Speakers
Head of Business Development, Siemens Energy
Matthew Knight is Head of Business Development for Siemens Energy* in the UK, where he spends his time making sense of the energy transition.
Matthew is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the IET Energy Policy Panel. He is on the Government’s Carbon Capture and Storage Taskforce and Hydrogen Expert Group. Matthew has a background in electricity grid projects and offshore wind farms.
Matthew is passionate about customers, safety, collaboration and being a human being at work. He likes telling stories and is curious about the way culture drives human behaviour and especially energy politics.
Industry Chair, Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC)
Benj is Head of Market Development, Consenting and Public Affairs in the UK offshore wind business of Ørsted and is responsible for business growth, setting and delivering the company’s sustainability and environmental agendas, and managing Ørsted’s relationships across government, authorities and NGOs.
He is Chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Council and led the work to agree a Sector Deal with Government; he also serves on the Board of G+, providing Health and Safety leadership for the offshore wind sector. He is a member of the government-appointed Advisory Panel on Highly Protected Marine Areas.
Benj previously worked in the upstream oil and gas industry.
Director of Hydrogen
Barry directs ScottishPower’s activities in hydrogen across the UK and Ireland, as part of a global Hydrogen Division within the Iberdrola Group. This focuses on the production of green hydrogen as a complementary method of decarbonisation, alongside electrification solutions.
His previous roles include Head of Corporate Innovation, Sustainability and Quality which led strategic activities in the decarbonisation of transport, heat and other emerging technologies, as well as corporate initiatives aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This followed several years in ScottishPower Renewables where Barry led activities in marine energy and wind innovations across the sector.
Deputy Director – Hydrogen Economy, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
Rita Wadey is Deputy Director, Hydrogen Economy in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. She leads on development of hydrogen strategy including low carbon hydrogen production. Rita’s previous positions include Chief of Staff to Permanent Secretary and Head of Fuel Poverty Strategy, and roles spanning the BEIS agenda including distributed energy, international climate change, science and employment rights.
Senior Consultant, Ecuity & Programme Manager, Hydrogen Hub
Thanks for a very informative session. Its clear that hydrogen will be an important facet of the clean energy future in the UK as across the globe and encouraging the be advised on the progress being made. Great to see the Scottish engagement with the technology and the policy vision for energy overall.