Ten in a row for Scottish Renewables
The Young Professionals Green Energy Awards achieves a significant milestone this evening (April 18) as it celebrates the future leaders of the renewable energy industry for the tenth consecutive year.
Launched by Scottish Renewables in 2015 to recognise those who have achieved beyond all expectations and those who are pioneering new ideas with the drive and ambition to change the industry for the better, we have seen some exceptional talent win these awards.
To mark the tenth anniversary of these awards, Úna Brosnan, Director at Innovative Climate Solutions, has told us of her career trajectory since scooping the Leader Award at the inaugural Young Professionals in Green Energy Awards in 2015.
Back then Úna was part of the Offshore Wind Leadership team at Atkins where she was working closely with the industry to navigate the many challenges our industry faces while utilising her technical expertise to deliver major offshore wind projects.
While working with Atkins, Úna undertook as co-chair her role as one of the founding members of Friends of Floating Offshore Wind. This group was established to promote the interests of floating wind in Scotland and the UK and help create favourable conditions and business cases for the further development of this technology.
In the decade since winning her Young Professional Green Energy Award, Úna has been an active participant in the supply chain encouraging businesses and organisations to work closely with developers and government in order to shape and drive the change needed to deliver Scotland’s significant pipeline of offshore wind projects. She was appointed to the Board of RenewabUK in 2020 and Vice Chair of the Board in September 2023.
On winning one of the first ever Young Professional Green Energy Awards, Úna said:
“Winning the Leader Award was a fantastic experience and was really uplifting at that stage in my career.
“I was really grateful as it is always a real boost when you’re recognised by your peers particularly when immersed in a period of challenging delivery. For me, taking a breath to recognise that all the hard work on developing your career with the ultimate aim of having a significant and positive impact on the industry was going in the right direction.
“I still look out for the winners of these awards each year as it’s so exciting to see the next crop of talent who are going to join us in driving our industry forward.”
Úna is a great example of someone who has transitioned from a different sector to work in Scotland’s thriving renewable energy industry.
From Killarney, County Kerry in southwest Ireland, Úna moved to Scotland in 2009 to undertake an MSC in Sustainable Energy at the University of Edinburgh and subsequently worked with Atkins (Glasgow) in offshore wind following several years working across infrastructure projects in Ireland and beyond.
Following her time at Atkins, Úna spent three years on the development side at Mainstream Renewable Power, before she branched out on her own to set up her renewable energy consultancy, Innovative Climate Solutions, which specialises, in strategic advisory, policy and regulatory frameworks, offshore wind, the supply chain and skills development.
Úna said:
“I’ve always wanted to work for myself. Taking the jump in a period of flux just felt right for me over the years and with our offshore wind market recalibrating globally launching Innovative Climate Solutions has been a great opportunity to lean into how we take stock and shape our futures.
“Taking a mission impact approach and utilising the skills and experience I have developed working in offshore wind to primarily drive a material step change in supporting our industry was key for me on this new journey, whether it be the industrialisation of Offshore Wind, guiding and sharing lessons learned with emerging markets, commercialisation of floating, or attempting to energise supply chain ambition and collaborative industry approaches. As part of the Floating Offshore Wind Taskforce, the Industrial Growth Plan steering committee and co-Chair of Renewable UK I believe I’m in a great position to support change and be part of a team that can drive and realise the UK’s floating and industrialisation ambition and vision alongside encouraging and energising the next generation of industry leaders.”
Úna’s career highlights include seeing the global scale-up of offshore wind, the first pot announced for floating wind in 2021, and the industry “smashing” the challenge of 100p per megawatt hour in 2016 - four years ahead of schedule.
Since winning her award 10 years ago the offshore wind industry has moved on considerably and Úna can’t wait to see what the next decade brings.
She said:
“I’m confident that commercial floating offshore wind will be in Scottish Waters in the next ten years if not sooner.
“Where we are now, we have been challenged here before with fixed offshore wind and the industry is much bigger now. It’s great to see industry working collectively and the measures set out in the Industrial Growth Plan which was launched this week will bring the industrialisation ambition we need to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind over the next decade – the focus now quickly turns to deliver it at pace.”
Ends