Introducing the voices of the future

The energy industry has laid the foundations for net zero but it is the next generation of sector leaders that will be responsible for ensuring the 2050 target is achieved. In the first of a series of articles, Utility Week talks to the five winners of the Young Energy Professionals Awards 2020 to gauge their views on everything from decarbonisation to diversity. We start with how young people perceive the energy sector and how this is changing.

The Young Energy Professionals (YEP) awards are held annually by Energy UK and celebrate the outstanding contributions and achievements of those with less than 10 years’ experience in the industry.

Due to Covid restrictions, 2020’s awards were held virtually earlier this month. The ceremony included keynote addresses from Emma Ford, head of gas construction at National Grid, Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of Energy UK and Chris Stark, chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, who all highlighted the importance of young energy professionals in the energy transition.

Nearly 80 applications were received across four categories including a new one-off category for 2020 to reflect the sector’s role in responding to the pandemic.

The winners of YEP Awards 2020 are:

• Rising Star: Rajan Patel, UK onshore project manager, Siemens Energy

Patel joined Siemans on a permanent basis in January this year where he has managed a power plant in Middlesbrough. He was tasked with leading an international team to execute a first of its type power plant project consisting of six gas engines from a factory in Spain.

The Spanish plant is designing, developing and manufacturing these engines, the first of which have been installed at the plant in Middlesbrough. They will provide a balanced supply of critical power for National Grid, improving the integration of renewable energy in the electricity system.

Patel was praised for his forward thinking by deploying remote inspection equipment to overcome travel restrictions which were in place for the Spanish field service engineers. By using the remote technology, UK field service personnel were able to complete specialist site activities under the expert supervision of the technical experts in Spain, and ensure the engines remained available.

• Outstanding Achievement in Responding to Covid-19: Gemma Harvey-Cole, project engineer, National Grid

Harvey-Cole was nominated for her work managing a scheme to replace aging 275kV cables underneath Birmingham’s Spaghetti Junction motorway to build network resilience. She was praised for her ability to manage her team and stakeholders to ensure the project is delivered on time, despite the pandemic. She had led and coordinated several meetings with key stakeholders to achieve the best solution for the project whilst also minimising the impact on cost.

When Covid resulted in the project being stood down for two weeks, it pushed their works outage from 1 June 2020 to 1 January 2021. Harvey-Cole’s ability to create positive relationships and find solutions reduced this delay by 3 months to 1 September this year.

• Diversity & Inclusion Focus: Rodney Williams, lead project manager, National Grid and Matthew Young, product manager, Centrica

Joint winners Rodney Williams and Matthew Young were commended for their efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion in their respective organisations.

Between 2016 to 2019 Williams chaired National Grid’s multicultural employee network ONE. During his tenure he relaunched the network and increased membership by 95 per cent to 450 members across 14 locations. He co-founded the ‘Development Programme for Diverse Leaders,’ a company-first course designed to accelerate and support BAME employees to positions of management. In addition, Williams launched a successful reverse mentoring scheme, where they coached new BAME mentors and mentored 3 senior leaders including a UK Director.

At Centrica, Young became co-chair of the company’s LGBTQ+ network where he worked tirelessly to improve trans inclusivity across the business through improving visibility, advocacy and governance. Work includes organising activities during trans awareness week, as well as designing the company’s Transitioning at Work policy which includes crucial protections for trans employees, and guidelines to support line managers.

• Young Energy Professional of the Year: Rubina Singh, lead e-mobility technologist, Centrica

This award recognises candidates who have the potential to be future leaders. Emma Pinchbeck, who judged the award, described Singh’s application as “absolutely outstanding”.

She said: “I personally loved that this person had a proud mix of technical expertise and engineering skills on top of more soft leadership and communication skills. The phrase that sung out most for me in their application was that they had an unwavering vision for that they wanted to do with their bit of the business.

“For me as a climate activist in a suit, I also love that this person is doing something that will make a significant contribution to emissions reduction in this decade and in particular that they are, as it turns out, doing it at an organisation which has been an incumbent in the energy industry for years.”

Following the awards ceremony, Utility Week caught up with the winners and asked for their thoughts on the future of the sector they will play an integral part of.

All five were asked about how their perceptions of the sector have changed during their working lives.

Young: “I think a lot of my friends that know me would call me a bit of a hypocrite for joining the energy sector with my fairly left-leaning political views. My opinion has really changed over the past five years, I don’t know whether that’s due to understanding how the world works a bit better or understanding the drive towards net zero and working towards reversing the impact of climate change. I think it’s going to be driven a lot by private companies moving forward.”

Singh: “When I started out my studies in sustainable energy engineering and then my first job as a solar engineer, it was at one of the first universities that was offering this degree. I would often have to explain to people what solar engineering is, I feel like the industry was still quite sceptical if this would work. This was almost 10 years ago so it’s great to see how there’s no question about whether solar storage can work. We know that this is an answer, we need to decarbonise and renewable energy is a solution. I think over the past few years we have also seen this increased uptake in electric vehicles (EVs) I feel like the two industries are converging now because everything can be run on electricity.

“I think it’s a very exciting time and its really great to see that we understand and realise the urgency of climate change and how these technologies can help us move to a net zero future.”

Harvey-Cole says when she first began working in the sector there was not much by way of information about potential career paths in energy.

“That’s changed considerably in the last 10 years. I see lots of events with STEM, Big Bang events which encourage school and college students into the industry which I think is really good. It’s phenomenal how much has changed in the last 10 years that I’ve been in the industry.”

Patel says he found the sector quite “alien” before he began working at Siemans.

“Energy is only one word but it relates to a lot more things than coal and gas. You have solar, wind and hydrogen which is something I didn’t know a lot about before I joined Siemans. More than anything it opened my eyes, energy is one word but it actually means a lot of different things. There’s a lot to look into that’s for sure.”

Williams says the rise in renewables has changed his perception of the sector from when he was in education. Furthermore, challenges around net zero and sustainability means it’s imperative to encourage young people to be part of the solution.

“Things need to change and we need young people and others to be part of that solution”, he says.

Coming up on Voices of the Future:

In our next piece, Utility Week will explore the impact of the pandemic and what lessons the sector should take from the past year. In the third article of the series, we will explore the issue of diversity and the challenges it poses for recruitment. With the five working in an industry that will be crucial in getting the UK to meet its net zero goal by 2050, the final piece will look into the net zero challenge.