“If I need to go to Roger Cook tomorrow or Monday next week and say, ‘Roger, listen’ because he has got $60 million right now for renewable energy projects … Roger could give us $5 million from the [investment] attraction fund,” Gauld told the court, according to transcripts of the proceedings.
“I can go back to him 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.”
While acknowledging he had worked with the company and its officials, Cook was adamant he did not have a personal relationship with Gauld and the release of such funds were subject to stringent oversight.
“I have no idea why he would make that comment, I have no personal relationship with Stephen, but he is at one of our renewable energy companies and obviously, I work with him and his colleagues on a regular basis,” Cook told WAtoday.
“I’m not quite sure why he made those comments.
“We need to make sure these monies are deployed in the most appropriate way, which is why the companies are subject to stringent oversight by the department, but also subject to meeting milestones as part of that payment process.”
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WAtoday understands the company met the initial milestones necessary for the release of around $1.5 million, but that the department has since suspended payments because progress has stalled.
Court documents obtained by this masthead indicate IGE had failed to meet its court deadlines ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, including those set for the submission of its defence.
IGE and Gauld had previously denied the allegations and called for the wind-up application to be thrown out, claiming there was no evidence its assets were in jeopardy and branding the appointment of a liquidator a “drastic intrusion” into its affairs.
IGE’s lawyers at Edwards Mac Scovell declined to answer questions related to the case, but confirmed it was still acting for the company.
WAtoday has spoken with a number of shareholders in the wake of the allegations becoming public who had expressed concerns about the company’s future and a desire to see a change in leadership.
IGE has had 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, and Sydney investor Lance Rosenberg’s Glenagle.
According to the company’s 2022/23 financial report, the last to be filed with the corporate watchdog, auditors at Grant Thornton revealed the group had incurred an operating loss of $26.5 million.
IGE had a working capital deficit of $7.8 million and net cash flow from operating, vesting and financing activities of just $2.4 million.
“These events or conditions, along with other matters, indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the auditors stated.
The clean hydrogen hopeful, formerly Infinite Blue Energy, is behind several projects earmarked for Western Australia worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
IGE and partners Samsung C&T and Doral Energy have been trying to secure approval to build a $127 million small-scale hydrogen production facility in Northam, which was backed by the WA government in 2023 to the tune of $5 million but has struggled to garner support from planning authorities.
The appointment comes as the state’s environmental watchdog pores over IGE’s Arrowsmith Hydrogen Plant plans, which involve the construction of a wind and solar-powered hydrogen production facility across a 1929 hectare property about 30 kilometres south of Dongara.
IGE had hoped to produce first gas in the second half of 2026.
The company had also joined forces with Swiss energy giant Axpo on the Valle Peligna project in central Italy, which, if successful, would be one of the largest commercial-scale hydrogen plants in Southern Europe.
The project received the backing of the federal government’s investment commission Austrade and the Australian Embassy.
IGE’s project partners Samsung C&T and Doral declined to comment on the dispute or the status of its partnership arrangement.
The appointment also comes almost 12 months after a board exodus at IGE, which saw the departure of its chair and former Woodside chief Peter Coleman, Australia Japan Business Co-op chair Tim Lester and former Rio Tinto iron ore boss Chris Salisbury.
Less than eight weeks later, the company’s chief financial officer also departed.
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