Offshore Wind Conference 2024 Speakers

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 50 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 and INTOG offshore wind sites. Joanne sits on the Deep Wind Steering Committee and also led the successful Green Freeport consortium for Inverness and the Cromarty Firth. In her spare time, Joanne is a Trustee of the Moray Firth Coastal Partnership.

Egan Archer

Head of Power and Managing Director of Asset Management, Equitix

Egan is a Managing Director in Equitix’s Asset Management team and leads our Energy and Environment sector. Since joining Equitix in January 2012, he has played a key part in growing Equitix’s energy and environment portfolio from zero in 2012 to an EV of over £6bn today, spread across 40 projects. Egan manages a team of 10 sector specialists with backgrounds in engineering, financial and technical advisory, project development and contracts management.
Prior to joining Equitix, he was a Principal in the waste and renewables sectors; providing advisory services to governments and investors worldwide and filling the role of CTO in a start-up waste and renewables fund management business for 2.5 years.
His role spans across the entire Equitix value chain from investment strategy, origination, business development, through investment structuring, benchmarking, contracts negotiation and asset management. He is Equitix’s most experienced director in the energy and environmental sector. Egan has had a role in almost all of Equitix’s investment in the sector and sit on the boards of the majority of the energy from waste project companies.
Egan is a Chartered Engineer with a PhD in Chemical and Process Engineering.

Malcom Bowie

CTO, Encomara

Malcolm has been in the offshore energy sector for 35 years, 20 of which in wind, wave and tidal. His speciality is in the design, installation and integrity of floating structures, moorings, risers, anchors and all of the ‘seabed to surface’ elements.

Having worked for Tier 1 installation companies, developers and design consultancies he is well placed to see the challenges and risks from concept to project delivery.

He is now leading the technical development of the ‘Squid’ system in Encomara, together with being an advisor in the wider floating wind industry for a range of organisations.

Matthew Christie

Business Development Director, THREE60 Energy

Matthew is the Business Development Director for THREE60 Energy, looking after the development and growth of the Engineering, Procurement, Construction & Commissioning (EPCC) and Operations service lines across the UK and internationally. THREE60 Energy is an independent energy services company with a heritage in Oil & Gas that is making strides to support and deliver energy transition projects through active involvement in CCS, Onshore and Offshore Wind, Hydrogen and Electrification. Matthew has been involved in a number of the initiatives and the progress made on this journey as THREE60 develops is capability and track record. At the same time Matthew has identified and driven a number of collaborative partnerships which have enabled customers to gain access to broader capabilities through reduced interfaces.

Andrew Davies

Business Development and Proposals Manager, Sarens PSG

Andrew Davies is the Business Development and Proposals Manager for Sarens PSG, responsible for Offshore Wind and Major Projects. Andrew joined Sarens in 2007 – over 15 years before the company joined forces with PSG Marine & Logistics in 2022. The aim of the joint venture is to deliver market leading services to the fast-growing offshore wind and renewables sector across Scotland. This includes complex logistical, marine, heavy lift and transport, port marshalling and assembly projects.

Andrew has previously been involved in developing and delivering the $800m USD Future Growth Project for Chevron in Kazakhstan - the largest single heavy lift and transportation contract ever awarded, and he was leader of the team that secured the SGC-250 Ring Crane project at Hinkley Point ‘C’ Nuclear Power Plant, which recently completed a strategic milestone in installing the polar crane and dome liner on the first reactor building.

Clare Foster

Partner and Head of Clean Energy, Shepherd & Wedderburn

Clare Foster is Head of Clean Energy at law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP and as a banking partner, she also leads the firm’s project finance practice. Clare is a dual qualified project finance lawyer and has been involved in the energy sector since the early renewable projects of the late 1990s. Clare advises clients on UK projects spanning the energy sector, including offshore (fixed, floating and tidal), onshore (wind, solar and battery storage), biomass, hydro, energy efficiency and other decarbonisation projects, and leads the team on most clean energy transactions. She leads the Edinburgh Climate Compact and was a director on the Board of RenewableUK from 2019-2022.

Lewis Gillies

Chief Executive Officer, Haventus

Lewis is a former senior bp executive, who was born and raised on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides.

An experienced energy CEO, he most recently led two investments for TPG: Rockall Energy, a US oil and gas business, and 2Co Energy, focused on North Sea hydrogen, enhanced oil recovery and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Lewis was a founding member of bp’s Alternative Energy business, leading a US$5bn hydrogen joint venture with Rio Tinto, and a US$3bn portfolio of hydrogen, CCS, wind, solar, biofuels and tech ventures.

Rosa Gindele

Head of Analysis & Optimisation Services, Offshore Wind O&M Partnership (OWOP)

Rosa Gindele CEng is Head of Analysis & Optimisation Services at RES, bringing over a decade of wide-ranging experience in the renewable energy industry. Her expertise spans offshore and onshore wind, with a focus on turbine engineering, asset management and operations.

Currently, Rosa leads a team of performance analysts, fleet optimisation specialists and condition monitoring engineers. They handle projects in wind, solar and battery storage, providing intelligence on turbine performance, condition and behaviour to the Asset Management team and external clients.

Rosa holds a MEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering from The University of Durham and is an APM accredited Project Management professional.

Anne Haase

Renewables Director, Aquaterra

Anne joined the Aquaterra Energy team in 2022 as our Renewables Director to lead and grow the renewable energy arm of our business. She is responsible for the evolution of our energy transition division, focusing on CCS, Offshore Wind and Offshore Renewable Hydrogen development. Passionate about Energy Transition, she is heavily involved in international clean energy infrastructure projects, and engages with trade associations, Special Interest Groups, and Governmental bodies.

In 2023, Anne was appointed Chair of the Industry Advisory Group (IAG) to the Hydrogen East Cluster to help drive the cluster’s ambition to build an accelerated hydrogen industry in the region.

She brings over 25 years of experience across multiple energy sector segments such as Engineering services, Operations and Maintenance, BD, and Commercial and has as a Masters in Financial Economics and has worked within major corporates and SMEs within the clean energy sector.

Peter Haughie

Commercial Associate Director, Ocean Winds

Peter has worked in the offshore wind industry for the last twelve years for Ocean Winds (previously as EDP Renewables). In that time, he has worked on fixed and floating projects in Europe and North America. Peter was closely involved in the development of the Moray Firth lease area and development of the associated supply chains.

He is currently Commercial Associate Director for OW UK with responsibility for all aspects of procurement and contract management for Moray East, Moray West, Caledonia and Arven projects.
Peter has a master's degree in Renewable Energy Development from Heriot-Watt University.

Philippe Kavafyan

CEO, Venterra Group

From 2011 to 2017, Philippe worked for AREVA Renewables in France and Germany, and ended up chairing the Board of Adwen Offshore. In 2018, Philippe joined Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and was nominated CEO of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind in Denmark. He restored the offshore wind OEM profitability and led the joint venture until Vestas bought it back at the end of 2020. In 2021, Philippe joined the Board of Maersk Supply Service until November, when he moved to Oslo and was nominated CEO for Aker Offshore Wind. In August 2022, Philippe joined Aker Horizons as an Executive Director and he moved within the Aker Group until summer 2023. In mid-September 2023 Philippe joined Venterra Group as CEO. Graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines de Paris, Philippe was first elected President of the Offshore Wind Committee of the French Renewable Association in 2013, then President of the industrial Wind Committee in 2016. In September 2020, he was elected Chair of the WindEurope Board.

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.

Claire was awarded the University of Strathclyde’s STELAR award for executive leadership within the industry in 2021 and is also an honorary fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

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.

Jacqueline Morrison

Director, Napkin Innovation

Jacqueline is an Innovate UK Women in Innovation award winner, a DESNZ Energy Entrepreneur and a graduate of NZTC's TechX Green Energy Accelerator. As founder and director of Napkin Innovation and working with Kent plc and University of Strathclyde, she is developing an alternative to grout for the quicker, cheaper and cleaner installation of jacket foundations. Currently in the process of creating a joint industry project, Jacqueline is keen to meet developers, installers and fabricators with an appetite for innovation, a desire to bring about change and to contribute to the successful deployment of offshore wind on a global scale.

Kieran Morton

Business Development Manager, Port of Aberdeen

Kieran is an established industry professional with almost 20 years’ experience in multiple sectors. His role at Port of Aberdeen involves leading the organisations growth across its diverse client base, including developing to support new industry sectors such as offshore wind and Hydrogen.
Understanding how Port of Aberdeen adapts to support these new renewables industries will be key to the nation’s energy transition, supporting security of supply and the Port’s own Net Zero targets, while continuing to support the Ports existing users.

Prior to his current role at Port of Aberdeen, Kieran held several roles for major international service companies, beginning with roles in Engineering before transitioning to Operations Management and latterly Business Development. Port of Aberdeen will play a large role in the success of Scotland offshore wind ambitions and Kieran will support the business in this endeavour.

Paul Olvhoj

Business Development Manager, Orkney Harbours

Paul is Business Development Manager at Orkney Harbours and came to Orkney from the Port of Sunderland in 2019. He spent his time at sea in the Royal Navy and then around the world conducting wireline and geotechnical surveys offshore. The role covers all of the harbours business streams, mainly in the oil & gas, offshore renewables and cruise sectors and Paul is commercial lead of the major projects planned in Scapa Flow and further afield in Orkney as part of the Orkney Future Ports infrastructure programme that aims to develop Orkney into a world class marine hub.

Adam Robertson

Business Development Manager IRM, Fugro

Joining Fugro in 2023, Adam brings 12+ years’ experience in offshore wind, CCUS, green hydrogen, battery storage, and conventional energy. Adam combines strategic commercial insights with hands-on experience, making him a key player projects spanning the entire life cycle of offshore wind development. Don’t miss the chance to hear Adam share his insights and vision at Scottish Renewables Offshore Wind Conference where he’ll discuss the evolving energy landscape and the pivotal role Fugro plays in shaping its future.

Iain Sinclair

Executive Director, Global Energy Group

Iain is Executive Director, Renewables & Energy Transition at Global Energy Group, leading the development and implementation of GEG's renewables business growth strategy. This includes large scale capital investment projects, port infrastructure development and floating offshore wind manufacturing opportunities. With over 20 years renewable energy supply chain experience, he is a Board Director at both Scottish Renewables and Renewable UK, sits on the Scottish Government’s Renewables Strategic Leadership Group, is a Deepwind Cluster board member and sits on SOWEC’s Supply Chain Steering Group. He is also Non Exec Director leading wave technology provider, Mocean Energy.

Carol Sheath

Engineering Programme Manager, Renewable Parts

Carol Sheath is an Engineering Manager at Renewable Parts Ltd, a supply chain and refurbishment specialist in the wind industry. With a background in Mechanical Engineering, Carol spent 14 years working in the Aerospace industry in a variety of different product design and development roles, before transitioning to the Renewable Energy sector in 2021. Carol leads Renewable Parts’ Research and Development activities, primarily developing refurbished and remanufactured products as an alternative to new, providing a more sustainable supply chain and a circular economy in the wind industry.

Corentin Thepaut

Sinclair & Scaraben Project Manager, BlueFloat Energy

Corentin has worked in the energy sector for more than 10 years. Before joining BlueFloat Energy, Corentin worked as project manager for Mott MacDonald, conducting technical due diligence for the financing of offshore wind farms across the world. Prior to this, Corentin held different positions within Oceans Wind, as part of the team in charge of the development of the company’s French portfolio. As Project Manager for Sinclair and Scaraben projects for the BlueFloat Energy-Renantis Partnership, Corentin is responsible for defining the Partnership’s strategy for the two projects, ensuring its timely execution and coordinating the efforts of the entire team.

Graham Wright

Senior Supply Chain Development Manager, RWE Renewables

Graham Wright, Senior Supply Chain Development Manager for energy developer RWE Renewables, working within RWE’s offshore wind division of the business covering the supply chain management execution on the Sofia Windfarm and early stage development of Dogger Bank South. Worked within the sector for 18yrs, covering roles within Procurement, Logistics and Tendering for companies MPI Offshore Ltd (Teesside) and Saipem UK Ltd (Kingston). Prior to that, had 5yrs in Royal Air Force, working within the Communications Intelligence branch supporting operations in conflict zones of Afghanistan and Iraq

Adele Brownlie

Project Director (Flora Floating Offshore Wind Farm), bp

Adele has nearly a decade of experience in renewables development in the UK, having started her career as a renewables solicitor before joining an offshore wind developer. Adele has worked on all aspects of large-scale offshore wind development, from leasing rounds to construction. Adele joined bp in 2021 to support the growth of the offshore wind business, initially in business development, building strategy for new markets and leading bp’s successful INTOG bid, and now leading the INTOG project (Flora Floating Offshore Wind Farm) in development as Project Director.

Bruce Buchanan

Marine Engagement and Information Manager, Offshore Wind Directorate, Scottish Government

Bruce has worked for the Offshore Wind Directorate, Scottish Government, since its inception in April 2023. Prior to this post, Bruce worked within the Marine Planning & Policy Division of Marine Scotland for a period of 10 years. In the earlier part of Bruce’s civil service career, he gained some 20 years’ experience working with the fishing industry through postings with Marine Scotland Compliance at Ayr, Lerwick and Edinburgh.

Marie-Laurence Carruezco

Deputy Project Director & Technical Project Manager, Muir Mhòr Offshore Wind Farm

Marie joined the Muir Mhòr project to lead our cross-functional technical team in March 2023. With 18 years of project, program and portfolio management and 2 Masters of Engineering, she worked in automobile, aeronautic, logistic industries before joining the renewable energies sector in 2010. She has extensive experience in system engineering and in complex innovative projects.

Nigel Coulshed

Offshore Wind EIA Lead, WSP

Nigel is a passionate advocate for offshore wind; he is the Offshore Wind Consent lead at WSP and has worked extensively over the last 27 years within the marine environment on various marine and offshore renewables projects. He is currently involved with two offshore wind farms in Scotland as Project Director and advises on port supply chain development across the UK. Nigel previously delivered the EIA for Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm as Project Director and was part of the team delivering the Section 36 variation for Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm the second offshore floating wind to be constructed. Nigel leads a team of committed and passionate individuals who bring over 70 years of experience in the offshore renewables sector.

Julian Das

Supply Chain Development Manager, Ørsted

Julian Das is a Supply Chain Development Manager (SCDM) at Ørsted, working to develop robust and competitive offshore wind supply chains within the UK. As part of his role he is responsible for networking with supply chain partners assisting them in navigating the Ørsted procurement landscape. Previously Julian was a Principal Consultant at The Renewables Consulting Group (now ERM) where he worked across the offshore wind project lifecycle on renewable energy assignments with topics including supply chain / contracting, energy policy and route-to-market.

Femke de Boer

Commercial Fisheries Specialist, Xodus

Femke has a bachelors in biology and masters in applied marine and fisheries ecology. She started her career as inshore policy officer at the SWFPA, where, as part of the commercial fisheries industry, she represented almost 250 active fishing vessels. Since joining Xodus in 2021, Femke has authored multiple Commercial Fisheries Chapters for Environmental Impact Assessments for offshore renewable projects in Scotland, England and Ireland. In addition to EIAs, Femke worked on gear relocation methodologies, managed fisheries stakeholder consultation, supported projects as Fishery Liaison Officer (FLO) and delivered presentations to and about the fishing industry.

Mark Dixon

Director, Cerulean Winds

Mark Dixon, entrepreneur and founding director at Cerulean Winds, is a business leader who has held a variety of executive, senior management and technical positions across large multi-national corporate, entrepreneurial, SME and joint venture environments. In 2000, he set up DeepSea Engineering with Dan Jackson, co-founder of Cerulean Winds.
Acquired by McDermott International, Inc. in March 2013, DeepSea Engineering became a highly successful independent engineering consultancy with business units in Europe, Middle East, Asia, North and South America. At the point of acquisition, Mark in his role as President held worldwide P&L responsibility and accountability for the operational side of the business including business development, key account relationship management, project execution and delivery.
Cerulean Winds was founded in 2020 and is bringing forward the development of the North Sea Renewables Grid after securing three exclusive seabed leases for floating wind sites in

Lisa Di Mambro Fitzpatrick

Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Ossian

Lisa joined the corporate affairs team at SSE Renewables over a year ago and is a Stakeholder Engagement Manager. Lisa has over five years’ experience in the renewable energy sector and works with the Ossian wind farm team. She heads up the stakeholder engagement strategy for the project, this includes public communications and engagement with all stakeholders. Across the project lifecycle Lisa will support the team with supply chain, local community, and academic engagement, ensuring that the project communicates with stakeholders and more importantly creates platforms and space for feedback and dialogue.

Ossian, a floating offshore wind farm, will be located off the east coast of Scotland, and at capacity will have the potential to produce up to 3.6GW of energy, enough to power up to six million homes.

Jack Farnham

Development Manager, West of Orkney Windfarm

Jack is the Development Manager for the West of Orkney Windfarm and Development Director at RIDG. The West of Orkney Windfarm is the first ScotWind project to have applied for consent, having achieved this milestone only 20 months after being awarded the site. The project will have up to 125 turbines on fixed foundations, an expected capacity of around two gigawatts and aims to deliver first power in 2029. It is being developed by a joint venture comprising Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and RIDG. Jack manages the development strategy, applications, stakeholder engagement, fisheries and land negotiations. Jack has over 17 years experience of offshore wind development with government and in the private sector.

Laura Fleming

CEO, Hitachi Energy UK and Ireland

Laura joined Hitachi Energy in July 2022 as Country Managing Director in the UK and Ireland.
She has more than 20 years’ senior level experience in the development and commercialisation of large-scale renewable and infrastructure projects throughout the UK and Europe. Before joining Hitachi Energy, she spent 10 years with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE).

Originally hailing from The Netherlands, Laura holds a BSc in Town and Country planning from Utrecht University. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Laura relocated to Scotland where later she completed a Masters’ degree in Economic Development at Glasgow University.
In 2018, Laura took part in the Executive Women Leadership programme at the Edinburgh University Business School and is currently a board member of Renewable UK.

Rachel Furlong

Senior Development Manager, Corio Generation

Rachel joined the Green Investment Group in 2021 to lead the consenting of Corio’s flagship Round 4 offshore wind project, Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind, moving to Corio Generation in April 2022 when the company was established. In 2023, Rachel moved to a into Corio’s newly-formed Policy and Regulatory Affairs team, leading on the provision of policy and regulatory advice to Corio’s EMEA business.

Prior to joining GIG/Corio, Rachel worked for over 10 years with ScottishPower Renewables, building extensive policy, planning and consenting experience through senior roles within SPR’s Policy & Regulation team.

Rachel has been an active member of renewables sector trade associations and industry groups across the UK and Europe for over 15 years, including RenewableUK, Scottish Renewables, EnergyUK, WindEurope, OWIC, Offshore Wind Programme Board, holding a variety of chair and vice chair positions.

She has previously held roles at The Crown Estate and RSPB.

Raymond Hall

Renewable Energy Policy Officer, Scottish White Fish Producers Association

Raymond began his fishing career in 1978 skippering his first vessel in 1984, his career at sea spanned more than 40 years during which time he experienced many challenges from different sectors. Raymond has been actively involved in Offshore Renewables since 2008 and the conception of Round 3. More recently, in December 2021 he took on the role of Offshore Renewable Policy Officer for the Scottish Whitefish Producers Association (SWFPA) which is one of the largest associations in Europe.

Sarah Knight

Development Manager (Decarbonisation), Crown Estate Scotland

Sarah Knight is a Development Manager at Crown Estate Scotland, the public corporation that manages land and property on behalf of Scottish Ministers. Sarah works across the offshore wind development team and emerging technology team, with a focus on decarbonisation and leasing of the seabed for offshore wind and more recently carbon capture and storage opportunities. Sarah was specifically involved in designing and implementing the Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) leasing round in Scottish waters. INTOG is the world’s first leasing round designed to enable offshore wind energy to directly supply offshore oil and gas platforms. Sarah is a qualified solicitor, with 10 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry as a contracts advisor in supply chain. Her current job enables her to play a key role in supporting the expansion of offshore renewables and the energy transition.

Jean Lewis

Energy Export Capacity Manager, Thistle Wind Partners

Jean Lewis leads the Grid and Electrical Workstream for TWP’s two ScotWind projects – the Ayre and Bowdun offshore wind farms. She brings more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry with a focus on the design development of large-scale capital energy projects. She has a proven track record of taking projects from the inception stage, through detailed design and into the construction phases.
Her previous roles include Technical Director for Grid Services at ITPEnergised, as well as Project Manager for Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission and Mott MacDonald Engineering Consultants. Her first role after graduating from the University of Strathclyde with an MSc in Energy and Environment was as an electrical engineer at Balfour Beatty in Glasgow.

Stuart McAuley

Project Director, West of Orkney Windfarm

The West of Orkney Windfarm has appointed Stuart McAuley as its new Project Director to lead the contracting and build-out of their proposed £multi-billion offshore wind project which has now submitted its offshore consent applications to Scottish Ministers.
Stuart was previously Technical Director Offshore Wind at TotalEnergies, one of the shareholders in the West of Orkney project. He brings a 25-year track record in the offshore energy sector, having held senior management positions with a number of major operators.

Lars Meckenstock

SVP Commercial Offshore Wind, Masdar

Lars has worked in the Energy & Utility industry for more than 20 years. Currently Senior Vice President Global Offshore Wind Commercial, taking care about the income side of Masdar’s Offshore business incl. Commercial Analysis, Commercial Optimization, Bidding strategies and PPAs. Prior to Masdar, Lars spent 10 years at E.ON/RWE and was responsible for the commercialisation of the global renewable portfolio. Prior to E.ON, 10 years in management consulting with a focus on Energy & Utility. Lars studied Business Administration at University of Passau and University of Cologne with a focus on Energy and Finance & Investment

Cameron Moffat

Commercial Fisheries Manager, Ørsted

Cameron joined Orsted as the Commercial Fisheries Manager in 2022, having worked in the seafood industry for the past 7 years. Prior to Orsted, Cameron spent 5 years working as the Sustainability Manager for Young’s Seafood where he led on its Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing Strategy. He has extensive experience working in multi-stakeholder sustainability and innovation projects and currently sits on the Stakeholder Committee for Fisheries Innovation and Sustainability. Cameron is a marine biology graduate of Bangor University.

Adam Morrison

Country Manager UK Ocean Winds

Adam is the UK Country Manager for Ocean Winds. He has two decades of experience across the renewable energy industry, initially working in the wave and tidal sector before moving into onshore wind and then offshore wind.

His previous roles include various project positions whilst at RES Offshore, Head of Electrical for the engineering and construction of electrical transmission assets at EDP Renewables, and then Project Director for the Moray West Offshore Wind Farm before moving into his new role at Ocean Winds in August 2022.

Adam has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh.

Mike Palmer

Deputy Director, Offshore Wind Consenting and Marine Planning Support, Scottish Government

Mike Palmer is a deputy director supporting offshore wind consenting and marine planning in the Marine Directorate of Scottish Government. He has held a number of roles spanning a career of over 30 years first in Whitehall and, in the last 26 years, in Scottish Government. Since 2011 he has worked in marine policy, initially as Head of Fisheries Policy and then leading work on aquaculture, the Scottish Crown Estate and EU exit. From 2020 to 2022 he oversaw the Scottish Government’s offshore wind consenting and planning functions and in the last 18 months his remit has included work with the UK Government on the offshore wind environmental improvement package within the UK Government’s Energy Act reforms, including the development of new approaches to derogations from the habitats regulations.

Alwyn Poulter

Market Development, Hitachi Energy

Alwyn joined Hitachi Energy in January 2024 leading the Market Development for UK and Ireland.

He has 15 years’ experience in the energy sector spanning large scale renewable generation, interconnectors, retail and energy trading with two major utilities. He has led on offshore wind government engagement, commercial initiatives, and bidding strategies.

Alwyn is a chartered accountant and located in Scotland.

Dr Huw Powell

Partner, ERM

Huw has a scientific background with a PhD in coastal processes from Southampton, but has spent most of his career in commercial roles supporting marine infrastructure developments across sectors such as LNG, O&G production and, over the last 20 years, offshore wind. Huw has held roles with Cefas, that of executive director of an offshore survey consultancy undertaking site surveys for array and export cable characterisations, a period with Orsted as Head of UK Environment and Consents and, more recently, as a Partner with ERM providing environmental and sustainability expertise to offshore wind developers and operators.

Dr Sarah Redwood OBE

Director, Renewable Electricity, Department for Energy Security and Net-zero – Renewable Electricity

Sarah is the Director of Renewable Electricity at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). She is leading the charge to fully decarbonise our electricity system and ensure security of supply for home grown clean electricity in the UK. Previously she worked in BEIS on science and innovation, publishing the UK Research & Development Roadmap and in DECC on renewable heating technologies.

Rhianna Rees

Business Development Manager, Scottish Seaweed Industry Association (SSIA)

Rhianna has been working with seaweed for several years. Winner of Aquaculture UK's Rising Star Award, Rhianna has a deep and knowledgeable understanding of the entire value chain, including the challenges, opportunities, and actions needed to bring the industry forward. With a career spanning diverse roles, she currently serves as a part-time Business Development Manager at the Scottish Seaweed Industry Association (SSIA), spearheading growth and engagement strategies. Her extensive experience includes coordinating the Seaweed Academy at SAMS Enterprise, orchestrating impactful projects, and nurturing industry connections, and prior to that working for Mara Seaweed on market applications and product development. She is passionate about sustainability, collaborative initiatives, and driving innovation in Scottish aquaculture.

David Rennie

Head of Low Carbon Energy, Scottish Enterprise

David Rennie became Head of Low Carbon Energy at Scottish Enterprise in July 2022. This remit covers Offshore Wind, Marine and also Energy Policy and Research.

From 2020 to 2022 he was Head of Trade for Energy and Low Carbon Transition for Scottish Development International, the international arm of Scottish Enterprise, helping companies to export and trade overseas

Prior to that, he held a number of roles within Scottish Enterprise. For most of his time with SE, he was Head of Oil and Gas, working with stakeholders, the company base and trade bodies to help the sector to grow and evolve.

Mark Richardson

Senior Policy Manager - Offshore Wind Enabling, Scottish Renewables

Mark is Scottish Renewables' Senior Policy Manager for Offshore Wind Enabling having previously led Onshore Wind and Consenting at SR. HIs work involves overseeing Scottish Renewables' policy function for this area, working on behalf of 330+ organisations to grow Scotland's renewable energy sector and sustain its position at the forefront of the global clean energy industry.

Victoria Ridyard

Head of UK Consents - G&LCE Offshore Wind, EnBW and bp

Victoria is a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute with over 20 years of experience of consenting and environmental impact assessment in the renewable energy sector. Starting in local government followed by consultancy, she has provided consenting and EIA advice across onshore and offshore wind farms throughout the UK from early-stage feasibility, through consenting and on to post consent compliance phases. Victoria joined bp in 2022 and stepped into the role of Head of UK Consents earlier this year, where she is responsible for the consenting strategy for bp’s offshore wind portfolio, including Morven the joint venture ScotWind project.

David Robertson

Portfolio Director, BlueFloat Energy | Renantis Partnership

David has over 30 years’ experience in engineering, design and project management and began his career in the oil, gas and petrochemical sector before moving into renewables in 2005. He has worked extensively in offshore wind having delivered some of the UK’s earliest offshore wind projects to taking on his current role as Portfolio Director, responsible for delivering 2.3GW of floating offshore wind projects within the Scotwind and INTOG rounds for the Blue Float Energy Renantis Partnership.

Graeme Rogerson

Head of Net-Zero Technology, 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 has held engineering and management roles with engineering and installation contractors. He 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. Part of Graeme’s role is acting as the focal point for offshore wind, specifically on it’s integration with existing UKCS assets, the production of green hydrogen and the support to INTOG projects.

Tessa Scott

Business Development Manager, ORE Catapult

Tessa is ORE Catapult’s Floating Wind Business Development manager, focusing on accelerating and growing the Floating Offshore Wind industry.

She is also involved in the National Floating Offshore Wind Innovation Center (FLOWIC) and Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence (FOW CoE). Passionate about new technologies, she helps both developers and the supply chain solve challenges by working together.

Prior to joining ORE Catapult, Tessa gained a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering and worked in the oil and gas service sector for 16 years, both in business and technology development for the O&M side of the industry.

Duncan Smart

Senior Planning & Environmental Policy Analyst, ScottishPower Renewables

Duncan is a Chartered Town Planner with over 11 years' experience across infrastructure consenting, environmental assessment and policy development. He leads on offshore planning and environmental policy at ScottishPower Renewables (SPR), with responsibility for co-ordinating policy and strategic work to facilitate the efficient deployment of renewable projects. Duncan advises on infrastructure consenting regimes, manages strategic stakeholder engagement and leads SPR's approach to offshore planning and environmental policy consultations across the UK and Ireland. He also leads on environmental strategies for SPR's three ScotWind projects with a total capacity of 7GW, including two deep water floating projects being developed in partnership with Shell.

Prior to joining SPR, Duncan had 9 years' consultancy experience, including leading the delivery of planning and EIA services for major infrastructure projects and managing Strategic Environmental Assessments to support the development of spatial plans across the UK.

Duncan is a member of Scottish Renewables' Barriers to Deployment - Enabling Group and the OWIC Pathways to Growth Co-ordination Group.

Polly Tarrant

Environment Manager, Neart na Gaoithe OWF, EDF Renewables UK

Polly has worked in the offshore energy sector for over 14 years, from early concept and site selection to EIA and consent application through to post consent and construction. She is currently an Environment Manager working for EDF Renewables UK on the under construction Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm. In this role she is primarily responsible for the delivery of an extensive offshore environmental monitoring programme, which requires the management of numerous academic and environmental researchers, whilst working collaboratively with several other offshore wind Developers in the Forth and Tay region. In her position as an offshore wind Developer Polly actively participates in several strategic research forums focusing on improving our understanding and collecting valuable new evidence on the interactions between offshore wind and the environment. Polly's previous experience includes over 10 years in environmental consultancy and marine ecology academic research.

Mark Timmons

Director of Bids - UK and Ireland, SSE Renewables

Mark is Director of Bids UK & Ireland at SSE Renewables where he has led significant bid campaigns securing new seabed for offshore development and offtake arrangements to enable large scale projects. Prior to SSE Renewables, Mark worked for a global utility company on international offshore wind bids, investment opportunities and supply chain strategy. He is a Chartered Accountant with prior experience delivering transactions and assurance services in the UK and Australia.

Morag Watson

Director of Policy, Scottish Renewables

Morag has worked in climate change and sustainability policy for nearly 20 years. Morag leads Scottish Renewables’ engagement with Scottish and UK Government policy to grow Scotland’s renewable energy sector and sustain its position at the forefront of the global clean energy industry. Morag manages a team of six policy experts covering onshore and offshore wind, hydro, solar, low-carbon heat, hydrogen, wave and tidal energy in addition to planning, grid and market issues.
Morag was a Senior Policy Officer with WWF Scotland for over 10 years. During this time, she was a contributing expert to the Scottish Government’s Climate Change and Sustainable Development Action Plans, worked as an expert advisor to UNESCO and helped found Scotland’s Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development.

Morag holds a degree in Environmental Geoscience from the University of Edinburgh, is a qualified Hill and Moorland Leader and lives in a self-built eco-home in Central Scotland.

Craig Whelton

Partner, Burges Salmon LLP

Craig Whelton is a partner at independent UK law firm Burges Salmon and leads the firm's Scottish Planning team from its Edinburgh office. Craig specialises in the consenting of major infrastructure, mixed use and energy projects. He also advises scheme promoters and landowners on compulsory purchase and compensation, and has advised on some of the largest development schemes across Scotland. Craig regularly appears as an advocate at planning appeal hearings and inquiries, as well as advising on judicial challenges.

David Wildash

Head of Customer Connections, National Grid ESO

David Wildash has been in the Energy Industry for almost 20 years, having developed a broad industry perspective through multiple roles within the National Grid Group. He has recently moved to become Head of Customer Connections within the Electricity System Operator, where he is accountable for speeding up the Grid Connections process. Prior to this he Headed up Market Operations - designing and developing markets to procure balancing services to operate the system. Previously in his career, he has undertaken a number of differing leadership roles covering Regulation, Corporate Strategy as well as Operations. David is also a Board member of FlexAssure.