Industry trade body Solar Energy UK has welcomed eight new members to its board and added two more sponsor members.
The new members of the board were selected following a recent election from among the association’s almost 400 member businesses and organisations. The new members of the Solar Energy UK board include:
- Matt Black, managing director at Innovo Renewables and chair of Solar Energy UK (re-elected)
- Liz MacFarlane, vice-president of Sales and Global Advisor at Segen (re-elected)
- Alex DeSouza, general counsel – EMEA at Lightsource BP
- Adam Swarbrick, head of solar and storage UK at RWE
- Hildegarde McCarville, chief executive of Anesco
- Charlotte Healey, head of solar at Statkraft
- Gareth Phillips, solicitor and partner at Pinsent Masons
- Richard Cave-Bigley, director, Solar & Battery at SSE Renewables
They join five existing members of the board, whose terms of office will expire at a later date. They are:
- Jonathan Bates, managing director of rooftop PV and battery energy storage installer Photon Energy
- Christelle Barnes, UK country manager at SolarEdge Technologies
- Guilia Guidi, head of ESG at NextEnergy Group
- Hannah Staab, development projects director at Copenhagen Infrastructure Service Company, lately head of strategy at Natural Power
- Thomas MacMillan, director, Energy Renewables and Infrastructure at Savills.
Solar Energy UK also said two more members will be co-opted in May 2024. Turnout for the election was 42%.
Solar Energy UK chief executive Chris Hewett said: “It is superb to see that our members have elected a board with such a depth and breadth of talent and experience, from distribution through major utilities to planning law.
“The board is also the first to have a 50/50 balance of men and women, showing how the industry is moving away from a position that has been somewhat male-dominated at the senior level.”
Solar Energy UK welcomes two new sponsors
In other news, Solar Energy UK has also welcomed two more top-tier sponsor members in solar developer British Solar Renewables (BSR) and Norwegian state-owned power company Statkraft.
The two companies join EDF, GivEnergy, Lightsource BP, NextEnergy Group, RWE, Schroders Greencoat, Segen and SSE, all of which were announced as sponsor members in November 2023.
Charlotte Healey, Statkraft’s head of solar, said: “I’m delighted Statkraft is becoming a sponsor member of Solar Energy UK, formally recognising our shared commitment to driving forward the UK’s solar industry.
“It’s a crucial time for the industry to unite in order to reach the 70GW solar target that is so critical to bringing down consumer bills, improving energy security, whilst also bringing benefits to communities and wildlife.”
Statkraft recently secured planning permission for its fifth Greener Grid Park, located adjacent to the Coylton substation in East Ayrshire. The project will have a capacity of 50MW.
Also, in September 2023, Statkraft partnered with pan-European company Fluence to deliver a 4-hour BESS in Ireland.
Solar Power Portal’s publisher Solar Media will host the UK Solar Summit on 4-5 June 2024 in London. The event will explore the UK’s new landscape for utility and rooftop solar, looking at the opportunities within a GW+ annual market and much more. For more information, go to the website.