| Women in hydropower


1200MW Baram HPP and 300MW Bakun Capacity Expansion. In the region SMEC has also provided services on the 500MW Wawa Pumped Storage Project in the Philippines, 2400MW Son La HPP and 189MW Dong Nai 3 HPP in Vietnam and we are also supporting SMEC Australia with the 2000MW Snowy 2.0 Pumped Storage Project. One of our key clients in Malaysia, Sarawak Energy


Board, is an early adopter and a passionate advocate of the IHA standards. We are now also working with Fortescue Future Industries, another IHA member, and hope to encourage more of our clients to adopt these standards. SMEC is the only consultant in Asia Pacific to have an IHA accredited assessor on our staff.


IWP&DC: Looking back over your career so far, what have been the key lessons for you? Karen Atkinson: I have certainly learnt never to be afraid to take on a new challenge. When I worked on the Ross River Dam Upgrade in Australia I worked alongside one of the worlds experts on radial gates. It was not something I had been involved in before and was quite intimidating at the time but I learnt so much through the project.


IWP&DC: What advice would you have for other women working within the hydro industry – especially those just starting out in their careers? Have gender issues ever been a factor for you within your career? Karen Atkinson: I have never found gender to be a barrier in my career in engineering. I think my best advice for anyone starting their career is to get broad experience across design, construction, safeguards and commercial aspects of a project. A good understanding of the full project lifecycle will equip you to actively contribute to successful projects, not just from a technical perspective but whole-of-project delivery.


IWP&DC: Is there a memorable project that you have worked on and would like to share with our readers? Karen Atkinson: The first ever hydro project I worked on was two small schemes (3MW & 6.5MW) in the highlands of Viti Levu in Fiji back in 2005. Fiji has a


huge dependence on imported diesel as a power source, but also has plenty of hydro opportunity. Being small schemes there were no enormous technical challenges, but we could not afford a large team, so I had to get involved in all aspects of the project and learnt a lot along the way. The project was my first experience of working in a developing country and remote environment. I found it so rewarding and enjoyable, that I have stayed involved in the industry ever since! In terms of large projects, it has been extremely satisfying to work with the SMEC KL to successfully complete the Ulu Jelai project for Tenaga Nasional Berhad. ●


More information Karen Atkinson is SMEC’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer for the ASEAN Division and Executive Committee member for ASEAN and is based in Jakarta. The ASEAN Division has its main offices in Indonesia, Malaysia & Philippines, and operates in Vietnam, the Pacific, and Myanmar, with nearly 1000 staff across the division.


SMEC has a centre of excellence for hydropower


in Kuala Lumpur and has completed many projects in the region from small hydropower to 2000MW+. The centre of excellence is connected to SMEC’s global hydropower team and supports iconic projects such as the Snowy 2.0 scheme.


Above: Snowy 2.0 in Australia is one of the iconic hydropower projects SMEC is working on. The project involves linking two existing dams, Tantangara and Talbingo, through 27km of tunnels and building a new underground power station


Below, left and right: Located in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia, the 372MW Ulu Jelai Hydroelectric Project was commissioned in 2016 to help meet Malaysia’s demand for electrical power. SMEC’s involvement in the project began over ten years ago when Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia’s Electrical Power Public Utility, asked it to review an existing feasibility study carried out in 2004


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