partner for the joint venture, but he worked with Harmony to secure $200 million in financing from four major banks for the development and negotiate the country’s largest power purchase agreement with Meridian Energy, ensuring the project’s entire output is contracted for the next decade.
Perseverance
Clarus says the project demonstrated Irvine’s perseverance and his ability to collaborate and negotiate to find solutions that work for all parties. Three potentially terminal ‘no’s’ were navigated with innovation and entrepreneurship, it says.
Irvine also initiated the country’s first hydrogen blending trial, working with Vector, Powerco, GasNet, Nova and major energy retailers to explore the viability of distributing hydrogen through existing gas infrastructure.
Beyond those technical achievements, Clarus says Irvine is a respected leader and mentor. He has grown his team from zero to seven, championed diversity with Clarus, supported women in engineering, and inspired young professionals to pursue careers in energy.
His leadership style – described as calm, collaborative, and empowering – has earned admiration across the sector.
The annual Energy Excellence Awards will be held in Wellington on 13 August. The Young Energy Professional of the Year award is sponsored by Phoenix Recycling Group.