West Australian business heavyweight Peter Coleman could return to the helm of embattled hydrogen hopeful Infinite Green Energy under an 11th-hour plan to drag it out of administration.
WAtoday understands shareholders of the Perth-based firm are mulling a proposal which would see Coleman assume the role of chair and prominent executive Tim Lester rejoin the company as part of a leadership overhaul.
Former Woodside chief Peter Coleman.Credit: AFR.
A source with knowledge of the proposal said the plan presented to shareholders did not feature IGE chief executive Stephen Gauld.
It comes amid revelations IGE made a $13,750 donation to Labor’s fundraising vehicle Perth Trades Hall just eight months ago.
Coleman — the former chief executive of Woodside — and Lester served on the board until a sudden exodus in May 2024, which is believed to have stemmed from a relationship breakdown with the executive.
Documents obtained by this masthead indicate an entity linked to Coleman is a major shareholder in IGE.
Any plan to drag the company out of administration would hinge on the willingness of investors to bankroll the process, back the proposed restructure and recapitalise the company — but it would depend heavily on the assessment of its books.
KordaMentha is still poring over IGE’s accounts to determine whether it is worth saving after it was plunged into voluntary administration last week.
Administrators were handed the reins to the company and nine of its entities less than 24 hours before a Supreme Court hearing in a $3.85 million debt dispute IGE had kept under wraps until it was revealed by WAtoday, sending stakeholders scrambling to secure their investments.
For the past six weeks, IGE has been fending off a bid by Queensland-based investor DD Investment to have liquidators appointed over its failure to repay the debt.
According to court documents obtained by this masthead, IGE’s chief Stephen Gauld had attempted to thwart the bid by claiming he could call on Premier Roger Cook to obtain $5 million to service the debt.
“I can go back to [Roger Cook] next week and say, ‘Listen, we’ve got an urgent commitment, I need another $5 million’, and we will get this all done. It’s not an issue,” Gauld told the court, according to transcripts of the proceedings.
Cook denied having a personal relationship with Gauld and said the release of such funds was subject to stringent oversight.
DD Investment told the court it had grave concerns about IGE’s financial health and its capacity to recover the debt, submitting correspondence from Deutsche Bank’s anti-financial crime department, which cast doubt over the authenticity of bank transfer documents IGE sent.
IGE and Gauld rejected the allegations and called for the matter to be dismissed, claiming there was no evidence its assets were in jeopardy and pinning the delays on challenging global markets.
IGE, formerly Infinite Blue Energy, was founded in 2018 and has spearheaded several projects earmarked for WA — including a $127 million small-scale hydrogen production facility in Northam and a wind and solar-powered production facility near Dongara.
The Northam project had attracted partners Samsung C&T and Doral Energy, but has struggled to get approval from planning authorities.
The company had also joined forces with Swiss energy giant Axpo to build a commercial-scale hydrogen plant in central Italy.
IGE has attracted several high-profile investors, including reclusive billionaire Kie Chie Wong, who made his fortune as an early investor in Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group.
It also gained the support of the WA government in the form of a $5 million grant to kickstart development.
Nationals MP Lachlan Hunter grilled Cook in parliament last week about the due diligence undertaken by the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation before it advised the WA government to hand over the grant.
Cook railed against the opposition, accusing it of failing to back WA Labor’s ambitions to position the state as a renewable energy powerhouse and insisting he took no great pleasure in the company’s collapse.
He also batted away a request for a log of the premier’s meetings and correspondence with IGE, directing Hunter to lodge an application for the information under Freedom of Information laws.
“[IGE] came to the government to say they wanted to create a hydrogen-based industry in the Wheatbelt, a huge opportunity for the people living in Northam,” Cook said.
“Upon initial assessment, the department gave us the advice that we should provide them with a grant, which would see that opportunity come to light.
“I think it’s around about $1.5 million that was made available to the company as part of their initial stages of their project, but it then became apparent that they weren’t able to make subsequent milestones.
“It’s because of this oversight that we weren’t exposed to any more financial risk.
“I don’t get any great satisfaction from being able to say that that company will only receive $1.5 million of their $5 million grant.”
It is not yet clear what implications, if any, the revival plan could have in the ongoing court row between DD Investment, IGE and now its administrators, which is due to return to court on Tuesday.
Coleman could not be reached for comment.
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