On the Move: Northern Powergrid director moves to SSEN

In our latest roundup of sector appointments, SSEN Distribution has appointed a new director of regulation from Northern Powergrid and the Dogger Bank windfarm has revealed two new high-level appointments to work on the project.

Additionally, disruptor power retailer Social Energy has unveiled a new managing director.

SSEN Distribution

Patrick Erwin, who has spent almost five years as Northern Powergrid’s policy and markets director, has joined SSEN Distribution as the company’s director of regulation.

Throughout his career Erwin has held several key positions at a variety of organisations. Prior to his time at Northern Powergrid he served as a commercial director at INEOS Shale.

Before that he spent several years at the then Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) where he worked in a variety of roles including as a deputy director where he headed the energy markets and infrastructure strategy and programme office.

Dogger Bank

Dogger Bank windfarm has announced the appointments of a new operations director and operations leader for the 3.6GW project being built by SSE Renewables.

Operating more than 130km from the North East coast of England, the windfarm will be able to generate around five per cent of the UK’s electricity needs once completed. It is being constructed in three phases and will be operated by Equinor from a new base at the Port of Tyne.

Mark Halliday joins Equinor from EDF Renewables as operations director. At EDF he was offshore operations manager and worked most recently on the NnG project in Scotland. He also played key roles in the Teesside and Blyth offshore windfarm demonstrator projects.

He said: “I am delighted to join the Dogger Bank team and lead the operations phase of this pioneering project.

“That the world’s largest offshore wind farm is being built off the coast of North East England is a fantastic opportunity for the area and being from the region it’s great to see South Shields has been selected as the location for the operations and maintenance base.

“It’s a proud moment for me to take on this prestigious role and help build up local capabilities in offshore wind.”

Meanwhile Felicity Wann has been appointed as operations leader at Dogger Bank where she will be responsible for the engineers managing day-to-day operations.

She has a strong background in offshore operations having worked at Equinor for around seven years in roles across health and safety, emergency response and services and logistics at the company’s Mariner Field, off the Aberdeen coast.

She said: “Securing this role demonstrates that skills and expertise gained from working in oil and gas can be transferred across to roles in the renewables industry, a really important message to convey as we will need thousands of people to deliver on the government’s net zero and renewables targets.

“My parents are from South Shields so it’s great to be returning to an area I know well and I look forward to building up a strong team here to deliver a world-class project.”

Wales and West Utilities

Former head of gas at the Energy Networks Association (ENA) Matt Hindle has been appointed as head of net zero and sustainability at Wales and West Utilities.

Hindle has a wealth of experience within the biogas industry and prior to joining ENA he spent six years working on green gas, energy policy and environmental regulation for the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association.

Wales and West Utilities is looking to invest £400 million to deliver a net zero-ready gas network by 2035.

Hindle will report directly to Sarah Williams, director of regulation and strategy, and will be responsible for teams delivering hydrogen transformation, environmental sustainability and wider net zero initiatives.

Hindle said: “Gas going green is essential if we are to decarbonise home heating, heavy industry, power and transport in an affordable and sustainable way. I’m looking forward to applying my experience supporting the development of green gases to deliver for the environment and customers as we transition to a net zero gas network.”

Williams said: “We are delighted to have Matt on board. The 2020s must be a decade of delivery, where we put the research and development work that has been done on hydrogen into practice, and his experience will prove indispensable in helping us to continue our work in preparing the gas network to play its part in a green future.”

Social Energy

Disruptor power retailer Social Energy has announced its managing director Ben Gatley has stepped down and has been replaced by the company’s current head of customer operations, Rox Inskip-Kaye.

Gatley has taken up a new position as nature-based solutions manager at environmental and social impact company ClimateCare.

Kaye, who previously worked for seven years as Ecotricity’s head of billing, will support Social Energy’s growth both in the UK and Australia.

The company’s chief executive, Richard Smith, said: “We’re massively grateful to Ben for all the contribution he’s given to Social Energy. He’s helped steer us through the challenges of Covid and the recent wholesale price spike. We wish him well in his new role in a new industry where he continues his passion of working in a sustainability driven business.

“We’re delighted to announce the internal promotion of Rox Inskip-Kaye who will be heading up our supply business. She brings many years of experience and will help us continue to deliver outstanding service to our energy supply customers and support our growth in the UK and Australia.”