Day Three: Thursday 23rd October
Skills, Education & Employment Chaired by Henning von Barsewisch, Managing Director, REpower UK Ltd, BWEA Board Director and Chair of the BWEA Skills & Education Strategy Group
Presentation on the BWEA Skills Gap Study:
- Dr. Markus Boettcher & Dr. Kim
Petrick, Bain & Company, Inc.:
Employment opportunities and
challenges in the context of rapid
industry growth.
- Chris Bronsdon, Managing Director,
SQW Energy: Today's Investment,
Tomorrow’s asset
Panellists:
- Jonathan Mackey, Assistant Director, Specialisation, Skills Group, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
- Tom Wilson, Head of Organisation and Services Department, TUC
- Frank Corrigan, Energy & Utility Skills.
- Panel Debate

The growth that is forecast for renewable energy can only be delivered if a skilled workforce can be provided in the right numbers. BWEA’s members have become increasingly concerned about this issue, and the Association has consequently commissioned in-depth research into the numbers required and actions that Government, industry and other stakeholders can undertake to expand our engineering capacity. This session will start with presentations about this research, followed by a high-level panel discussion examining the issues.
Closing Session Chaired by Maria McCaffery, CEO, BWEA
- Peter Musgrove, First BWEA
Chairman: Wind Power: the story
so far
- Jonathon Porritt, CBE, Founder
Director of Forum for the Future
and Chairman of the UK Sustainable
Development Commission:
Revolutions in the Wind
- Maria McCaffery, BWEA: The Koru
Foundation Grand Prize Draw results
- Adam Bruce, BWEA Chairman –
closing remarks.
-
Q&A Session
Delivering Major Projects Chaired by Charles Rose, Hainsford Energy and BWEA Treasurer
- Jim Smith, Director of Offshore &
Europe, Airtricity: Greater Gabbard
Project Execution Strategy
- Simon Christian, ScottishPower
Renewables: Delivering Europe’s
largest onshore wind farm
- Gareth Penhale, Senior Project
Manager, npower renewables: Rhyl
Flats Offshore Wind – A Clients
perspective on managing multi
-contracts.
- Anne Strommen Lycke, Head
of Wind Energy, StatoilHydro:
Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind
Farm - the path to Section 36
consent
-
Q&A Session
Four leading developers present their unique experiences, gained in the development and construction process of some of the worlds largest on- and offshore wind farm projects. Whether you are developing a large scale onshore project or planning to be a part of Offshore Round 3, this unmissable session promises a wealth of world leading knowledge and experience as the speakers share the complexities of large scale development, the hurdles that stood in their way and the lessons learnt to overcome them.
What I Would Do to Improve the Planning and Development Process for Renewables – a stakeholders view Chaired by Andrew Jamieson, Markets & Regulations Director, ScottishPower Renewables and BWEA Board Director
- Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy,
CPRE
- Martin Wheatley, Programme
Director - Environment and Planning,
Local Government Association
- Rynd Smith, Head of Policy and
Practice, The Royal Town Planning
Institute
- James Marsden, Executive Director
Evidence and Policy, Natural
England.
- Ruth Davis, Head of Climate Change
Policy, RSPB
- Gideon Amos, Chief Executive, Town
and Country Planning Association
-
Panel debate
Listen to the wind industry’s stakeholders. Do we all have different routes to achieve the same objective? Can there be a shared approach? Each stakeholder has a 5 minute pitch to make their case with debate throughout.
Onshore Grid – the dawn of a new era?Chaired by Nic Rigby, npower renewables, BWEA Grid Strategy Group Chair and BWEA Board Director
- Phil Hicken, Assistant Director,
Renewables Deployment,
Department for Business, Enterprise
and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
- Stuart Cook, Director of Transmission,
Ofgem
- Lewis Dale, Regulatory Strategy
Manager, National Grid
- Dr. Keith McLean, Head of Policy and
Public Affairs, Scottish and Southern
Energy.
EA Lively Panel Discussion focused on the new and different steps necessary to achieve 2020 targets. What does electricity use and generation in 2020 look like? What do the networks need to look like to accommodate this? What does BERR think needs to be done to get us to 2020? What does OFGEM think needs to be done to get us to 2020? What does the BWEA want to see change to get us to 2020?
