Congratulations to the winners of the 2016 Clean Energy Council Awards.

For the first time the Clean Energy Council has awarded the Contribution to Industry Award which was won by Fiona O'Hehir, the CEO of Greenbank Environmental.

Fiona has made a long standing contribution to the renewable energy sector and recently made a massive personal sacrifice to ensure integrity of the solar industry and to protect the strong and positive reputation of the solar industry amongst Australian householders.

People like Fiona make this industry a great one, and we are proud to present her with this inaugural award in recognition of her extraordinary efforts on behalf of this industry.

Victorian power utility United Energy took out the Clean Energy Council Innovation Award, for a project which used solar and storage to cut peaks in electricity usage, and reduced the need for an additional spend on poles and wires. But it was a cloud platform that allowed it to operate individual storage units remotely and on demand that really set the initiative apart.

The NT Power and Water Corporation won the Business Community Engagement Award for the Manymak Energy Efficiency Project, which worked with six indigenous communities in the Territory. The program successfully helped people living in these areas to reduce their power bills and energy use, and employed 81 Yolngu energy efficiency workers.

Innovation Award finalists

Fulcrum 3D for its CloudCAM technology that enables large-scale solar power plants to work in better harmony with the rest of the electricity system by predicting periods when they will be covered by clouds.

RES developed an innovative model to secure debt and equity investors for the Ararat Wind Farm, bringing the project to financial close during a period of uncertainty following the review of the Renewable Energy Target. The wind farm was successful in securing additional support from the ACT Government in the first round of its reverse auction program.

Business Community Engagement Award finalists

ClimateWorks Australia for the stakeholder engagement of its research on deep decarbonisation by 2050 and how Australia can prosper in a low-carbon world. The organisation met with a wide range of political and business leaders, as well as industry associations.

Goldwind Australia for a series of initiatives at its White Rock Wind Farm in New England which are designed to make the project a valued part of the community. These included a mobile black spot initiative, direct engagement and a program to share the benefits with near neighbours to wind turbines.