Offshore Wind Conference 2023 Speakers

Nicola Sturgeon MSP

First Minister of Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon is Scotland's first female First Minister and the first woman to lead any of the devolved UK administrations.

She is currently MSP for Glasgow Southside having been, before boundary changes, MSP for Govan between 2007 and 2011.

In government she served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing between May 2007 and September 2012 and then Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities with responsibility for government strategy and the constitution until November 2014. Throughout this period she also served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland.

She became leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) on November 14, 2014 and was sworn in as First Minister on November 20, 2014. She lives in Glasgow with her husband Peter Murrell.

Joanne Allday

Strategic Business Development Manager, Port of Cromarty Firth

Joanne Allday is Strategy and Business Development Manager at the Port of Cromarty Firth; the largest Port in the Highlands. The Cromarty Firth and its supply chain have an excellent track record spanning over 40 years delivering essential services to the offshore energy industry. It has the best track record in Scotland in supporting the construction of offshore windfarms, and is perfectly located for the new ScotWind sites. For these reasons, SOWEC identified the Firth as the most logical location for a strategic offshore wind hub for Scotland in their Strategic Investment Assessment. Joanne sits on the Deep Wind Steering Committee and SOWEC’s Supply Chain and Clusters Working Group. She is also facilitating Opportunity Cromarty Firth; a consortium of over 20 regional organisations and a cluster of four port facilities bidding for Green Freeport status to enable further inward investment and accelerate the delivery of the sector’s local content targets.

James Glennie CFA

SIA Implementation Coordinator, Lumen Energy & Environment

James is a Chartered Financial Analyst with 30 years of energy sector experience of which the last 20 have been in wind energy in Europe, Australasia and North America with a focus on policy pertaining to supply chain development. For the four years until January 2022 he was based in Washington DC with the Embassy of Denmark where he worked with US Federal and State governments + industry to assist in building the US offshore wind supply chain. He then returned to the UK and is now with Lumen Energy & Environment in Edinburgh where he is SIA Implementation Coordinator for SOWEC. In this role, he is responsible for working with major stakeholders to manage implementation of the recommendations of SOWEC’s 2021 Strategic Investment Assessment.

Davis Larssen

Chief Executive Officer, Proserv

Davis has more than 25 years’ experience in the energy industry and is the CEO of the Aberdeen based global controls technology company Proserv. Davis is driving an extensive digitalisation strategy across his team’s offerings, as well as a proactive pivot into renewables, focused on offshore wind. Davis first joined Proserv as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2010 before subsequently taking on the roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. Previously, Davis spent two years as CFO at EPC company Bateman Litwin, while earlier in his career, Davis held various finance and leadership positions at Vetco Gray (now part of Baker Hughes), as well as spending eight years at SLB across various posts working in Europe, the USA and the Middle East. A CIMA qualified accountant with an MBA from Erasmus University, Davis is married with two adult children and enjoys travelling, reading and keeping fit.

Sian Lloyd Rees

UK Managing Director MRP

In a career spanning over 25 years Sian has extensive business experience as a Senior Leader in both Energy and IT industries, having held several leadership roles in both blue chip and start-up Companies.

Since starting her career in the Halliburton Corporation focused on North Sea and Africa, Sian has held senior positions in Oracle Corporation managing a global accounts division, was the UK MD of Aker Solutions Ltd and is currently the UK Managing Director of Mainstream Renewable Power, an Aker Company and a floating wind developer. She considers that building on the capability, solutions, and industrial heritage in the UK from oil and gas will support the scale and pace needed to deliver affordable clean energy from offshore floating wind.

Sian sits on the Boards of Offshore Energy UK (OEUK) as co-chair, the Energy transition Zone (ETZ), the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) and Port of Aberdeen. She is also the industry Supply Chain Champion, on behalf of the UK Government and OEUK, supporting delivery of the £16billion North Sea Transition Deal.

Colin Maciver

Head of Offshore Wind Development, Crown Estate Scotland

Colin Maciver is Head of Offshore Wind Development at Crown Estate Scotland. Colin has been with CES since 2018 and leads a team working across seabed leasing, offshore wind agreements, supply chain and sector enabling activities. Colin sits on a number of industry groups including the Offshore Wind Industry Council and Floating Wind Task Force. He led the creation of the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council in 2019 as a partnership between the Scottish public sector and the offshore wind industry. Colin’s experience in commercial scale project development, consenting, policy, and government affairs comes from previous roles across the transport, mining, and energy sectors.

Claire Mack

Chief Executive Officer, 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.

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.

Brian McFarlane

Head of Offshore Development GB & SOWEC Co-Chair, SSE Renewables

Head of Offshore Development GB at SSE Renewables and industry Co-chair of the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council. Worked in Renewable Energy since 2003, initially with Scottish Power then to Airtricity and SSE Renewables, gaining a wealth of experience leading some of SSE Renewables most high-profile projects, including the construction of the Clyde onshore wind farm and the development of the Beatrice, Seagreen, Dogger Bank, Berwick Bank and Ossian offshore wind farms. In addition to the SOWEC role, also lead the UK Offshore Wind Sector Deal Pathways to Growth workstream. A Chartered Civil Engineer having graduated from the University of Strathclyde.

Ian Milne

Sales Manager – Renewables, Balmoral

With more than 10 years’ experience in the global offshore energy sector, Ian has in-depth sales management and business development knowledge of marine construction projects. With a passion for renewable energy he joined Balmoral in 2019 to develop and enhance the company’s presence within the sector.

Ian is a member of various industry forums and is focused on the international demand for green energy - embracing the energy, skills and technology transition - and promotes Balmoral’s suite of engineered offshore wind, wave and tidal project solutions on a worldwide basis.

Adam Morrison

Country Manager U.K., 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.

Melissa Read

UK Business Manager (Offshore Wind), Shell

Melissa heads up Shell’s offshore wind business in the UK, responsible for delivering commercial-scale offshore wind projects and leading on business development; this includes 5GW of floating offshore wind awarded through the Scotwind leasing process. She has more than 20 years' experience in renewables, with over a decade working in offshore wind, holding senior roles in development and construction projects and leadership positions working strategically across portfolio.

Nick Sharpe

Director of Communications and Strategy, Scottish Renewables

Nick Sharpe is Scottish Renewables’ Director of Communications and Strategy. With a background in public relations and having formerly worked as one of Scotland’s most senior journalists, Nick translates Scottish Renewables’ policy outputs into public messaging, ensuring that the renewable energy industry is prepared for changes in sentiment, policy and perception.

Nick manages a team of four and is currently working to expand Scottish Renewables’ presence in and knowledge of the energy supply chain as the transition to net-zero gains pace.
Nick trained on the South Wales Echo then spent seven years at the Sun, latterly as Chief Reporter.

He then worked at Weber Shandwick, one of the world’s largest public relations consultancies.
At Scottish Renewables he’s also responsible for overseeing Scottish Renewables’ digital, marketing and social media channels.

Iain Sinclair

Executive Director, Global Energy Group

Iain is Executive Director of Global Energy Group, the owner and operator at the Port of Nigg. Iain leads the company’s renewables and energy transition growth strategy, including the implementation of capital investment projects for onshore and offshore wind, marine, hydrogen and storage projects. A co-opted Board Member at Scottish Renewables, Iain also holds the position as a Deepwind Cluster board member, sits on the Scottish Government’s Renewables Strategic Leadership Group and is also a member of SOWEC’s Supply Chain Working Group.

Ole Stobbe

Business Development Manager Northern Europe, BW Ideol

Ole is a trained mechanical engineer passionate about realizing the transition to renewable energies. Spanning the last 20 years, Ole has worked in several offshore wind engineering and management positions in consultancies, project development companies and EPCI contractors. Since December 2015, Ole supports Ideol in the drive to bring floating offshore wind to commercial realization.

Ideol was founded 2010 as a technology developer for floating wind substructures and has developed the patented Damping Pool® concept that has been demonstrated in two projects off France (Floatgen 2 MW) and Japan (Hibiki 3.2 MW). Ideol employs ca. 70 specialist engineers, naval architects and specialists at the HQ near Marseille in France and has subsidiaries in Tokyo/Japan and California/USA.

David Webster

Director of Energy, Forth Ports

Forth Ports are one of the largest port operator in the UK, with seven ports in Scotland. This includes Leith, Grangemouth, Rosyth & Dundee. They are also the Statutory Harbour Authority on the Firth of Forth and Firth of Tay.

David Webster is the Director of Energy with Forth Ports and has overseen the development of the award winning Port of Dundee marshalling facility and he is also responsible for the delivery of the Leith Renewables hub. This hub consists of a new marshalling facility and outer berth and has a capital budget of in excess of £50m. The Port of Leith has also just been shortlisted for Green Freeport Status and has the ambition to bring large scale renewable manufacturing to Scotland.

David joined Forth Ports in 2015 prior to this he worked globally in Oil & Gas Well Construction, he has a Bachelors Degree in Engineering and an Masters in Business Administration.

Susie Lind

Managing Director, BlueFloat Energy | Renantis Partnership

Susie has worked in the energy sector for 14 years and has experience in development, construction, operation and decommissioning of low-carbon energy projects across the UK. She has held executive director roles at EDF UK, EDF Renewables and Scottish Renewables. She is a qualified lawyer in Scotland, England and Wales and recently completed executive education between Esade University & Yale School of Management on leadership and sustainability.

In her role as MD of the UK Partnership she oversees the development of the current UK portfolio comprising Bellrock, Broadshore (and together with Ørsted) Stromar as well as Petroc and Llywelyn in the Celtic Sea.

Stuart Brown

Associate - Floating Wind, EMEC

Stuart is a mechanical engineer and business-owner and has been working in offshore renewables at senior level for more than 13 years. In addition to consulting on more than 20 offshore wind projects in the North Sea, Stuart was CEO of the FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility and consults to a number of clean ocean energy technology companies. He is very familiar with both the offshore wind sector and developing and commercialising world-class facilities for testing new & innovative clean ocean energy technologies - a perfect skill-set for developing our new floating offshore wind test and demonstration site at Billia Croo.

Jon Abbatt

Development Manager for Berwick Bank Windfarm, SSE Renewables

Jon Abbatt is the Development Manager for Berwick Bank Windfarm. He has been with SSE Renewables since 2020 and led the development of the derogation case and the strategic compensation proposals for the project. These include measures for the better management of sandeel fisheries and predator eradication. He has a background in natural resource management and worked on a range of projects across forestry, agriculture and renewables development.

David Bould

Lead R&D Specialist, Ørsted

David is Lead R&D Specialist in Ørsted’s Ventures & Open Innovation team. He is responsible for Ørsted’s work with external innovation ecosystems in the UK, including start-ups, universities, research organisations, and adjacent sectors. He is also responsible for collaborations with universities globally. He has held positions in ORE Catapult, the University of Edinburgh and the Carbon Trust, specialising in offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, and energy systems. He also previously worked offshore as a Chief Field Geophysicist in the oil & gas seismic survey sector. He holds an MSc in Sustainable Energy Systems and a BSc in Computer Science and Management Science. Following several years living in Copenhagen, he has now relocated back home to Edinburgh.

Thibaut Chéret

Wind and Renewables Manager, OEUK

Thibaut Chéret hold a MSc in Geophysics from Strasbourg University and a MSc in Finance from University College London. Thibaut has held technical and leadership positions in Schlumberger, BG Group (now Shell) and CNOOC. Thibaut leads OEUK work to reduce emissions from offshore operations, supporting the industry commitment to achieving UK Net Zero emission reduction targets. Thibaut leads OEUK work for the offshore industry transition toward renewables energies.

Richard Copeland

Project Director, Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm

Richard is a Senior Director for Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) in the UK and the Project Director for the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm.

Pentland is a 100 MW development located off the coast of Caithness that will accelerate the industrialisation of floating offshore wind through demonstrating new technologies.

Based in Edinburgh, Richard is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and MBA and has worked in the offshore wind industry for over 12 years on both fixed and floating projects in the UK and internationally. Most recently he has played a key role in establishing CIP and COP’s floating strategy and portfolio and is a member of the COP UK senior management team.

Zoe Crutchfield

Head of Marine Scotland Licensing Operations Team, The Scottish Government

Zoe Crutchfield has worked on marine projects for the majority of her working career: starting early through the family fishing business, working in oil and gas, moving to marine nature conservation, working for a wind farm developer, in consultancy and now for Scottish Government managing the Marine Scotland Licensing Operations Team. Working on all aspects of project development as well as for key stakeholders has given Zoe a clear insight into the many aspects of offshore wind development.

Tanya Davies

Project Director (ScotWind), Northland Power

Tanya is Project Director for Northland Power's two offshore wind projects off the Western isles of Scotland, with a potential total capacity of up to 2.3GW. Tanya has over 20 years’ experience in developing wind farms and leading teams across Europe. Prior to joining Northland, Tanya led the UK onshore wind business and played a key role in growing RWE’s portfolio of wind farms across Europe, from development through to construction. She is passionate about ensuring that renewable energy projects deliver opportunities for local communities and businesses and was shortlisted for Business Green Leader of the Year 2018. In 2019 Tanya was featured in the Powerful Women in Energy Campaign, promoting diversity and helping to inspire new entrants into the renewable energy industry.

Alice Etheridge

Head of Offshore Coordination, National Grid ESO

Alice leads the Offshore Coordination Project within National Grid ESO, which is responsible for delivering the ESO parts of the BEIS-led Offshore Transmission Network Review. She has carried out a number of roles in her ten years in the ESO and National Grid, including leading stakeholder engagement to develop the ESO RIIO-2 Business Plan, developing the Network Development Strategy and leading engagement and communication on the Future Energy Scenarios. Prior to joining National Grid, Alice spent nine years in the Civil Service in the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Jack Farnham

Development Manager, West of Orkney Windfarm

Jack has over 15 years’ experience of taking offshore wind projects from concept to consent. Jack co-founded RIDG in 2017, RIDG is an independent, Scottish offshore wind project development company.

Jack is currently the Development Manager for the West of Orkney Windfarm. The West of Orkney Windfarm is being developed by Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and RIDG.

The West of Orkney Windfarm has ~2GW capacity and a grid connection in Caithness. The project partners are exploring an option to power the Flotta Hydrogen Hub. Both power export options may be utilised.

Stuart Ferguson

Investment Partner, Sustainable Ventures

Stuart leads the investment team at Sustainable Ventures, a specialist early-stage investor in net zero technologies, with a portfolio of 37 companies. Stuart has over 20 years of investment experience across multiple sectors, with a focus on early stage climate tech over the past 8 years.

Debbie Harper

Associate Director, Planning and Economics Team Leader, Arup

Debbie is an Associate Director, Planning and Economics Team Leader in the North (Scotland, North East England & Northern Ireland). She has many years’ experience in the energy industry, having worked on major onshore and offshore wind, wave and tidal energy projects. Debbie has detailed knowledge of the consenting process for large energy projects and a particularly strong focus on stakeholder engagement, devising and delivering stakeholder engagement plans for challenging projects.

Amy Keast

Senior Policy Manager – Offshore Wind & Marine

Amy is Scottish Renewables’ Senior Policy Manager for Offshore Wind and Marine Renewables. Her work involves overseeing Scottish Renewables’ policy function for these areas, working on behalf of 300+ organisations to grow Scotland’s renewable energy sector and sustain its position at the forefront of the global clean energy industry.
Prior to this, Amy worked for The Scottish Government’s Onshore Wind Policy Team where she was responsible for co-authoring the Onshore Wind Policy Statement and supporting Scottish Minister’s interests in the onshore wind sector, particularly in relation to repowering, recycling and circular economy. She has also held positions with Ofgem in their renewable heat division.
Outside of work, Amy spends most of her time running around after her 1 year old and attempting to read through her mountain of unread books.

Bless Kuri

Head of System Planning and Investment, SSEN Transmission

Bless is the Head of System Planning and Investment with SSEN Transmission, the owner and operator of the north of Scotland electricity transmission system. Bless has over 20 years’ experience in the electricity industry, specialising in power system planning and investment in transmission and distribution networks. In his current role, he focuses on enabling the transition to net zero emissions in the energy sector through the planning of the transmission network in the north of Scotland to accommodate customer connections and to provide the necessary grid capacity, working with other network operators and the Electricity System Operator.

Sophie Large

Project Services Manager, SSE Renewables

Sophie started her career in management consultancy, specialising in project management and PMO which provided her a platform to work across multiple sectors within the UK and found a particular interest within the energy sector. Sophie worked for several years in Abu Dhabi, strengthening the PMO controls for the development of the region's first nuclear power plant. In October 2020 she became part of the Seagreen Team as the project services manager, and has recently taken on the role as Senior Project Manager (acting). Sophie is a motivated and experienced PM and PMO professional with a passion for project delivery that brings her own processes and ideas to any role.

Alex Louden

Senior Technology Acceleration Manager, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult

Alex is responsible for the activity ORE Catapult delivers on behalf of start-ups, and small business at an early stage of developing and commercialising their technology into the offshore renewables industry. This includes overseeing the Launch Academy technology accelerator programme which breaks down commercialisation barriers and accelerates the market launch of new products and services into the supply chain.

Allan MacAskill

Chief Technology Officer, Flotation Energy

Allan has 40 years’ experience in offshore energy: oil and gas and renewables. At the Beatrice demonstrator project he pioneering the technology to develop large-scale windfarms in deeper waters, further from shore.

In 2008 he founded SeaEnergy Renewables. It established a portfolio of 3.3 GW and international JV’s in Taiwan and China. Repsol purchased the company in June 2011.
In 2013, with Nicol Stephen, he founded Pilot offshore Renewables to develop of the Kincardine Offshore windfarm, a 50 MW floating pilot programme completed in 2021. It is the world’s largest grid connected floating windfarm consisting of 5 x 9.5 MW MHIVestas V164 9.5 on PPI Windfloat substructures.

In 2018, in conjunction with Nicol Stevenson he founded Flotation Energy to progress Offshore wind developments in the UK and internationally. The company was awarded the Morecambe site in Round 4 and White Cross a 100 MW floating T&D site. It has established a substantial international offshore wind pipeline in Australia, Taiwan and Japan. In November 2022 the company was acquired by Tepco Renewables of Japan.

Alasdair MacLeod

Project Director, Floating Energy Allyance

Alasdair is Project Director for Floating Energy Allyance’s Buchan Offshore Wind project. FEA is a partnership of three leading European energy businesses; BayWa r.e, Elicio and BW Ideol. Alasdair was previously Head of Renewables Development with BayWa r.e UK Ltd and a key member of BayWa r.e’s global offshore team, responsible for managing their contribution to Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind leasing process through the ‘Floating Energy Allyance’. He has over 20 years experience in project development and managing multi-disciplinary teams at various stages of delivery, and has set up a Buchan Offshore Wind project office and team in Glasgow.

Nancy McLean

Head of Consents, Bellrock Offshore Wind

Nancy joined BlueFloat Energy in late August 2022 as Head of Consents and is embedded in the delivery team for the BlueFloat Energy/Renantis Partnerhip’s two ScotWind projects - Bellrock and Broadshore. Specifically she is leading the consenting activity for the Bellrock project while co-ordinating with her counterpart for the Broadshore project to ensure consistency of approach and sharing of knowledge. Nancy has been working in the offshore wind industry for the last 15 years and has contributed to its development from the Round 1 projects (Robin Rigg) to ScotWind today, both as a consultant and as a developer. She will bring this experience and her current understanding of consenting issues, and potential solutions, faced by ScotWind Developers to the panel for this consenting session.

Carlos Martin

CEO, BlueFloat Energy

Carlos has worked in the energy sector for more than 15 years. As Director for Floating Wind at EDP Renewables (EDPR) based in Madrid, he was responsible for the WindFloat Atlantic project successfully achieving FID in 2017. This 25MW project off the coast of Portugal was the first floating wind project to secure a project finance structure.

Before joining EDPR, he worked for eight years at McKinsey & Company in the energy practice leading projects in a variety of topics including growth strategy, procurement, operational excellence, M&A, IPO, etc.

Prior to founding BlueFloat Energy he was General Manager, Europe and Asia at Prosegur.

Carlos is an Adjunct Professor of Strategy at IE Business School in Madrid. He holds an MBA from Insead and a MSc. in Civil Engineering from ENPC (Paris) and UPM (Madrid).

Kevin Murphy

Project Manager, Marubeni

As an offshore wind Project Manager within Marubeni Europower, Kevin is performing the role of Deputy Senior Project Manager on the Ossian Offshore Wind Farm, a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Marubeni Corporation and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. Kevin has 12 years of experience in the offshore wind industry having worked at a number of prominent renewable energy consultancies prior to joining Marubeni. The majority of this time has been focussed on technical advisory services, reviewing projects’ technical and commercial arrangements at all stages of development to advise clients on key risks and support the successful delivery of projects in various markets around the globe.

Alexander Quayle

Project Director, Flotation Energy

Dr Alex Quayle is Project Director for INTOG developments at Flotation Energy in partnership with Vårgrønn.
Alex previously spent 12 years at BP where he held a number of senior roles across onshore and offshore developments. This included leading the engineering design of remote onshore facilities with electrified power systems, delivering new technology in challenging marine environments and technical oversight of new business ventures. Alex is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineering and holds a PhD in aerodynamics from the University of Cambridge.

Catarina Rei

Head of Development, Ocean Winds

Catarina is a development professional with over 19 years of professional experience, including 12 years in offshore wind development. She played a key role in the award of consents of circa 2 GW of offshore wind farms in Scotland and in the discharge and management of compliance of pre-construction and construction consent conditions for Moray East and Moray West Offshore Wind Farms. In her current role as Head of Development Catarina leads a team of development professionals within UK and provides strategic advice to all new opportunities, as well as the wider Ocean Winds portfolio on consents and environment. Catarina’s previous experience includes environmental consultancy, academic research and environmental education.

David Robertson

Project Director, Bellrock Offshore Wind

David joined Renantis in early August 2022 as Project Director responsible for leading the Bellrock offshore wind project from pre-consent to commercial operation. With over 30 years’ engineering and project delivery experience, 18 years specifically in the renewables sector, David has overseen the successful delivery of major projects across the UK, Europe, USA, and Asia. These include some of the industry’s earliest offshore wind projects to the latest floating offshore wind projects being developed today.

Graeme Rogerson

Senior Project Manager, Net-Zero Technology Centre

Graeme has been with the Net-Zero Technology Centre since its launch in February 2017, supporting technology development in the marine and subsea environment. He is a chartered engineer with over 25 years’ experience in offshore project development, from concept-select through to installation, and he currently works within the NZTC’s Energy System Integration team. He has held engineering and management roles with engineering and installation contractors and was a director at Xodus Group for over 12 years, prior to joining NZTC. The NZTC purpose is developing and deploying technology for an affordable net zero Energy Industry and floating offshore wind plays an important part in their technology roadmap. Graeme acts as the focal point for offshore wind at the Centre.

Benj Sykes

Vice President, Head of Environment, Consenting & External Affairs, Orsted

Benj leads Ørsted’s UK team responsible for external relations, delivering our sustainability and environmental agendas and securing consents for our project pipeline. He also leads the company’s global Environment Centre of Expertise.

Benj led the work to agree the UK Offshore Wind Sector Deal and is a member of the UK Government’s Ministerial Offshore Wind Acceleration Taskforce, leading the work on addressing the environmental and planning barriers to accelerating the deployment of offshore wind power through the Pathways to Growth programme. He also served on the government-appointed Advisory Panel on Highly Protected Marine Areas and is a member of the Government’s Green Jobs Delivery Group.

Benj joined Ørsted from the Carbon Trust where he led the company's technology innovation programme across power generation and energy efficiency. Previously Benj worked in the upstream oil and gas industry.

He is a Fellow of the Geological Society, an Honorary Fellow of the Energy Institute and has an honorary doctorate from Durham University.

Izzy Taylor

Head of Business Development, JET Connectivity

Izzy has been with JET since April 2022, identifying customer requirements and market priorities while leading the business development, sales and marketing functions of the business. Previously, Izzy has worked within the space and telecommunications sectors, exploring new use cases for seamless connectivity and space data across multiple industries, and supporting the growth of SMEs through partnerships and stakeholder engagement.

Ralph Torr

Head of Floating Offshore Wind, ORE Catapult

Ralph is the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult’s Head of Floating Offshore Wind. Ralph has spent more than a decade working in offshore renewable energy with a primary focus on technology development and assessment, and project design and optimisation. Ralph has experience in offshore technology design, development and qualification, both in a project and consultancy context. Ralph is currently leading the development of a portfolio of floating wind projects and programmes including the Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence. Central to this is working with partners to develop and deliver programmes of activity to accelerate the deployment of floating offshore wind, whilst driving down the cost of this technology to a commercially sustainable rate.

Fiona Townsend

Associate Consultant, WSP

Fiona is an associate consultant at WSP and has worked in the industry for over five years, working with various high-profile clients including National Grid ESO, Scottish Power, SSEN, HS2 and Ofgem as well as multiple developers on feasibility studies for onshore wind farms and storage sites. Fiona has been seconded to a DNO to assist with the RIIO-ED2 submission to the regulator and is currently working with National Grid ESO on the HND Follow Up Exercise, working within the design optimisation team.

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 300+ 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 nearly 20 years and was previously a Senior Policy Officer with WWF Scotland, specialising in climate change, sustainable development and sustainability leadership.

Dr Amanda Webb

Head of Future Offshore Networks, Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy

Amanda helped to launch the Offshore Transmission Network Review in 2020 which is working across the industry to change the way that connections to offshore wind farms are delivered. Within the review, she is currently responsible for the medium and longer term workstreams looking to 2030 and beyond. Amanda’s previous experience includes developing policy requirements for domestic energy efficiency and developing energy efficiency requirements for games consoles, which were adopted by the EU and formed the basis of her Engineering Doctorate.