Optimisation 1

SEPTEMBER 2016

OPTIMISATION

How to boost returns at your wind farms

In association with © A Word About Wind, 2016 Optimisation 2

Proven wind farm

performance optimisation Whether your wind farm is underperforming or you just want to enhance performance, talk to the optimisation experts.

Our clients are achieving >5% production enhancement through:

• Accurate yaw alignment

• Control improvements

• Blade aerodynamic enhancement

• Forestry restructuring

• Comprehensive measurement and rigorous analysis.

Enhance performance | Boost returns | Reduce operational costs

sgurrenergy.com | [email protected]

© A Word About Wind, 2016 Optimisation Contents 3 CONTENTS Editorial: Companies start taking optimisation seriously 4 Marginal Gains: How to boost wind farm returns 5 Q&A: John Matthew, VP of Asset Management, Allianz 9 Q&A: John Sturman, Director, Kennedy Renewables 10 The Authors: A Word About Wind and SgurrEnergy 11

Vital market insight at A Word About Wind’s Financing Wind conference

ver the next few years we expect focused on how to improve and re- Owind farm owners and investors power them. Improving their newer to take optimisation of assets more schemes is the next logical step. seriously. Here are the reasons why. So, in short, this is all part of the wind In large part, this is due to increasing industry’s continued evolution. The numbers of pressures on developers industry has come a long way in the and investors in established markets. last five years when it comes to think- ing proactively about how best to by Richard Heap, Governments in leading wind nations, manage operational assets, but all editor at A Word About Wind including Germany, have been looking too often this has focused mainly on to restrict the amount of new schemes how to get turbines to carry on for coming to the market, in order to longer rather than making them more keep subsidies in check. If it becomes effective while they are operational. tougher for firms to build new projects “Improving then it puts greater pressure on However, as you will see in this report, them to boost returns in other ways. optimising existing wind farms can do existing assets Improving existing assets can do this. both things: making schemes more ef- can help investors ficient and helping them to last longer. boost returns while Many of these nations have also been Sounds counterintuitive, right? If a tur- introducing systems where feed-in bine is working harder then surely that their margins are tariffs are set by reverse auctions, should be detrimental to its lifespan? being squeezed rather than centrally-set rates. This is elsewhere.” putting more pressure on investors to Not so, says SgurrEnergy’s director of reduce the levelized cost of energy of innovation Alan Mortimer. He explains their new schemes. Again, improving that running your turbines more effi- their existing assets can help investors ciently can both improve energy yield, boost returns while their margins are which boosts returns, and put them being squeezed elsewhere. under less stress, which means they last longer. He calls it a “win-win situation”. We also see big changes coming from within the industry. In this report, we cover the key cost-effective ways that investors should look A Word About Wind The focus on cost-cutting for new pro- to optimise projects; we run through www.awordaboutwind.com jects will no doubt encourage owners a series of case studies of those who [email protected] and investors to think more creatively have done it; and we have included two T: +44 (0)20 7193 6013 about their existing assets. Drones, li- short Q&A interviews with firms that +1 (917) 310 3307 dar and turbine improvements can all have used some of these techniques. help to make new schemes better, and 2nd Floor, owners will not want existing schemes And this is the key reason why firms 167-169 Great Portland Street, to miss out. Consolidation among should look seriously at optimis- London, W1W 5PF major manufacturers will help drive ing their wind farms: it makes good wind’s technological arms race. business sense, in a booming market or Editor: Richard Heap a more challenging one. Designer: Lee Washington Investors and owners will also be Sales & Membership: looking at what they can learn from All the best, Joe Gulliver schemes at the other end of the pro- Publisher: Adam Barber ject lifecycle. In countries like Germa- ny, the first generation of wind farms Cover image: SgurrEnergy are hitting the end of their useable lives, and this is getting more investors

© A Word About Wind, 2016 Optimisation How to Boost Wind Farm Returns 5 HOW TO BOOST WIND FARM RETURNS Making small improvements to working wind farms can add up to a large financial boost for project owners and investors

“Most wind farms he British cycling team dominated the is so successful because of their attention TOlympics in Rio last month in much to detail and the marginal gains, and it is the have potential for the same way it did in London in 2012. This same here. When you add together these between 5% and is testament to the continued influence of potential gains then most wind farms could 11% performance Dave Brailsford. improve performance by between 5% and 11%, and sometimes more if the project is improvements, and Brailsford was, until 2014, the performance adversely impacted by forestry. Those gains sometimes more.” director at British Cycling who mastermind- are very attractive for project owners.” ed the theory of ‘marginal gains’, which says that a cyclist can significantly boost perfor- Mortimer says there are plenty of good mance by making many small improvements. reasons for investors to optimise their wind The idea has gained popularity in the busi- farms. Over the short term, it means they ness world and Alan Mortimer, director of can improve the returns from the project innovation at SgurrEnergy, a Wood Group by increasing the electricity output; and, business, says it applies to wind farms too. over the long term, the improvements made to the turbines can help put less He says: “The British Olympics cycling team strain on them, which reduces maintenance bills and extends the lifespans of projects. Project lifecycle: Marginal gains theory helped Bradley He says there are a number of areas inves- Wiggins at London 2012, and it works in wind too tors should look at to boost returns.

These include improving the aerodynamics of turbine blades; using up-to-date control and monitoring software systems; managing forests that affect air flows around projects; and fixing yaw errors.

He says: “All of these affect the output of wind farms to various degrees and have the potential to be redressed with retrospec- tive measures, which is what this is all about: to be able to go back to operating wind farms and improve their performance.

He also talks about pioneering technology that could help owners to manage their Source: Dan Davison via Flickr schemes more effectively over the next five to ten years.

1. REDUCING IMPACTS OF FORESTRY Once the most effective changes have been identified, the challenge for a pro- One area for owners to look at is whether ject owner is then to get the permission nearby forests are affecting the airflows for to make them happen. This is relatively their projects, and this does not just im- simple if the forestry is on the same site pact schemes that are located within for- as the wind farm, but harder if someone ests. Trees can affect wind farms several else owns the land. The wind farm owner kilometres away and, if wind farm own- can also face environmental and regulatory ers can work with forestry managers to hurdles around the felling of trees. restructure those areas of the forest that are having greatest impact, this can However, owners can frequently find produce very attractive financial returns. solutions. Forestry managers may find the chance to restructure their forest appeal- Typically, owners that address forestry is- ing, as it gives them the opportunity to re- sues could see a 2%-5% improvement in plant felled areas to modern standards and Case study 1 their scheme’s energy production, but this introduce a wider variety of tree species. can be up to 15%. An improvement of SgurrEnergy also has people on its team Client: Wilson Renewables 15% in energy production would raise a that have forestry experience and so can Project: Bankend Rig wind farm project’s 20-year absolute internal rate of find mutually-acceptable solutions. Location: Scotland Size: 14.3MW return (IRR) by 3%. Commissioned: March 2013 Owners can also find that such changes Mortimer says that SgurrEnergy would to forestry can have benefits beyond the The challenge: SgurrEnergy conducted typically start by using lidar to monitor the initial improvements to energy production. detailed investigation and optimisation airflows around the forests and wind farms. Smoothing the airflow by restructuring the services on Bankend Rig wind farm to identify and mitigate against the cause These laser-based systems can cover large forest can also result in steadier winds that of underperformance on the site. Reg- areas and show how trees are affecting the apply lower loadings on turbines, reducing ular asset performance reporting had wind before it reaches the wind farm. maintenance costs. There will be a limited identified the underperformance of number of project owners that can take turbines at the south-eastern end of “Even when you have turbines with rela- advantage of this, but for those who can, the site. The underperformance was due to a combination of low wind tively tall towers, the effects of the trees the gains can be substantial. speeds, high turbulence and wind shear, can carry right up to the rotor area. Lidar with additional yield loss due to one of shows us what is going on at that level, and 2. IMPROVING BLADE AERODYNAMICS the turbines persistently tripping out. then we can relate the impacts of the wind to turbine performance,” he says. By contrast, most owners should be able The solution: As part of the investigation, SgurrEnergy deployed Galion Li- to achieve financial benefits by making dar onsite for a three-month campaign Lidar data can then be fed into computer turbine blades more aerodynamically to measure wind inflow and charac- models that use computational fluid dy- efficient, particularly by using vortex gen- terise the impact of the surrounding namics to show which changes to the for- erators. These can help owners to increase forestry. Located at ground level, the est would be most beneficial. Such model- energy production by 2%-3% and improve Galion Lidar quantified the degree of underperformance of the turbines, re- ling is already widely used for new projects. the 20-year project IRR by 0.3%-0.4%. lating this to key inflow parameters including shear, veer and turbulence. The Forest jump: Lidar can measures the impacts SgurrEnergy team undertook detailed of nearby forests to improve performance analysis of the data which confirmed that forestry restructuring would be a viable option. Following the lidar campaign, Compu- tational Fluid Dynamics modelling was used to review forestry restructuring options with the aim of reducing the impact of surrounding trees on turbine performance. The resulting commercial assessment took into account potential revenue enhancement versus forestry restructuring costs and the optimum solution was identified and presented to Wilson Renewables. The restructuring plan, once fully implemented, is anticipated to deliver in the region of 5% enhancement in annual energy yield for the wind farm, and will provide the additional benefits of reduced loadings and maintenance costs, and extended component lifetimes.

“The issue here is that blades have an ac- rofit potential. Most schemes could benefit, knowledged compromise between aero- but it does depend on the blade type as dynamic efficiency and other factors, such different blades have more or less potential as their manufacturability and the fact they gain,” he says. “Most turbines at the have to carry structural loading,” says Mor- moment do not have timer. “In practice, wind turbine blade de- The technology is relatively inexpensive, vortex generators signs have to reflect that compromise and but owners need to ensure they have this means that aerodynamic losses occur.” experts that can install them in the right fitted, so there’s a huge places if they are to make the promised retrofit potential.” Flow separation is a problem for blades. improvements. As well as improving per- This is where the wind flowing over formance, vortex generators can also re- the leading edge of the blade does not duce the noise of inefficient blades. follow the surface towards the trailing edge. The separation causes reduced lift and 3. ACHIEVING ACCURATE YAW increased drag and, as a result, the blade ALIGNMENT does not operate at maximum efficiency. Case study 2 Improving blades is not the only way to This can be solved by vortex generators, make turbines more aerodynamic. Owners Client: Confidential which are pieces of plastic that can be could also improve project returns by Project: Confidential attached to blades in precise locations making sure their turbines are facing Location: Burgundy, France Size: 12MW using high-quality adhesives. These genera- directly into the wind. Commissioned: SgurrOptimiser – tors give a slight twist to the airflow behind static yaw error assessment them to delay the separation of the flow This relies on the effectiveness of the tur- from the blade. bine’s yaw system, which is used to keep The challenge: The client appointed the turbine facing directly into the wind. SgurrEnergy to conduct end of warran- ty inspections on the six wind turbine Mortimer says these are not new technol- Fixing yaw misalignment can raise energy generators making up the wind farm. ogy, but they have not yet been as widely yield by 1.5%-5% and boost the 20-year Yaw alignment measurements were in- used in the industry as they could: “Most project IRR by 0.2%-0.8%. cluded in the scope of work. Through turbines at the moment do not have vor- careful analysis, SgurrEnergy identified a tex generators fitted, so there’s a huge ret- “It has been known for a long time that misalignment and presented corrective actions to the client which will result in increased energy yield and revenue. Straight on: Owners can increase returns by pointing turbines directly into the wind SgurrEnergy solution: SgurrEnergy examined the ten-minute SCADA information to assess any potential misalignment across the wind farm. Wind turbine nacelle anemometry and wind vane data were used to identify the levels of reported yaw error, and the corrected yaw alignment at which the wind turbine generators were ob- served to produce optimal power output. The assessment was carried out for all six WTGs, scanning a range of wind speeds and direction of interest at each WTG. This robust assessment technique pro- vided a quick identification of the individual WTGs that required further investigation in relation to their nacelle yaw error, without the need for met mast or lidar data. Potential for static yaw error correction was found at five WTGs. The assessment suggests that static offsets of five degrees from the incoming wind direction are present, and that once this is corrected the es- timated yield gains will be in the region of two to four percent. The analytical technique adopted by SgurrEnergy is both robust and efficient, and achieves optimum yaw alignment at much lower cost and more quickly than alternative techniques which necessitate the deployment of nacelle-mounted equipment.

© A Word About Wind, 2016 Optimisation How to Boost Wind Farm Returns 8 turbines could do better in that regard, but He adds that tests by SgurrEnergy have we have been saddled with the traditional shown that a purpose-built lidar on the na- technology that has been available,” says celle will significantly boost efficiency. Owners need to Mortimer. He is referring to the wind vane manage wind farms installed behind the turbine’s nacelle that “For us, this is an obvious application for determines the wind direction. nacelle-mounted lidar, but just one of as whole entities, many,” he says. “We are going to see more not a series of One problem with the wind vane is its applications in the future for lidar on tur- individual turbines location behind the nacelle, where it is bines and nacelles, to improve turbine con- subject to a series of turbulent wind flows trol, but yaw improvements are the num- from the blades and the nacelle itself. The ber one focus for us at the moment.” other big problem with the wind vane is that it only covers the direction of the 4. FOCUSING ON WHOLE PROJECTS wind at one specific point, but does not Case Study 3 cover the whole of the rotor area. Lidar is not the only area where Mortimer Client: Confidential sees room for improvement. He says that Project: Confidential Mortimer says that SgurrEnergy uses owners need to monitor and manage Location: Sweden its own analytical techniques to realign wind farms as whole entities rather than a Size: 50MW turbines by several degrees so they are series of individual turbines. This could raise Commissioned: Q4 2015 performing as well as they could be. energy yield by 1%-3%, delivering a 20-year The challenge: SgurrEnergy was en- project IRR increase of 0.1% to 0.6%. gaged by a wind farm operator to in- But he expects lidar to completely take vestigate the performance of their wind over the role of the wind vane in com- Mortimer says the benefits of controlling farm using the SgurrOptimiser forestry ing years, as the industry becomes more all turbines at once include being able to service. The forestry surrounding the wind farm is creating complex wind aware of the wide-ranging capabilities of manage wake effects in real time. He says: flow. This disturbed wind flow can lidar. The benefit of lidar is that it measures “The interaction between wind turbines reduce the lifespan and output of the the average direction of the wind through- can be highly complex, and managing a wind turbine generators. out the whole of the rotor area and then wind farm as a single organic unit brings aligns the turbine to point in the direction benefits through optimally managing the The solution: The investigation began with SgurrEnergy’s measurement team that generates most power overall. trade-offs between adjacent turbines.” deploying a Galion Lidar on site to assess the wind flow in the affected area. The analysis team then analysed the Taking control: Owners should think of whole data gathered and subsequent mod- schemes and not individual turbines elling from this campaign and identified the forest areas impacting on the wind farm’s performance. The results showed that if forestry restructuring works were undertaken the P50 annual energy yield increase would be in the region of 3%. Detailed discussions were held with the forest management company and the restructuring options were agreed within the context for forest sustainability criteria. The restructuring works are currently underway and by target- ing pockets of the forest for restructuring, a commercial balance can be struck benefiting both the wind farm operator and the forest owner. Ongoing consultation will take place between the forest owner and SgurrEnergy to com- plete all of the required felling within the annual forest management plans. This exercise has confirmed that an in- tegrated approach using state of the art lidar measurement technology coupled with computational modelling expertise delivers substantial value for wind farm owners through targeted forestry restructuring. Working within forestry management guidelines, and conduct- ing extensive consultation with forestry authorities are also essential to successful delivery.

Another benefit of monitoring all of the scheme’s performance to comply with turbines together is that it helps the project those noise limits, and restrict the loss in owner in their interactions with the grid energy yield. Similar systems could help operator, particularly in being able to bet- owners comply with constraints over oth- ter support the grid in times of stress, and er issues such as ‘shadow flicker’, which is to manage grid constraints more effectively. when turbines periodically cast flickering shadows across nearby areas. This is too Owners can also benefit from better often controlled by desktop calculations management of noise constraints near that unnecessarily hit project returns. sensitive areas, such as homes, that could automatically shut down projects when Taken together, the main elements of they are close to breaching the limits. optimisation covered so far in this article can deliver annual energy production uplift “Very often, that is done in quite a simplis- of 5%-11%, excluding the impact of for- tic and conservative way to ensure the lim- estry. This results in a 20-year project IRR Case Study 4 its are met under any condition to ensure increase of 1%-2.3%. SgurrEnergy’s analysis there are no problems,” says Mortimer. to date has not incorporated the potential Client: Capital Dynamics cost avoidance benefits of reduced -load Project: Dunmore Location: Northern Ireland However, this also means that projects are ings from the operation of turbines. Size: 21MW shut down when they do not need to be, Commissioned: Asset Management – which affects their profitability. Typically, SgurrEnergy performs an initial re- grid curtailment optimisation view of a wind farm over four to six weeks In contrast, measuring noise in real-time to highlight the most promising areas for The challenge: Capital Dynamics appointed SgurrEnergy to manage the would enable the owner to tailor their improvement; and then undertakes a full Dunmore wind farm asset. The operational monitoring of the project revealed that grid curtailment, which is John Matthew, VP Asset Management - Renewables, relatively common in this part of the network, was not being optimally man- Allianz Capital Partners aged therefore production and revenue potential were not being maximised. Do you have any investigations underway at this stage? The solution: SgurrEnergy analysed the grid curtailment losses and the opera- We do have investigations underway to tional behaviour of the turbines during identify areas of improvement on a selec- grid curtailment events. The analysis tion of our sites. found that potential production had been lost due to curtailment, and was Are there particular optimisation tech- being further exacerbated by the man- niques you think are most promising? ner in which the turbines responded to What does your business do and how curtailment requests not meeting the many wind farms do you own / manage? The use of lidar technology combined requirements of the grid operator. with advanced analytical and model- Since 2005, Allianz Capital Partners has ling techniques opens up opportunities Improvements relating to the wind been dedicated to renewable energy through more accurate yaw alignment, turbine generators as well as the wind and is one of the world’s largest financial improved pitch control which optimally farm management server software investors in renewables, with an invest- matches the site wind regime, better were identified, and enhancements ment portfolio of 60 wind and seven management of constraining factors such were made to the internal power plant solar parks in Europe and the US with as grid limits, and in cold climate regions controller architecture, following which more in the pipeline. the proper management of icing condi- the project was deemed to be fully grid tions which is essential as performance code compliant. This means that the These have a combined electrical genera- can be significantly affected. incidence of requests for curtailment tion capacity of almost 1.7GW, and pro- has been reduced, and furthermore, duce enough energy to supply more than Finally, the evaluation of how the wind that when curtailment is applied, the 500,000 households in Europe – which is interacts with forestry is key, and tar- turbines are only likely to incur a gen- comparable to a city the size of Munich. geted forestry restructuring techniques eration output set point curtailment can provide ways to increase the perfor- instead of a full pause on all generation. Do you see reasonable prospects to mance on a forested site. This, therefore, ensures maximised en- boost the performance of your assets? ergy production and revenues for the Do you anticipate increased activity in owner. Yes. Where previously wind farm owners this area in the future? and investors were working to ensure Keith Gains, a Director at Capital Dy- that projected performance targets were I think that wind farm owners and inves- namics, says: “SgurrEnergy’s work was achieved, new techniques and technology tors are becoming more switched on to pivotal to resolving the grid curtailment are now allowing us to look at enhancing the potential for performance enhance- issues experienced at the Dunmore asset performance across individual tur- ment and optimising the financial gains wind farm, and the company’s approach bines and whole sites. from their sites. As we begin to see re- of seeking ongoing improvements results from the early projects we will ex- garding asset performance more gen- pect to see optimisation activity increase erally, as an integral part of its service more generally. to Capital Dynamics as asset owners.”

© A Word About Wind, 2016 Optimisation How to Boost Wind Farm Returns 10 investigation, lasting at least three months, ciona; and General Electric’s takeover of to generate a more detailed plan. Alstom’s energy assets.

However, new technology and different We expect more innovation in research ways of doing business are likely to emerge and development as manufacturers com- over the next five to ten years. What pete for market share. The result should should we look out for next? be further innovations that help to drive down the levelized cost of wind energy, 5. THE FUTURE OF OPTIMISATION and improvements that lengthen the lifespan of projects. Mortimer says that SgurrEnergy is looking to develop new ways of managing wind The question about the lifespan of wind farms, and the use of drones is likely to farms is a significant one to this discussion. Case Study 5 become more widespread over the next Surely the fact that wind turbines are being decade. For example, drones can help pro- optimised to generate more power means Client: Confidential ject owners to accurately survey nearby that the equipment will likely fail quicker? Project: Confidential tree cover to better predict wind flows. Mortimer says this is not the case. Location: Scandinavia Size: Confidential He says: “We’ve used drones for forested “Sometimes people might say, ‘Well, if Commissioned: Q2 2015 areas, and using that technology more you’re sweating the assets to get more out The challenge: Like many Scandinavian widely is one of the things we’re investigat- of them then there’s a trade-off with the wind farms, this project faced a num- ing right now. Likewise, we will see other life of components.’ Actually, it’s quite of- ber of challenges including high levels improvement opportunities come forward ten the opposite. So, for example, if you of turbulence and wind shear from as technology and understanding advances. are more optimally aligning a rotor with surrounding forestry and the impact of blade icing. The owner approached We’re not naive enough to think we know the wind direction then, as well as produc- SgurrEnergy to deliver SgurrOptimiser absolutely everything now.” ing more power, you are also reducing the services to the wind farm. cyclic loadings,” he says. Other trends that are likely to affect wind The solution: To measure the wind in- farm operations over the next ten years “You are getting a win-win in that respect. flow at the site, a Galion Lidar was deployed for four months, using different include the use of modular construction Or, in other words, marginal gains without scan modes to measure effects of the techniques and advanced materials. the pain. We continue to find more oppor- forestry and validate the nacelle meas- tunities for marginal gains in wind power, urement data. Once the data gathered Such innovation is likely to be boosted by just as the British Olympic cycling team was analysed, SgurrEnergy carried out the current spate of large manufacturer has over the past four years. It is hugely modelling simulations identifying how forestry restructuring could enhance takeover deals in the wind sector, including exciting to think what gains will be the performance of the wind farm. Tak- the tie-up between Siemens and Gamesa; achieved in our industry by using the same ing the regulatory constraints of for- Nordex’s buyout of the wind arm of Ac- winning formula.” n estry sustainability into consideration, SgurrEnergy presented the findings to the wind farm owner and forest owner John Sturman, Director, Kennedy Renewables to provide the optimal commercial benefit to both parties. Do you have any investigations underway at this stage? The Galion Lidar also assessed the accuracy of wind speed measuring at Yes. We have engaged SgurrEnergy in a nacelle height. The data gathered was rear-looking lidar pilot project, and they compared with the data available from are also undertaking an analysis of turbine the manufacturer and the findings de- yaw alignment and wind speed/direction livered to the client and original equip- against output using lidar technology. ment manufacturer.

What does your business do? Are there particular optimisation tech- Analysis was carried out to determine niques you think are most promising? the cause of the irregular behaviour in Kennedy Renewables is a private investor the power curves that was particularly and developer in renewable energy solu- Yaw optimisation using analysis derived prevalent on four wind turbine genera- tions to meet the ongoing demands for turbine control offsets. The analysis in- tors. Icing was identified as the cause electricity and heat within today’s growing cludes correlating SCADA data with met of the irregularity using SgurrControl society. mast and lidar measurements. expertise. Modifying the controller software on these four WTGs could Do you see reasonable prospects to Do you anticipate increased activity in mitigate the icing losses, generating an boost the performance of your assets? this area in the future? increase in annual energy yield of up to 6%. Yes, following initial SCADA data analy- Yes, there is a lot of activity in the applica- sis and a review of the existing turbine tion of lidar technology to turbine control Further gains of between 1% and 2% control systems, it looks likely there are systems to provide more accurate wind could be achieved if additional con- measures that can be taken to increase readings than existing cup or sonic based trol improvements were implemented annual energy production at our assets. anemometers. across the whole wind farm.

© A Word About Wind, 2016 Optimisation About the Authors 11 ABOUT THE AUTHORS ALAN MORTIMER, DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION, SGURRENERGY SgurrEnergy is a leading renewable energy consultancy, providing Alan Mortimer joined SgurrEnergy engineering and technical advisory services in onshore and in 2013 as director of innovation. His offshore wind, solar, wave and tidal and hydro projects. role involves extending the company’s renewable energy activities in onshore Founded 14 years ago, the company has been involved in more wind, offshore wind, solar, wave, than 160GW of renewable energy projects in over 90 countries tidal, heat and transport with greater involvement in technology around the world. Its clients include utilities, financiers, developers development and innovation. and many other public and private sector organisations. The firm gets involved in delivering services at every phase of a project. A graduate of Glasgow University, Alan started his career with James Howden & Co Ltd in Glasgow before joining Scottish Power. Headquartered in Glasgow, SgurrEnergy has more than 250 staff He had a variety of roles with the company, including head of wind in international offices in China (Beijing), Canada (Vancouver, development where he developed the strategy for, and led the Toronto and Montreal), India (Pune), France (Paris), Ireland (Dub- development of a wind portfolio including Whitelee Wind Farm. lin), the US (Portland, Austin and San Francisco), Brazil (Rio de Ja- neiro), Chile (Santiago), Mexico (Mexico City), Norway (Stavanger), In his subsequent role as head of policy for ScottishPower Re- Germany (Hamburg) and South Africa (Johannesburg). newables, Alan was responsible for managing policy and strategic issues whilst maintaining responsibility for identifying new business SgurrEnergy is a subsidiary business of Wood Group, which is an opportunities in renewables, including SPR’s role in technology international energy services company with around $6bn sales development programmes such as the Offshore Wind Accelera- and operating in more than 50 countries. To find out more, visit: tor, and marine renewables. www.sgurrenergy.com

RICHARD HEAP, EDITOR, A WORD ABOUT WIND

Richard Heap joined A Word About A Word About Wind started life in 2011 as a news and analysis Wind as editor in 2014. He is respon- service for time-poor wind industry professionals, and is now read sible for writing the news and analysis by over 2,500 people each week. in the newsletters three times a week; developing the programme of special In addition to the newsletters, A Word About Wind subscribers reports; and shaping events. and members benefit from an extensive and growing programme of focused industry reports. These include the flagship Top 100 A graduate of the University of Southampton and London’s City Power People, which shows where the real influence sits in this University, Richard started his career in business journalism in global market; and Legal Power List, which launched in June 2016 2005 as a trainee at global publishing firm United Business Media, to rank the 100 most influential lawyers working in wind today. writing about a wide range of business sectors. These reports contain insight from big-hitting interviewees, with After this he joined industry-leading commercial property maga- recent profiles of Lord Irvine Laidlaw, founder of Highland Group zine Property Week in 2006, where he was nominated for a series Holdings; Francesco Venturini, CEO of Enel Green Power; David of awards. He spent five years at the publication, including three Jones, head of renewables at Allianz Capital Partners; Henrik years heading its professional and legal coverage. Stiesdal, former chief technology officer at Siemens; and more.

In 2011, Richard became research manager at the Sunday Times And that is not all. A Word About Wind also runs networking Fast Track, where he managed the Profit Track 100 and Tech events throughout the year including the annual Financing Wind Track 100 reports in The Sunday Times; and then spent one year conference, which is happening on 27th October. To find out working for the New York-headquartered Future Cities. more, visit: www.awordaboutwind.com