Oscar Cescotto

Oscar has over thirty four (34) years of professional experience in the mining, power (including gas) & energy industry sector, with a strong background in the development & delivery of power solutions for the mining & utility industries.

Oscar’s extensive experience has taken him to various geographical locations within Australia, (WA, SA, QLD & NSW) & also overseas Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Philippines & Thailand. He has carried out the full range of engineering activities across small & large (> $1.2B) projects during his career, including prefeasibility & bankable feasibility studies, investment business & regulatory strategies including consultation/negotiations with network authorities & local/state government authorities, design, design & construction management, procurement & contract management, field commissioning, training, project hand-over & asset management.

Oscar’s consultancy career led him to Adelaide in early 2000’s, where he undertook a wide range of electrical engineering roles with private consulting firms, servicing government & private Clients on project such as Australia Defence, High & Low security institutional prisons, water treatment plants, schools, health care centres, universities & electrical utilities.   Whilst working for Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) in Adelaide & continuing with complex building services, he was exposed to the high voltage electrical power infrastructure, whereby he undertook roles in design & design management of numerous substation & overhead line projects, from concept design through to testing/commissioning & handover for the South Australian Transmission & Distribution Electricity utilities such as ElectraNet SA & SA Power Networks (formerly ETSA Utilities).

In recent years, Oscar has extended his engineering capabilities into Project & Construction Management, by the engagement & coordination of design consultants (both engineering & non-engineering consultants) & construction contractors on large HV power infrastructure type projects for electrical utilities & Clients with large private network infrastructure. Clients such as, Generators (i.e. wind & solar farms etc.) & mining companies (i.e. MMG, Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Anglo etc.) however, continuing to still maintaining a constant technical hands on approach with all engineering disciplines (structural, civil, mechanical, electrical & hydraulic), aspects of detailed design ensuring statutory & regulatory compliance including scope conformance & aligning this with Client expectations. This involvement extends across a broad range of projects & the activities comprise of studies associated with the development of power/facility infrastructure options papers, which has required a focus on business & project management skills that develops strategic outcomes for Clients, delivers valued solutions within tight timeframes & budgets, prior to projects moving into the execution & delivery phase.

Oscar is continually maintaining that technical hands-on approach with design, testing & commissioning due to the frequent technological & work practices changes occurring within the industries & efficiencies needed in executing project plans throughout the entire project life cycle.   Asset management of critical plant is a key component of a project lifecycle & being involved in reviews using industry recognised (PAS 55) framework & the implementation of Asset Management Systems, so that Clients improve plant performance, enhance reliability, optimise capital investments & reduce operational costs.