Meet Our Team

Richard Lowe
Chief Executive Officer

Richard brings over three decades of expertise in the infrastructure industry, both in Australia and globally. His career includes tenures at Macquarie Infrastructure, Rothschild, and Westpac. He has successfully executed projects totalling more than $120 billion in value.

Most recently, as the CEO of Lumea Infrastructure, Richard spearheaded initiatives in energy and telecommunications for the renewables sector. Under his leadership, the company built a robust portfolio that connects over 11,000MW of renewable energy. He also championed the commercialisation of innovative technologies to facilitate a smoother transition to sustainable energy.

Richard has a long-standing interest in applying sustainability principles to infrastructure development and the power of infrastructure to improve the lives of the communities it serves.

Shara Karamian
Executive General Manager

Shara has spent more than 20 years developing and delivering facilitation infrastructure for the resources and energy sector in Australia and globally for multinational corporations such as Rio Tinto and Lend Lease.

Before joining Solas, he was the General Manager of Energy Services at Lumea, accountable for both the origination and delivery of infrastructure as a service solution for major loads and generators connected to the National Electricity Market. Shara was instrumental in building a significant portfolio of infrastructure assets by leading a multidisciplinary team of professionals.

As a passionate advocate of impact investing, Shara is consistently seeking to create mutually beneficial outcomes from the economic opportunities of the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Elise Mamacan
Director of Infrastructure Solutions

Elise has spent over 12 years with the Transgrid Group in technical roles ranging from site management, procurement, design and proposal management. Her technical expertise extends to all aspects of the electricity system, including substations, transmission lines, underground cables, secondary systems and communications with experience at voltages from 11kV to 500kV.

Before joining Solas, Elise was Proposal Manager at Lumea, where she managed renewable energy and battery storage system project solutions, including project initiation and feasibility, estimation, design, grid connection and contract management. Elise was a key contributor to building Lumea’s portfolio of infrastructure assets, with her focus on tailoring bespoke solutions for customers while ensuring sound commercial outcomes.

Elise is constantly exploring ways to lead and accelerate the energy transition for Australia, with a particular commitment to realising innovations in an ever-evolving industry.

Damien Hughes
General Counsel

Damien has more than 15 years of experience as an energy and corporate lawyer in-house and in private practice. His expertise spans acquisitions, joint ventures, construction, regulatory matters and financing, with a focus on energy infrastructure projects and the electricity regulatory regime.

Before joining Solas, Damien was Head of Legal at Lumea, where he led the legal support for Lumea's business initiatives in renewable grid connections, large-scale battery storage systems, electric vehicles and telecommunications services and for Lumea’s financing facilities.

Damien also led the in-house legal work for Transgrid, overseeing major transmission projects and the development of renewable energy zones in New South Wales.

Damien is passionate about contributing to the energy transition and in particular supporting renewable energy projects to navigate the changing regulatory landscape.

Will Gunn
Commercial Director

Will is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of experience across corporate recovery, financial services, and the energy sector.

Prior to joining Solas, he was a Senior Manager in the Corporate Development team at Endeavour Energy, with a focus on unregulated growth opportunities. Will’s key projects included the development of infrastructure as a service solution for major load customers, such as data centers, and participation in the successful tender process for the Network Operator role in the CWO Renewable Energy Zone with the ACEREZ consortium.

Will is committed to supporting the energy transition and the rollout of renewable energy projects across Australia for the long term benefit of the broader community.

Snehal Patel
Director of Infrastructure Solutions

Snehal has spent more than 20 years managing bids and delivering substation and transmission line projects for the resources and energy sector in Australia and globally for well known organisations such as ABB/Hitachi, Powercor, Zinfra, and Transgrid.

Before joining Solas, he was the Head of Commercial Solutions at Lumea, accountable for creating fit for purpose technical solutions and commercial outcomes for major loads and generators connected to the National Electricity Market. Snehal was instrumental in building and maintaining customer relationships. He also trained and mentored his team and colleagues.

Snehal is passionate about contributing to the energy transition by advocating faster, cheaper, fit for purpose solutions for renewable projects.