Offshore wind - Biographies

Craig Bloomer - Senior Marine Biologist - Genesis Oil & Gas Consultants

Craig Bloomer has over 5 years experience in the oil and gas industry, he is a trained Marine Biologist with specialism in the field of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the offshore industries including hydrocarbon, marine aggregate extraction and renewable energy. Previously worked as an offshore industries advisor for the Joint Nature Conservation Committee where the focus of the role was on communicating best environmental practices to the offshore industries. Craig was previously a member of the COWRIE environmental working group where he participated on a number of projects.

Recent projects at Genesis have included a major review of the underwater sound levels generated by the oil and gas industry for DECC. Craig is currently providing environmental advice and support for the environmental consents and permits for the European Offshore Windfarm Deployment Centre. Previous roles have included providing specialist support services for a number of major oil and gas developments, and a carbon capture storage project.

Phil de Villiers - Offshore Wind Accelerator Manager – The Carbon Trust

Phil de Villiers joined the Carbon Trust in 2008, where he is the manager of the Offshore Wind Accelerator, a ground-breaking collaborative RD&D project between Carbon Trust and eight leading offshore wind developers that aims to reduce the cost of offshore wind by 10%.

Prior to joining the Carbon Trust, Phil worked as a strategy consultant for the Boston Consulting Group, where he advised oil and gas companies on alternative energy strategies, and as a technology consultant for Accenture.

Phil has a degree in Economics from the University of St Andrews, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Duarte Figueira - Head of ORED’s Offshore Renewables - DECC

Duarte Figueira is Head of the Offshore Renewables in the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment (ORED) in DECC, focusing on offshore wind and wave and tidal energy. This involves addressing barriers to deployment as well as driving business development opportunities arising from offshore renewables growth. Prior to that he was Director of Infrastructure Projects in UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), responsible for promoting UK industry overseas in priority infrastructure sectors, including power. He has also held BIS posts in the areas of export licensing, non-proliferation policy, business support and competition policy. He holds an MBA from Warwick University and an MSc in Politics and Administration from, London University.

Adrian Fox - Supply Chain Manager - The Crown Estate

Adrian Fox is the supply chain manager for the marine estate group within The Crown Estate. He has the responsibility for engaging with, facilitating and enabling the supply chains required to deliver technology and projects within the marine estate. In the energy sector this encompasses wave, tidal, CCST and wind with a particular emphasis on Round 3.

A civil/structural engineer Adrian has over 15 years international experience in the energy sector involving offshore oil and gas, conventional thermal generation as well as marine renewables. He has been involved in all parts of the value chain of capital projects, from inception, feasibility and delivery.

Nicola Fry – Project Manager - Technip

Nicola Fry is currently Project Director for Technip’s part in the Aberdeen Bay Offshore Windfarm, a project being undertaken as a joint venture with Vattenfall and AREG. Previous to this Nicola was Technip’s UK Business Assurance Manager responsible for driving the assurance process and ensuring compliance throughout the business. She also has extensive experience of designing and implementing Business Management Systems and managing major organisational change programmes.

Nicola’s formative years have been spent within the QHSE function in both managerial and co-ordinator positions. Her experience has been gained working within the oil and gas industry with Technip, Stolt Offshore (now part of Subsea 7) and Bond Helicopters and within the construction industry with the Stewart Milne Group.

Paul Gardner - Principal Engineer - GL Garrad Hassan

Paul Gardner is a Principal Engineer in the Glasgow office of GL Garrad Hassan, the world's largest renewable energy technical consultancy, and has worked in the renewables field for over a quarter of a century. He now works in the Strategic and Policy Studies area, and previously led the GLGH electrical engineering team. Current interests include offshore supply chain, grid integration issues, electricity industry regulation, and market & strategy studies for companies entering the renewables industries.

Phil Gilmour - Head, Marine Renewables and Offshore Wind Team - Marine Scotland

Phil Gilmour heads up the Marine Renewables and Offshore Wind Team within Marine Scotland’s Policy and Planning Division. He has worked with colleagues in Scottish Government to deliver an Offshore Wind Energy Sectoral Marine Plan and will work with colleagues to deliver a sectoral Marine Plan for Marine Renewables. Other projects he has been involved with include The Saltire Prize Scoping Study and Regional Locational Guidance, the Marine Renewables Licensing Manual and the Survey, Deploy and Monitor Policy.

Dr Lewis Lack - Managing Director - Xanthus Energy Ltd

Dr Lewis Lack was one of the people researching wind energy in the early 1980’s at Reading University, during which he presented papers at early BWEA meetings. His research was focused on vertical axis WTGs which prepared him for an engineering career in fatigue and dynamics that has taken him around the world working for a wide range of industries. His skills were developed and broadened in SME businesses including HBM-nCode, Romax Technology and Ocean Resource. As a key supporter of British technology and innovation, he has been involved in new technology at every stage of his working life. Twenty five years on he has come back to the wind energy business and his company, Xanthus Energy, has joined the offshore wind supply chain with low cost self installing foundation systems, SeaBreeze™ and OceanBreeze™. Dr Lack has attended and presented papers at a number of conferences in the last few years including the RenewableUK offshore wind conference in Liverpool, at XXI World Energy Congress (WEC 2010) in Montreal, the Northern Wind Innovation Programme event in Leeds last year and the Offshore Wind Energy 2011 conference held in the Royal Garden Hotel in London in April this year.

Alan MacLeay - Renewables Engineering Director - Subsea 7

Alan MacLeay is the Renewables Engineering Director at Subsea 7, a global leader in seabed to surface engineering, construction & services. He was born in Inverness, grew up on Orkney and studied engineering at Aberdeen University before qualifying as a chartered civil engineer. He has over 20 years experience in offshore engineering & construction and first became involved in offshore wind and marine renewables in the 1990’s.

Morag McCorkindale - Chief Operating Officer - Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group

When with Aberdeen City Council Economic Development service Morag identified renewables as a major opportunity for the city region and was responsible for leading the development in conjunction with partners the renewable energy industry development strategy:

• Led the development of the renewables strand of Aberdeen City Council’s diversification strategy and gained cross-sectoral support for its implementation
• Built and maintains productive relationships with partners and key stakeholders at all levels
• Recruited the founder members of AREG and grew the membership to 170+organisations
• Established AREG as a fully functioning independent company
• Developed a bid which secured £2.3 million from the Scottish Government
• Secured leverage of over £5 million to date
• Held a key position in the team that developed the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre conceptand which secured a 40 million euro grant for the project

Morag was previously a business advisor with Aberdeen Enterprise Trust where she advised over 1,500 entrepreneurs and assisted 102 businesses to start up. The business survival rate at 3 years was 75% which is 25% above the national average.
 

John Price - Director - Vattenfall

John Price is an experienced commercial and development professional.

He has spent 30 years in the contractor’s commercial side of the construction and civil engineering industry. After working for a number of UK contractors he joined Amec Civil Engineering in 1985 as a Regional Quantity Surveyor and was appointed in the period 1995 to 2000 to Commercial Director of Amec’s Marine Civil Engineering Division. This division successfully and profitably operated in the UK’s ports and harbours and coast protection sector.

In 2000 John transferred as Development Director to Amec’s new Wind Energy business in which he was part of the internal team that successfully proposed its establishment. This business developed and constructed the UK’s first multi megawatt offshore wind turbines at Blyth off the Northumbrian coast. The business also successfully received consent for a number of Round 1 and Round 2 offshore sites on behalf of Centrica as well as onshore wind sites in Scotland and England.

In 2008 Amec’s wind business was sold to Vattenfall. With much of the activity being in Scotland Vattenfall decided to open an office in Edinburgh and asked John to lead the business in Scotland. The office was opened by the First Minister in December 2009.

Also as part of his remit John is the Scottish Manager of Vattenfall Power Consultant (VPC). VPC is the internal consulting arm of Vattenfall and operates across all Vattenfall’s generating technologies. In Scotland and the UK as a whole VPC will seek to service Vattenfall’s offshore and onshore wind developments as well as seeking external clients in wind and biomass and CHP projects.

Andrew Reid - CEO - Douglas-Westwood

Educated at the University of Aberdeen he received an MA (Hons) in Economics and later attended the Robert Gordon University to progress an MBA after a number of years in industry and professional services.

As CEO of Douglas-Westwood he is responsible for the strategic direction and overall management of the specialist energy advisory business globally, overseeing the research, advisory, and merger and acquisition (M&A)diligence service lines. Previously at Ernst & Young, Andrew engaged as an M&A advisor exclusively focused on the energy industry managing a series of buy-side and sell-side mandates, in addition to valuations, strategic reviews, and corporate development projects.

Andrew also has extensive experience as an energy analyst including market modelling, forecasting, and due-diligence studies and was also a sell-side equity analyst responsible for European oil service coverage with investment bankers Simmons & Company. Previously he held a commercial role within a major oil service business.

Within the energy markets, Andrew is a regular contributor to industry publications and the wider broadcast media having penned a number of articles and opinions within specialist journals and the international press, including television appearances on the BBC and the CNBC business channel. In addition he is a regular presenter at industry conferences and events worldwide.

Paul Reynolds - Offshore Wind Development Manager - RenewableUK

Paul Reynolds joined RenewableUK, formerly BWEA, as the Offshore Wind Development Manager in early 2010. He has a fairly broad remit and is the secretariat for the Offshore Wind Strategy Group, Consents and Licensing Sub Group, Operations and Asset Management Sub Group and MCZ working group at RenewableUK. This work provides Paul with a good overview of the key challenges facing the industry as it looks to ramp up for Round 3.

Paul Reynolds joined RenewableUK, formerly BWEA, as the Offshore Wind Development Manager in early 2010. He has a fairly broad remit and is the secretariat for the Offshore Wind Strategy Group, Consents and Licensing Sub Group, Operations and Asset Management Sub Group and MCZ working group at RenewableUK. This work provides Paul with a good overview of the key challenges facing the industry as it looks to ramp up for Round 3. Previously he was the lead author for a chapter in the Centre for Alternative Technology's Zero Carbon Britain 2 report. He also holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College and a BA in Economics from Nottingham University.
 

David Rodger - Senior Communications Advisor - Vattenfall Wind Power

Joined Vattenfall Wind Power in March 2009 as Senior Development Manager for Scotland, based in Edinburgh with responsibilities for Onshore Wind Farm development, support to EOWDC project and strategic development of the new Scottish base.

Appointed Senior Communications Advisor with principle responsibility for Scotland from 1st March 2011.

Currently sits on Scottish Government Offshore Wind Group & chairs Renewable UK Skills Strategy Group.

Experience of strategic development of renewables industry from both a government and industry perspective, having worked with Industry groups, Skills Agencies, Universities, Colleges and Schools on a range of initiatives.

Over 22 years public service experience in various Government Departments including Employment Service, HSE (Offshore Safety) and DTI.

Working within the UK energy industry since 1993 dealing with offshore safety, technology development, event management and renewable energy.

Previous roles have included business development for theUK Renewables industry & responsibility for drafting energy industry briefing, speeches and articles for ministers and senior officials.

Seconded from DTI (now DECC) to Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group as their Communications Manager from 2005- February 2009.

Gained MSc in Management at The Robert Gordon University, December 2003.

Andrew Scott - Programme Manager, Offshore Wind - The Energy Technologies Institute

Prior to joining The ETI, Andrew held senior engineering and operational roles in both large multinationals and innovative SMEs. He has over 30 years experience of making new technologies work in commercially driven environments.

Andrew is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute for Engineering and Technology. He holds a MA in Physics from Oxford University and an MSc in Applicable Mathematics from the University of Teesside.

David Stevenson - Senior Policy Adviser – Offshore Wind, Scottish Government

David Stevenson is a Senior Policy Adviser leading on offshore wind, within the Scottish Government’s Offshore Renewable Energy Team. Main activities include the policy development to support offshore wind in Scotland. He was involved in the development and implementation of Scotland’s Offshore Wind Route Map which aims to deliver the biggest opportunity for sustainable economic growth in Scotland for a generation by setting out the opportunities, challenges and the priority recommendations for action. David is co-chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Group and is a member of The Crown Estate’s Offshore Wind Developers Forum.

Iain Todd - Renewables Champion - Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group

Iain Todd is an engineer, who has worked in both the private sector and the Civil Service. He has held senior posts in the HSE, the Department of the Environment, and the DTI, mostly on energy-related issues. Between 2000 and 2002, Iain was Director of Oil and Gas Development in Aberdeen; then between 2002 and 2004 he was the UK’s Director of Renewable Energy.

Since 2004 Iain has worked as a renewable energy consultant. Much of his time is given to his role as Renewables Champion to the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) In this role he has acted as project manager for the planned Aberdeen offshore wind farm, which is intended not only to act as a power station for the city, but also as a national test centre for offshore wind technology. This project recently received an investment of 40 million Euros as part of the EU economic recovery programme.

Iain is Hon Professor of Renewable Energy Policy at both Aberdeen University and the Robert Gordon University, and is a frequent presenter at conferences on renewable policy issues, including at the Global Wind Energy Conference in Beijing.

He is also chair of the Grampian Biomass Working Group.

Chris Towner - Partner - Bond Pearce LLP

Chris is a partner specialising in commercial projects work with particular expertise in the renewable energy sector. Chris spent six years in the energy and projects team at Herbert Smith, advising a range of companies, merchant banks and public sector clients in relation to a wide range of issues connected with the UK electricity and gas markets.

Since coming to Bond Pearce in 2006, Chris has specialised in advising renewables projects, with particular focus on offshore and onshore wind projects as well as wave and tidal projects. Chris advises a wide range of developers on issues relating to the realization of value from renewable projects, the OFTO regime and grid connection issues, and the financing of projects. Chris is Chair of the RenewableUK Offshore Wind Delivery Group.

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