Annual Conference 2021 Speakers

Ermenegilda Boccabella

Energy and Climate Adviser, Global Counsel

Ermenegilda is Global Counsel’s adviser on energy and climate change. She is a qualified lawyer with significant experience in energy, emissions reductions, climate change and sustainability. She has served as a negotiator in a range of United Nations formats and has a decade of experience in EU, UK and APAC policymaking and engagement focusing on energy, infrastructure and climate.

Dr Warren Bowden

Sustainability and Innovation Director, Scottish Leather Group

Dr Warren Bowden is a Chartered Environmentalist & the Scottish Leather Group's Sustainability and Innovation Director. A Fellow of the Society of Leather Chemists and Inventor of the pioneering and patented Thermal Energy Plant, Dr Bowden has spent the past 17 years of his 25 year career within the sector leading the multi award winning Sustainability agenda through circularising leather manufacture, to net zero. Additionally, Warren is a circular “ambassador” and Director of Leather UK.

Scottish Leather Group is the largest producer of leather in the UK, specialising in the sustainable manufacture of upholstery leathers, for automotive, aeronautical, mass transit and other leather-goods markets. The Group is based at the Bridge of Weir site, and markets products under the Brands “Bridge of Weir” and “Muirhead”.

Vicky Dawe

Deputy Director, Renewable Energy Support Schemes, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Vicky worked in the private and higher education sectors after studying Science and Arts degrees at Monash University in Melbourne. She moved to the United Kingdom and joined the civil service, where she has worked across multiple government departments. Her career has focussed on environmental policy, including the creation of Natural England, household energy saving and Act on C02, surface water flooding and water pollution, and the Electricity Market Reform Programme. For the last four years, Vicky has been responsible for delivering the UK’s renewable electricity schemes including the Contracts for Difference auctions and the Renewable Obligation which support large scale renewable generators such as offshore and onshore wind, as well as the Feed in Tariffs scheme for small scale generation including domestic rooftop solar. Together these schemes are worth c£8bn/year and support the majority the of UK’s renewable electricity generation.

Morag Garden

Head of Sustainability & Innovation, Scotch Whisky Association

Morag is Scotch Whisky Associations’ Head of Sustainability & Innovation, a role she took up in 2007.

Her career began, and has always remained, in the environmental lobbying arena working with a number of industry bodies. Her career started in Scottish Water covering a range of roles from Laboratory through to Environmental policy. She has also taken a number of secondment opportunities during her career, including a year with the Scottish Government developing policies on how to control Diffuse Pollution as part of Scotland’s implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. She was delighted to move from water to whisky over a decade ago and to be working for Scotland’s iconic Scotch Whisky industry.

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) is the industry’s representative organisation and aims to protect and promote Scotch Whisky worldwide. The Association has over 70 member companies and includes distillers, blenders, bottlers and brokers of Scotch Whisky and represent around 95% of the industry.

Morag is part of the Association’s Industry Team which focuses on achieving a regulatory framework at home, keeping our industry sustainable and competitive.

Danielle Kelly

Director of Strategy and Sales Scotland, STV

Danielle leads STV’s dedicated team of specialists who deliver advertising solutions for clients across Scotland and manages the STV Growth Fund, a £20m investment pot which enables SMEs to quickly reach more consumers through affordable and accessible advertising.

Prior to taking up this role, Danielle was Director of Strategic Development, where she drove commercial partnerships and collaborated closely with clients to find the right commercial solution to deliver strong results. Danielle drives partnerships and solutions to increase awareness of the range of cost-effective marketing solutions available at STV.

Danielle studied International Business and Modern Languages at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and HEC Montréal in Quebec before starting her career in the software industry, where she worked across international territories with clients such as Emirates and Royal Jordanian Airlines.

Danielle then moved into the media sector, where she has over 13 years experience working with SMEs and PLCs, building their relationships with STV as a key part of their marketing strategies. She developed the launch of the STV Growth Fund, which supports the business community in Scotland whilst helping to boost the local economy.

Melanie Grimmitt

Global Head of Energy, Pinsent Masons

Melanie is Global Head of Energy at Pinsent Masons and a projects lawyer with over 20 years' experience of energy, infrastructure and construction projects in the UK and worldwide. Melanie’s experience includes leading teams advising on numerous offshore wind farm projects, since first working on London Array in 2007. She has also led teams working on new build CCGT projects, nuclear decommissioning projects and battery storage projects. Melanie was listed in The Lawyer's Hot 100 2015 and Who’s Who Legal Construction since 2015 for her leading work in the energy sector. Melanie is also ranked as a Leading Individual for Energy and Infrastructure projects in Legal 500 2020 and won the 2020 Legal 500 award for Projects Lawyer of the Year (Outside London).

San Johal

Chief People Officer, EDF Renewables

San joined EDF Renewables UK and Ireland in April 2020, having worked in a number of different industries including construction, infrastructure, utilities, aviation and environmental services.

At EDF Renewables, San looks after Health and Safety, , HR and Communications and she is part of the Executive Team who are driving forward growth across renewable technologies.

San has previously formed part of Executive teams in the public and private sector; looking after the HR function and contributing to the leadership of those organisations. Her work has had a particular emphasis in growth industries and in those with large operational, multi-site workforces.

EDF Renewables UK and Ireland has 37 operational wind farms (including 2 offshore wind farms at Blyth and Teesside) and one battery storage project across the UK and Ireland totalling almost 1GW.

The company has a development of pipeline of projects comprising more than 5GW across Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland there is just under 500 MW in operation across eight onshore wind farms and based on our existing pipeline we are looking to triple this.

Dr Andy Kerr

UK and Ireland Director, EIT Climate-KIC

Andy Kerr is the UK and Ireland Director for EIT Climate-KIC, Europe’s largest innovation agency for climate solutions which works with cities, industry and regions to deliver transformational change. This includes working with Edinburgh on their net zero by 2030 plans. Previously, Andy founded and directed ECCI, the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation and the Scottish Centre of Expertise on Climate Change: ClimateXChange. He is a non-executive Director of Scottish Renewables.

Claire Mack

Chief Executive, Scottish Renewables

Claire has been Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, the representative voice of Scotland’s renewable energy industry, since October 2017. She is responsible for leading the organisation’s work to grow Scotland’s renewables sector and sustain its position at the forefront of the global clean energy industry.

Claire is a member of the First Minister’s Energy Advisory Board and the Renewable Energy Strategic Leadership Group, co-chaired by Scotland’s Energy Minister.

Before joining Scottish Renewables, Claire was Director of Policy and Place at the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. She has previously worked in various roles at Ofcom in Scotland, focusing on economic regulation of telecoms, radio spectrum and the mail market while also looking at developing digital participation of individuals and businesses.

Prior to this Claire worked in retail and the construction industry as well as on regulation of regional broadcasting in the Borders and North East of England.

Rachel McEwen

Chief Sustainability Officer, SSE

Rachel joined SSE in 2007 and, as Chief Sustainability Officer, is responsible for its sustainability strategy, climate change policy, community funds and corporate heritage. She is a non-Executive Director of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, the SSE subsidiary that owns and operates the electricity distribution and transmission networks in the north of Scotland. External to SSE, Rachel was Chair of the Leadership Group of Living Wage Scotland between 2014 and 2018, is a member of the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Commission and a member of the Fair Tax Mark Board. Prior to working for SSE she was Senior Special Adviser to Scotland’s First Minister from 2001 to 2007. She has a first degree in Applied Economics and a Masters in International Political Thought.

Graham McMillan

Founder, First Avenue Consulting

Graham has over 30 years of experience in consultancy in public policy, public affairs, communications, sustainability and corporate responsibility in the UK, EU and globally.

Graham has advised a wide range of companies in the energy sector including National Grid, The Crown Estate, E.ON UK and a wide range of companies on net zero and climate change including Dow, BHP and Kingfisher. Other clients have included AstraZeneca, Unilever and HSBC.

James Murray

Editor-in-Chief, BusinessGreen

James Murray is the editor-in-chief of BusinessGreen having launched the site in October 2007.
He is responsible for BusinessGreen's award-winning news, opinion, and analysis, and also contributes to the brand's influential events and awards programme.

James is one of the UK's leading commentators on the low carbon economy, featuring frequently on TV and radio to discuss a wide range of green business and environmental stories. He also reports daily on a wide range of green business issues, with a particular focus on low carbon policy, economics, and technology.

In March 2011, he was voted number eight in the Press Gazette's list of the top 50 environmental journalists in the UK and in 2020 he was named Digital Editor of the Year by the Association of Online Publishers.

Prior to launching BusinessGreen James spent five years as a technology journalist working on a variety of IT titles.

Ed Birkett

Senior Research Fellow, Policy Exchange

Ed is a Senior Research Fellow in the Energy and Environment Unit at Policy Exchange. He was previously a developer of solar and battery storage projects in the UK and Ireland.

Duncan Clark

Head of Region UK, Ørsted

Duncan Clark leads Ørsted in the UK spanning the full life cycle of offshore wind power across development, construction and the leading fleet of operational assets. Duncan joined Ørsted in 2012 as Programme Director in offshore wind and in this role was responsible for delivering Westermost Rough and Hornsea 1 projects, taking his current role in December 2019 as the company reorganised regionally as the business expands into global markets. Ørsted in the UK includes over 1000 ambitious employees working to help create a world that runs entirely on green energy.

Before joining Ørsted, Duncan spent 18 years in the UK Energy industry, primarily in Renewables and energy storage, holding senior roles at npower, Innogy and The Crown Estate.

Dr Graham Cooley

CEO, ITM Power

Dr Graham Cooley joined ITM Power as CEO in 2009. ITM Power was the first hydrogen related company to be listed on the London Stock Market and has been developing electrolyser equipment for over 20 years. Graham started his career in the power sector in 1989 joining the CEGB and became Business Development Manager at National Power plc and then International Power plc developing energy storage and new generation technologies. Before joining ITM Power Graham was CEO of Sensortec Ltd, founding CEO of Metalysis Ltd, a spin out from Cambridge University and founding CEO of Antenova Ltd. Graham has a PhD in physics, an MBA and is a Fellow of the Institute of Metals, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM). Graham also sits on a number of industry bodies and is a member of the UK Government’s Hydrogen Advisory Council.

Darren Cuming

Chartered Town Planning Professional, EDF Renewables

Darren Cuming is a chartered town planning professional with almost twenty years’ experience in the renewable energy industry. He has worked for a number of utility companies and has been with EDF Renewables since 2009 where he has worked on a number of high profile projects in Scotland including Lewis Wind Power, Fallago Rig and Dorenell. Darren currently leads a team originating and developing renewables schemes in Scotland and throughout the UK.

Iain Divers

SP Energy Networks

Iain is the Head of the RIIO-ED2 Price Control programme for SP Energy Networks, which will set out the strategy, investment plan and outputs for SPEN’s distribution business from 2023-28.
This will cover 3.5m customers across both of SPEN’s regions, covering Central & Southern Scotland, and Merseyside, Cheshire, and North Wales.

Iain is a chartered electrical engineer and, since joining SPEN in 2007, has worked in roles across front-line engineering and operations, asset management, enterprise IT projects, investment planning and regulation.

Richard Gow

Policy & Government Relations Manager, Drax

Richard is a Policy and Government Relations manager for Drax Group and looks at policy developments across the energy space of interest to Drax including Carbon Capture and Storage and Pumped Storage Hydro. Richard leads on the development of policy mechanisms to support Drax’s Cruachan 2 project which aims to increase the generation capacity of the Cruachan pumped hydro facility in Scotland.

He sits on a number of industry and government working groups and committees and is a steering committee member of EnergyUK’s Young Energy Professionals forum which supports the next generation of energy industry professionals.

Kristian Henningsen

Head of Public Affairs, Vestas

Kristian Henningsen is Head of Public Affairs for Vestas in North West Europe covering UK, Ireland, Benelux and the Nordic Countries. He’s a board member with the Swedish Wind Energy Association and has been with Vestas since 2018. Prior to working at Vestas he worked for the Confederation of Danish Industries Denmark’s largest business organization and the Danish Energy Agency.

Clare Lavelle

Associate Director, Arup

Clare leads Arup’s Scottish Energy business and is a Non Executive Directors of Scottish Renewables.

She has extensive experience in the Scottish and UK energy sector and has been central to the development of major energy infrastructure and innovation in the UK and Scotland. Clare’s current focus is on the transition of energy systems and developing solutions that cut across industries to enable deep decarbonisation of heat, transport and electricity, with a particular focus on hydrogen.

This includes leading the design and development of SGN’s H100 project in Levenmouth Fife. This world first demonstration of hydrogen production and distribution will supply 100% green hydrogen to circa 300 homes for domestic use. She works closely with government and regulators to shape policy. Clare led the Scottish Hydrogen Assessment Project – a key part of the evidence base to inform Scottish Government’s developing hydrogen policy. She is also currently supporting Crown Estates Scotland on ScotWind leasing round.

Clare has won several awards including the Top 50 women engineers in sustainability, the Karen Burt Memorial Award, and she has an honorary doctorate from the University of Vaasa.

Claire Mack

Chief Executive, Scottish Renewables

Claire has been Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, the representative voice of Scotland’s renewable energy industry, since October 2017. She is responsible for leading the organisation’s work to grow Scotland’s renewables sector and sustain its position at the forefront of the global clean energy industry.

Claire is a member of the First Minister’s Energy Advisory Board and the Renewable Energy Strategic Leadership Group, co-chaired by Scotland’s Energy Minister.

Before joining Scottish Renewables, Claire was Director of Policy and Place at the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. She has previously worked in various roles at Ofcom in Scotland, focusing on economic regulation of telecoms, radio spectrum and the mail market while also looking at developing digital participation of individuals and businesses.

Prior to this Claire worked in retail and the construction industry as well as on regulation of regional broadcasting in the Borders and North East of England.

Kirsty MacArthur

Director, MacArthur Green

Kirsty is a Director for the environmental consultancy, MacArthur Green.

A qualified lawyer, Kirsty’s love of the environment led her to pursue a career working in renewables. Kirsty worked as an Associate for Pinsent Masons’ Planning and Environment team, subsequently working with ScottishPower Renewables’ legal team, before taking on the role of Director for MacArthur Green.

Kirsty has a keen eye on business risk and strategic development, and this has triggered her drive to explore the business opportunities for renewables in the circular economy.

Sarah-Jane McArthur

Energy and Projects Lawyer, Brodies LLP

Sarah-Jane is an energy and projects lawyer with diverse experience across several sectors. In the energy sector, Sarah-Jane’s primary focus is on renewables and she has contributed to the successful delivery of many projects. Her experience includes advising developers, sponsors and lenders on a range of renewables projects including; windfarms (both on and offshore), hydro schemes, energy from waste and tidal technologies.

Sarah-Jane’s renewables expertise spans drafting and negotiating various contracts crucial for project development, including grid connection documents, construction and supply agreements and power purchase agreements. She also manages due diligence for project finance transactions and advises on the sale and purchase of development and operating assets. Sarah-Jane has supported developers and investors on renewables support mechanisms including applications for CfD.

Angus McCrone

Chief Editor, BloombergNEF

Angus McCrone is chief editor of BloombergNEF. He has overall editing responsibility for the company’s research on the low-carbon transition in energy, transport and materials. He works closely with BNEF’s 200-strong team of analysts and researchers, and takes a particular interest in clean energy investment trends, project finance, institutional investment in renewables, and marine energy.

Before joining New Energy Finance at the start of 2007, Angus was a financial journalist for UK national newspapers for 18 years, writing extensively for the London Evening Standard, Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and The Scotsman. He also worked as a senior economist for Centre for Economics and Business Research, a leading London based think tank, and as director of a start-up FSA-authorised financial services firm.

Morag Watson

Director of Policy, Scottish Renewables

Morag is Scottish Renewables’ Director of Policy. Her work involves overseeing Scottish Renewables’ policy function and key projects within Scotland’s leading renewables trade body, working on behalf of 260+ organisations to grow Scotland’s renewable energy sector and sustain its position at the forefront of the global clean energy industry.

Morag has worked in policy for over 15 year and was previously a Senior Policy Officer with WWF Scotland, specialising in climate change, sustainable development and behaviour change.

Nicola Percival

Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager, RWE Renewables

Nicola has a background in climate science and has worked in the renewable energy sector, both in the public and private sectors, since leaving University. She is RWE Renewables’ expert in grid connections and network charging, and currently sits on several government expert groups – including those for BEIS’ Offshore Transmission Network Review and Ofgem’s network charging reforms. In 2020 she was a finalist in the category “Champion of Renewables” at the Scottish Green Energy Awards.