Planning the Energy Transition Seminar Programme

The last 6 months have seen bold commitments made on speeding up the consenting of renewable energy project and grid infrastructure with the Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal setting the agenda north of the border and the Transmission Acceleration Action Plan looking to implement the Winser Report recommendations across the UK.

This session will hear from leading industry experts on what is to come and the implications for your projects.

You’ll learn:

• How these policy changes will accelerate the deployment of transmission network infrastructure
• What these changes will mean for project planning and timelines
• What’s happening now and what happens next.

Chair
Megan Amundson, Senior Policy Manager – Onshore Wind & Consenting, Scottish Renewables

Speakers
Richard Baldwin, Head of Consents and Environment, SSEN Transmission
Jo Wotton, Associate Director - Environmental Planning, LUC
Suzie Saunders, Senior Policy Analyst, ScottishPower Renewables

The promised reduction in planning timelines comes with a quid pro quo on delivering benefits for communities, biodiversity and local economies. In the vacuum created by policy coming into force before guidance is published, we are already seeing widely varying interpretations of what this means in practice which is creating a minefield for project developers.

In this session you’ll learn:

• Where the uncertainties and risks for project developers lie
• What your organisation can do to avoid the pitfalls
• What industry and government are doing to bring consistency and predictability to the consenting process.

Chair
Morag Watson, Director of Policy, Scottish Renewables

Speakers
David Bell, Managing Director, David Bell Planning
Shona Glenn, Development Director, BiGGAR Economics
Finley Becks-Phelps, UK Development Director, Fred. Olsen Renewables
Fraser Mitchell, Partner, Shepherd and Wedderburn

Closing Remarks
Megan Amundson, Senior Policy Manager – Onshore Wind & Consenting, Scottish Renewables