Solar Energy UK
Immediate release
16.02.2022
Solar Energy UK is delighted to announce the recent appointment of 4 new members to the Board following a competitive election at the first annual general meeting of 2022.
The new appointees come from a diverse range of backgrounds across the industry, bringing an impressive array of expertise in guiding SEUK to deliver its strategic objectives and build a clean energy system for everyone’s benefit.
As an organisation, we are delighted to see strong female representation from this election, reflecting our steer towards improving diversity in senior leadership roles.
Our Chief Executive Chris Hewett said: “A key role of any trade association is to lead from the front, so I am delighted we are building a high calibre and diverse Board from the full wealth of talent amongst our membership. I’m particularly proud to now have 40% female representation on the senior leadership body for the solar industry in the UK.”
Cherry Parker, our Director of Business Development added: “It‘s notable that our members have elected three high-calibre female candidates onto the Solar Energy UK board. It was a decisive vote for greater diversity of experience, skills and representation across the breadth of our membership.
“There is no doubt in my mind that diversity, in the widest sense, is key to building more effective and resilient businesses for the future. I personally hope it also helps to inspire the many thousands of women in clean energy with the ambition to move into more senior leadership roles”.
The four new Board Members are:
Hannah Staab, Head of Advisory Europe at Natural Power.
In her current role, Hannah supports a wide range of clients from project developers to investors and asset managers in taking utility scale projects through permitting, financing and construction into operations.
Hannah says: “I’m delighted to be joining the Solar Energy UK board and being part of shaping the future of our sector. Solar has a huge role to play in the UK’s net zero transition, and as an industry we have a responsibility to ensure this transition happens in a fair and sustainable way.
“With my background in large-scale solar, I’m particularly looking forward to exploring how we can continue to remove barriers to deployment and encourage innovative hybrid approaches that combine solar with other forms of renewable generation and energy storage.”
Giulia Guidi, Head of ESG at NextEnergy Capital.
Giulia is a senior expert on environmental, social and governance with more than 20 years’ experience in the financial sector and a deep knowledge of the ESG trends.
Giulia told us “As Head of ESG at NextEnergy Capital, I am thrilled to join the Solar Energy UK Board and contribute to the sustainable growth of the market-leading UK solar sector. Solar plays a pivotal role in helping the energy transition and tackle global climate change.”
“I am excited to champion the industry and help Solar Energy UK promote the importance of ESG in achieving the UK’s net zero ambitions, whilst navigating and mitigating any potential challenges without leaving anyone behind”.
Sarah Rocks, Senior Development Project Manager at RES
Sarah has over 11 years’ experience in the renewable energy sector and has been involved in the developments of projects across a range of on and offshore technologies across the project lifecycle.
Sarah stated: “I’m delighted to join the board at Solar Energy UK, to work together to tackle pressing development issues to ensure we can deliver net zero. RES is a leading independent renewable energy company and I’m looking forward to bringing my experience in solar development to the board.
“It’s a real positive to see so many women on the board. I feel like there’s strong female representation in the solar industry, and it’s great to see this representation continue to grow in senior and board levels.”
Thomas McMillan, Head of Energy Consulting at Savills
Since 2001 Thomas has developed extensive experience in the renewable energy, environmental and sustainability sectors for organisations in the UK and overseas on both public and private contracts.
Thomas has long been a devoted member of Solar Energy UK, currently chairing our Scotland working group. As Chair, he has been active in helping us get a motion into Holyrood, recognising the role of solar and shining a light on the policy changes that the sector needs to accelerate solar deployment in Scotland.
Once again, a warm congratulations to our impressive new additions to the Board, we are delighted to be working closely with you this year to deliver even more for the solar and storage community.
– ENDS –