Dean Dalla Valle is an executive heavyweight of the resources sector – ex-BHP and ex-Pacific National – who has just been appointed the inaugural chair Hysata, the deep tech hydrogen startup spun out of Wollongong University.
At first glance its an odd coupling. But given Hysata’s drive to build a global green hydrogen sector as a maker of highly efficient electrolysers, it starts to make sense.
Maybe it helps that they are both local to the Illawarra. Mr Dalla Valle joined BHP as a 17-year-old electrical apprentice and spent 40 years at the company, rising to become its Chief Commercial Officer, having run its global coal business and uranium business among various other senior roles.
He then ran the massive train and freight logistics company National Pacific as chief executive for four years. And as a keen cyclist, Mr Dalla Valle chaired the organisation that brought the UCI Road World Championships to Wollongong last year.
It’s a massive appointment for Hysata, which last year raised a $42.5 million Series A funding round and last month was awarded $8.98 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and €5.9 million by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
“Dean is a perfect fit as chair of Hysata’s board. We will draw on his extensive global experience managing multi-billion-dollar deals and passion for the local region to get this home-grown technology to global scale,” said Hysata chief executive officer Paul Barrett.
His knowledge of the resources sector can be applied to advance the renewable energy industry and create value-add green exports for Australia including green iron, alumina, ammonia and methanol,” he said.
Mr Dalla Valle said the Illawarra not only had a strong legacy in manufacturing, but also has huge potential to support emerging clean energy industries.
He said Hysata was a locally-born, leading-edge technology that had the potential to create a new manufacturing industry in this country and accelerate the global energy transition – and that was an exciting prospect.
“The Illawarra region has a strong legacy in manufacturing and has huge potential to support emerging clean energy industries as it transitions from its foundational enterprises.,” Mr Dalla Valle said.
“There is significant current and growing global demand for hydrogen electrolysers to help decarbonise the hard-to-abate sectors that account for 15-20 per cent of the worlds emissions.
“Hysata’s transformative efficiency and approach to mass manufacturing will redefine the economics of green hydrogen,” he said.
