BWEA31 – 20th to 22nd October 2009

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) will be running its annual conference and exhibition next week in Liverpool. The event enjoys a well balanced combination of thought-leadership and focused conference sessions, as well as an opportunity to network, learn about new developments, and identify new business opportunities.

I had a conversation the week before EWEA’s Offshore Conference in Stockholm, earlier this year, with a client who I’ve known for 18 months now. He asked me why I wasn’t going to be attending. I replied “I’m far too busy, I have too many open assignments and I can’t afford to take a day, let alone two, out of the office…”. He responded that he had also thought the same thing on many occasions, but that each time he thought it, he reminded himself of the intangible, but undeniable, value that comes from solidifying relationship and building new ones in person. He was right.

And so I’ll be at BWEA31, with the intention to get as much value from it as possible, and to have a fun doing it! I will be attending on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a focus on meeting new people and keeping abreast of new entrants, new developments and new projects in the sector, as well as using the opportunity to meet with existing candidates and clients alike.

Often we are asked by industry professionals to conduct Independent Career Appraisals, and the BWEA conference is an ideal place to do this, to maximise on time and talk to people when they’re out of the office environment and not worrying about the next conference call or a deadline they’ve got to hit. There are plenty of quiet corners to find a seat and grab a coffee.

If you’d like to meet up to ask me questions, share information, or find out about what we do and how we do it, please do use BWEA31 as the perfect opportunity.

Drop me an email to clare.buxton@ecosearchglobal.com or contact me via twitter @CEBUX.

By Clare Buxton
Wind Energy Sector Lead, EcoSearch

Green and Renewable Energy Events – September 2009

EcoSearch aims to bring you a comprehensive list of all the events happening across the Renewable Energy, Cleantech and Carbon Management sectors.

September is going to be a manic month for events, so be sure to do your homework and don’t miss out on the best ones for you.

If we’re missing a conference, please leave us a comment or drop us an email and we’ll update our list – it’s our way of helping you connect with the right people.

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Featured Event:

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Climate Camp 2009 - Free (donations requested)

27th August – 2nd September

Follow @ClimateCamp on twitter
London

BioEnergy 2009 – Sustainable Bioenergy Business
31st August – 4th September
Jyväskylä, Finland

LAWEA Wind Expo 2009 - Latin American Wind Power - International Conference & Exhibition
2nd – 4th September
Panama City, Panama

Green Monday (from 2degrees)

7th September

London

AWBriefing - Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Advanced Battery technology
8th September
London

National Energy Foundation - Introduction to Renewable Energy
8th September
Milton Keynes

Green Drinks – London – Free
8th September
London (Green Drinks events happen globally - more locations can be found on the website)

Cleantech Forum Boston
8th – 10th September
Boston, MA

Offshore Europe 2009 - Free
8th – 11th September 2009
Aberdeen, Scotland

The Energy Event 09 - Free
9th & 10th September
Birmingham

BWEA Connect - a networking evening exclusively for existing and potential members of BWEA
10th September
London

Southwest Renewable Energy Conference
10th & 11th September
Flagstaff, Arizona

EcoMo09 24-hour dev camp - Can you write green code? - Free

11th September
Follow @ecomo09 on Twitter

London

Carbon Capture and Sequestration Summit
14th & 15th September
Washington, DC

European Offshore Wind 2009 Conference & Exhibition
14th – 16th September
Stockholm, Sweden

UWIG Wind Integration Short Course
14th – 17th September
Charleston, SC

IMarEST Metocean Awareness course
15th – 17th September
London

Recycling & Waste Management 2009 - Free
15th – 17th September
Birmingham

The Heat and Energy Saving Strategy - reducing emissions from existing buildings
Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum
16th September
London

European Biodiesel 2009
16th & 17th
Prague, Czech Republic

AWEA Wind Power Health & Safety Workshop
16th & 17th September

Follow @AWEA on Twitter
Snowbird, UT

Coasts, Marine Structures and Breakwaters 2009
16th – 18th September

Follow @ICE_Engineers on Twitter
Edinburgh, Scotland

JetFin Green 2009 - For investors and managers in search of real returns from green investment
17th September
Geneva, Switzerland

European Smart Grid Strategies
17th & 18th September
Berlin, Germany

Irish Sustainable Buildings Show - Free
17th – 19th September
Dublin, Ireland

CANWEA - Canadian Wind Energy Association Annual Conference & Exhibition
20th – 23rd September
Toronto, Canada

11th Renewable Energy Finance Forum (REFF-London)

21st & 22nd September

London

24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
21st – 24th September
Hamburg, Germany

REA WATTS (Wave and Tidal Technology Symposium)2009
22nd September
Wirral, Merseyside

Heat & Energy 09
22nd September
London

Hargould EcoShowcase West London - Sustainable Building Product Exhibition
22nd September
Twickenham, London

Wind Power Expo 2009 - Free
22nd – 24th September
Zaragoza, Spain

Carbon capture and Storage World Summit
22nd – 24th September
Arlington, Virginia

Grove Fuel Cell Symposium
22nd – 24th September
London

Klimaenergy 09 - Renewable Energy Trade Fair and Conference
24th – 26th September
Bolzano, Italy

RENEXPO - 10th International Trade Fair for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficient Building and Renovation
24th – 27th September
Ausburg, Germany

Energy from Waste
28th & 29th September
London

Next Generation Biofuels
28th – 30th September
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The 2009 Energy Roundtable conference: A transatlantic energy partnership
29th September
London

The Carbon Show - The Exhibition for Trading, Reducing and managing carbon – Free (register before 25/09)
29th & 30th September
ondon

National Energy Foundation - Solar Thermal Training
30th September
Milton Keynes

AWEA Wind Resource & Project Energy Assessment Workshop
30th September & 1st October

Follow @AWEA on Twitter
Minneapolis, MN

Sustainable Cities & Communities
30th September & 1st October
Geneva, Switzerland

Eolica Expo Mediterranean 2009
30th September – 2nd October
Rome, Italy

GeoTech Expo 2009 - First Mediterranean Earth Industry Technology Exhibition
30th September – 2nd October
Rome, Italy

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We will publish a similar list for October soon.

Click here for August’s Green and Renewable Energy Event List.

Click here to download a full list of Green and Renewable Energy events for the next 12 months from Scribd.com

Global Wind Day?

I am a supporter of Wind Energy. I believe that our generation is obliged to seriously increase our generation of clean (or cleaner) energy, whether that be wind, wave, solar, biomass or nuclear. My career is currently dedicated to building teams, growing businesses and ultimately contributing to the growth of the wind energy sector. I spend day in and day out talking to people who already work in companies in the Wind energy supply chain, or who want to work with said companies.

However, I have to admit that Global Wind Day, might have passed me by this year, if it wasn’t for one of my colleagues shouting at me that I should be doing something about it. “It’s your thing”, she said…

So what is the point in Global Wind Day? Essentially I understand that the concept is to raise awareness of wind energy… But what then? Is it aimed at making young people want to work in Wind energy? Is aimed at making local communities want to support the construction of wind turbines in their region (let’s hope some of the local councils are reading this…) or is it aimed at making investors want to invest in the sector?

The success of any of the above relies on extending the message of Global Wind Day beyond the immediate circle that already has a vested interest in the Renewable energy sector. So how have they marketed Global Wind energy day? How have the organisers (EWEA and GWEC with the support of the national Wind Energy associations like BWEA), actually gone about reaching their target markets? How did you read about Global Wind Day (or #GWind09 as it has become on Twitter, which is where, incidentally, I have seen the most activity around Global Wind Day)?

Apparently “thousands of public events will be organised simultaneously” on Monday 15th June 09. But searching via the Global Wind Day website only brought me details of 3 events in the UK. Just 3?! Surely that can’t be the case. (I have to add an NB that two of those events are organised by RES - well done RES). So I turn to BWEA to see what they are doing about this Global Wind Day thing… and there’s nothing on their website. So where is it being publicised? I can only imagine (hope) that things are more proactive on the other side of the pond. The American Wind Energy Associations, does at least lead on their home page with the story “Show Your Support for Wind Energy on Global Wind Day, June 15”…

To be fair, Vestas mentioned the day under “campaigns” on their website. ABB released a press release for a bit of publicity (good on them). But Vestas, ABB and RES are in the minority here, and I don’t see the UK broadsheets or tabloids picking up on this – should they be?

If I was Josephine Bloggs working in an un-related sector, and going out my usual routine – home, car, office, car, gym, car home – only listening to Radio 1 or Radio 4 and scanning The Times at lunchtime, would I have known about Global Wind Day?

The idea of having a “Wind Energy Day” is a great idea for a PR and awareness campaign, but if you’re going to do it, isn’t it worth doing it well? (And I would love to practice what I preach and be more involved next year – if someone from GWEC or EWEA is reading this, give me a shout.)

Let me know what I missed, and how you recognised Global Wind Day yesterday.

By Clare Buxton
Sector Lead for Wind Energy, EcoSearch

Get in touch:
Email: clare.buxton@ecosearchglobal.com
Twitter: @CEBUX
Or via LinkedIn

Darling Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is!

Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the new 2009 Budget on Wednesday 22nd April.

Whilst taxes have been toughened on the usual suspects – cigarettes, alcohol, fuel – and increased significantly for those earning at the higher end of the market (£150k plus now being taxed 50% and pension loop holes closed up), the overall message towards the green and low carbon sectors was very positive: Brown and Darling are making it clear that they are serious about their commitment to Renewable Energy and Low Carbon initiatives. They have stated that the UK will become the first country to commit to legally binding targets for reducing CO2 (34% reduction by 2020).

Here is a summary of the financial investment into the Low Carbon and Renewable Energy sectors:

• £525m to be invested into the development of Offshore Wind farm development between 2011 and 2014. The money will be raised through the Renewable Obligation. Darling’s money is going behind Offshore Wind because it is the closest to generation. Nuclear will take significant time to build; tidal is still in early stages; geothermal opportunity in UK is limited.
  
• Review of ROC (Renewable Obligation Certificate) scheme – Electricity companies will receive 2 ROCs for every MWh of energy they buy from an offshore wind farm (increased from 1.5 ROC) for the financial year 2009-2010. This will fall back to 1.75 ROCs 2010-2011.
  
• Opportunity to benefit from up to £4bn of investment into renewable infrastructure projects from the European Investment Bank (EIB). This could translate to £1bn of development in the UK.
  
• £375m to support energy efficiency initiatives in businesses, public buildings and homes in the UK through various schemes including £100m of funding for low cost loans delivered through the Carbon Trust. 
  
• £70m of investment into micro-generation or small scale renewables. 
  
• £405m of investment to go into developing “low-carbon energy and advanced green manufacturing" in the UK. This will focus on opening up a “green” supply chain in the UK to aid the development of low carbon technologies in the UK.
  

The government also reaffirmed its support of CHP (Combined Heat and Power) with its long term strategy being announced later this year. 

Adam Bruce of the BWEA said: 

"This package of measures deserves a welcome from our industry, and is in line with proposals that we have been working through with government. It addresses the short-term economic hurdles we faced due to the fall of the £ against the €, and the post-Lehman collapse in project finance.
It also restates the Government's long-term commitment to the renewable energy sector, and should enable us to unlock up to £10bn of private sector investment in wind and marine energy projects over the coming few years."

Overall it looks like Darling’s Budget will receive a warm welcome from the Renewables community. Is this enough?

As always, I would be very interested in hear your views directly.

Leave your comments below or find me via twitter, LinkedIn or directly by email.

Clare Buxton
Wind Sector Lead

Image by John-Morgan

Fancy a glass of wine at BWEA Connect?

Debby and I are looking forward to attending the next BWEA Connect evening on Wednesday 10th December at the Institute of Civil Engineers in London.

With over 400 people registered already, it’s going to be a fun (and very busy) evening, hopefully with a festive theme to it! With people from every angle of the Renewable Energy sector - legal, insurance, technical and consultancies - it’s such a great opportunity to find out about what’s new and what’s hot in the Wind Energy sector, and beyond.

Another great reason for going is the venue itself. Last time I was in the ICE’s headquarters, in Great George Street (also at a BWEA event as it happens), I found myself suddenly very self conscious about the fact I was staring at the ceiling, at a wonderful painting illustrating the involvement of Civil Engineers in the First World War. It’s a fantastic building, designed by James Miller and completed in 1913. James Miller was a Scottish Architect, also famously known for many of his buildings in Glasgow, and Scottish railway stations. I wonder if he realised that his building would host events such as a meeting of hundreds of dedicated professionals, committed to helping generate clean energy in the UK and across the world.

If you can find the time (and if there’s still space, register here or check with Alice from BWEA), it’ll be a great way to start the Christmas season! We look forward to seeing you there, don't forget to let us know you are coming via the EcoSearch Facebook page.

By Clare Buxton
Wind Energy Sector Lead

British Wind Energy has never been stronger!

This week Clare Buxton was in London at BWEA30, see her thoughts following the event.



This week, whilst the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) are celebrating their biggest ever conference and exhibition (over 2500 registered as a delegate or exhibitor and over 200 companies exhibiting), Gordon Brown announced on Tuesday morning that the UK has now overtaken Denmark as the largest producer of offshore wind energy in the world.

The Prime Minster addressed the BWEA conference via a video message and congratulated all involved in the industry for hitting the 3 GW mark. 600MW of that installed capacity is offshore. In 2005 the UK had only 1 GW of installed wind capacity.

Denmark has been commonly recognised as the European, and probably World, leader in the Wind Industry, but the UK has just proved that by MW installed we are now at the front of this sector.

The company responsible for pushing the UK capacity over the 3GW mark was Scottish Power Renewables with the Whitelee windfarm, where its 140 turbines will produce 322MW of energy, or enough power to 180,000 homes.

Centrica was another one of the companies present at the BWEA conference who were celebrating: they have just gained consent for their 250 MW Lincs offshore wind farm project. Centrica already own and operate Lynn and Inner Dowsing (194MW).

All in all October 2008 has been an important month for Wind Energy in the UK… Let us know if you’ve heard any other exciting news or have any comments about the sector!

Say "Hi!" if you see us at BWEA30

Clare Buxton, EcoSearch’s Lead in the Wind Energy sector, gives her thoughts on attending the BWEA30 conference and exhibition next week.

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Next week is the British Wind Energy Association’s conference and exhibition, celebrating 30th years of success. BWEA30 will take place at the ExCel centre, in London’s Docklands. The main sponsor is RES, and they are expecting to have 175 exhibitors and over 2000 people to attend. Debby Lloyd, Mark Sawyer and I are all very excited to be attending again this year.

Highlights for us will be catching up with old friends who we’ve been in contact with over the last year but not had the occasion to meet with, meeting new people and witnessing firsthand the continuing growth of this sector. As we found at All-Energy ’08, we are sure that BWEA30 will be even bigger than BWEA29 was in Glasgow last year.

Another highlight will be, of course, meeting Boris Johnson at the Conference Eve Reception at the Institute of Civil Engineers (contact Alice at BWEA to reserve your place) and hearing what he has to say; and also hearing the PM’s address to delegates and exhibitors on the opening day. It is only relevant that the leadership of the UK recognise what an exciting event this is, for all involved.

All in all, I’m really looking forward to it. BWEA30 will be a celebration of the success of the Wind Energy industry in the UK, and I am sure we’ll also see some of our European friends.

If you’re interested in meeting with me, Debby or Mark at the conference – please don’t hesitate to contact us!

See you there!