Net-Zero Energy Conference & Dinner Speakers

John Boyce

Development Director - Wind - RES

John is the Development Director for RES’ onshore wind business in the UK & Ireland. He has 20 years experience in the development and delivery of large infrastructure project with 15 of those years in the renewables industry. Initially working in construction delivery building out multiple onshore wind projects across the UK, Ireland and Scandanavia. He then moved to head up RES’ development team in Ireland before more recently widening that role to cover the full UK and Ireland geography where he manages a large portfolio of onshore wind projects from inception to financial close.

Lilah Howson-Smith

Senior Associate - UK Policy and Politics, Global Counsel

Lilah is a Senior Associate in the UK policy and politics practice, focussing on energy transition and net zero. She previously worked as a special advisor for both the Boris Johnson and Theresa May administrations. In the Chief Whip’s Office she worked across the government’s whole legislative agenda, with a particular emphasis on working with the opposition over EU exit legislation. While advising the Northern Ireland Secretary she worked predominantly on policy issues and stakeholder engagement, focusing on the issues surrounding EU exit and the Irish border, and the restoration of the devolved institutions.

At Global Counsel, Lilah advises clients navigating UK policymaking and politics, helping companies anticipate and adapt to the development of government policy.

Eamonn Ives

Head of Energy and Environment, Centre for Policy Studies

Headshot is attached. Bio is as follows: Eamonn Ives is the Head of Energy and Environment at the Centre for Policy Studies, one of the world's oldest and most influential think tanks. His research focuses on how market-based solutions can mitigate environmental challenges, such as climate change, air pollution, and conservation. He is also a Research Adviser at the Entrepreneurs Network, another think tank which seeks to promote entrepreneurship in the UK.

John Lang

Communication Lead, Aspect Communications

John is a senior communications professional with over 15 years experience across energy, financial services and politics. Recently appointed as Communication Lead at Aspect, he previously managed the media and public affairs at Crown Estate Scotland and was heavily involved in the recent ScotWind Leasing process. In his new role he is helping clients from across the energy sector manage their reputations through the race to net zero.

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 is co-chair of the Renewable Energy Strategic Leadership Group. She is also co-chair of the Scottish Government Marine Energy Industry Group.

Claire is a member of SSEN’s Network for Net Zero Stakeholder Group and a member of the Centre for Work-Based Learning in Scotland Advisory Group. She was recently awarded a STELAR award for executive leadership from the University of Strathclyde.

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.

Hassaan Majid

Chief Financial Officer, EDF Renewables

Hassaan Majid has more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry in the UK, Europe and North America across a number of different areas including energy trading, B2B electricity supply, fossil fuel generation as well as renewables generation.

Hassaan was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer for EDF Energy Renewables in 2014 where he has been involved in the significant growth of the business which now has over 1GW in operation, and a further 5GW in planning and development.

Before joining EDF Energy Renewables, Hassaan was the Finance Director for EDF Energy's UK coal and gas generation and storage business with a portfolio of over 5.3GW. He has also previously held operational and advisory positions in trading and risk management with British Energy, Deloitte and Arthur Andersen. Hassaan holds a M. Eng in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

James Marsh

Senior Business Development Manager, SmartestEnergy

James is a Senior Business Development Manager at SmartestEnergy and his role is to help new and existing generation customers maximise their strategies to sell power and support them on their journey through the ever-changing energy landscape.

James leads the core PPA markets team within Smart Generation, providing strategic guidance for team members, including account allocation and reallocation, whilst managing the team to deliver on agreed targets. He also liaises with Marketing in developing communication and marketing activities for Smart Generation.

He joined SmartestEnergy in 2017 from EDF Energy, where, as Export Originator, he was responsible for working with operators of renewable & CHP generating stations, TPIs and Energy Traders. His previous roles with the company included Senior Renewable Generation Analyst and Senior Export Analyst. He is a strong business development professional with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) focused in Business Studies from Nottingham Trent University.

Michael Matheson MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport

He was born in Glasgow in 1970 and educated at St John Bosco Secondary School. He went on to study at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, where he obtained a BSc in Occupational Therapy. He also holds a BA and a Diploma in Applied Social Sciences from the Open University.

Prior to becoming an MSP, Mr Matheson practised as a Community Occupational Therapist with Stirling Council, Central Regional Council, and Highland Regional Council.

He was elected as the MSP for Falkirk West following the May 2007 elections. Prior to this, he was a Regional MSP for Central Scotland from 1999 to 2007. Before being appointed Minister for Public Health and Sport, Mr Matheson was Vice Convenor of the European and External Relations Committee. He also sat on the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee, and previously served on the Justice and Enterprise and Culture Committees. Michael Matheson was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Justice in November 2014 and reappointed in May 2016. He was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity in June 2018.

Aileen McLeod

Director of Business Planning and Commercial, SSEN Transmission

Aileen McLeod is Director of Business Planning and Commercial at SSEN Transmission, the owner and operator of the north of Scotland electricity transmission system. Aileen has over 20 years’ experience in the utilities sector both as the regulator and regulated. Her current role focuses on enabling the transition to net zero emissions in the energy sector in a sustainable and just way.

Euan McVicar

Senior Climate Advisor, Pinsent Masons

Euan is Senior Climate Advisor at Pinsent Masons LLP. Until 2013 he was an energy partner at Pinsent Masons and subsequently served as General Counsel and Chairman of the Investment Committee at the Green Investment Bank, and more recently General Counsel and Executive Committee member at Ofgem.

Adam Morrison

Project Director for Moray West Offshore Wind Farm, Ocean Winds

As Moray West Project Director Adam is driving to realise the opportunities for clean affordable power and local enterprise that the 860MW project offers. He is also a full board member of Scottish Renewables and a member of the Renewable UK Grid and Systems working group. Adam has over 15 years of experience in the renewables sector, having started his career in wave and tidal energy before moving into wind energy.

Prior to his current role he led the electrical team which brought Moray East through financial close and into construction (Scotland’s largest wind farm to date). Adam therefore has a close understanding of the changing political and regulatory landscape and how that impacts on the growth of the sector.

As the cost of renewable generation has reduced, the impact of grid connection costs on the ability of Scottish projects to compete has increased. Adam’s work on this topic means that grid costs now have a place on the national political agenda.

Paul Robertson

Head of Public Affairs, The BIG Partnership

Paul Robertson is Head of Public Affairs at The BIG Partnership. He advises clients from across the energy sector and beyond on how to engage Scottish and UK political stakeholders, and specialises in crafting winning campaigns to influence complex public policy challenges. Prior to BIG, Paul worked with a leading London public affairs agency on advising global multinationals in the energy, finance and tech sectors, and was previously a senior adviser to the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Dan Starman

Head of Assets & Infrastructure and Networks, Cornwall Insight

Dan is Head of Assets & Infrastructure and Networks at Cornwall Insight and is responsible for delivering the company’s subscription product suite and delivers training on the upstream side of the GB market. Since joining the consultancy in 2012, Dan has worked in a wide range of roles, including leading consultancy projects on generation asset due diligence, network cost forecasting, local low carbon generation, PPA assessment, and innovation projects investigating holistic local energy designs.

Mary Thorogood

Government Relations, External Affairs & Communications Director, Net Zero Technology Centre

Mary joined the Net Zero Technology Centre from Vestas, the world leading wind turbine manufacturer, where she led Public Affairs for Northern & Central Europe. Mary has spent over 10 years in the wind industry, previously at the Swedish utility Vattenfall, building support in governments and society for sustainable, long term growth in wind and renewables to drive the journey to Net Zero. She holds a number of Board positions, including at Renewable UK and the Aldersgate Group, and participates in a number of initiatives such as Women in Wind, to support the long term strategic direction of the industry.

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 17 years and was previously a Senior Policy Officer with WWF Scotland, specialising in climate change, sustainable development and behaviour change.

Paul Wheelhouse

Net Zero Lead on Energy Transition, South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE)

Paul Wheelhouse is Net Zero Lead on Energy Transition at South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) and is chairing SOSE’s Energy Transition Group as it develops an Energy Transition Plan for the area covering Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders. Paul, who was an economist for 18 years prior to representing South Scotland for 10 years in the Scottish Parliament, served as Scotland’s Energy Minister over the period from 2016 until 2021, and Minister for Environment and Climate Change between 2012 and 2014. In his time as Energy Minister, Paul oversaw development of Scotland’s first Energy Strategy in 2017, first Onshore Wind Policy Statement, Hydrogen Policy Statement, Heat Networks (Scotland) Act and draft Heat in Buildings Strategy. Paul was ministerial co-chair of the Scottish Government’s energy-related Strategic Leadership Groups, including those on Renewable Energy and on Energy Networks, and the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council.