AN INSIDER S GUIDE TO RENEWABLE ENERGY. Newcastle University 29 th February L M Brown BSc CEng MIET

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1 AN INSIDER S GUIDE TO RENEWABLE ENERGY Newcastle University 29 th February 2012 L M Brown BSc CEng MIET

2 Discussion today A bit about narec A little bit about me A bit about UK Renewable Potential A bit of advice

3 National Renewable Energy Centre (narec) Narec is a national centre for the UK dedicated to advancing the deployment and grid integration of renewable energy and low carbon generation technologies, through R&D, testing and specialist consultancy

4 Narec Blyth Head Office Wind, Marine, Sub-Sea & PV Campus Blyth, Northumberland

5 Narec Overview Major commercial clients in Europe, Asia Pacific and the US R&D collaborations in more than 20 countries Recognised in the energy industry as one of the lead centres of excellence worldwide for renewable technology development By end of 2012, Narec will have the largest onshore physical wind and marine test asset base in the world constructed at a cost of more than 100m Advanced Silicon Solar cell production and module assembly capabilities (now spun out) Electrical Network testing centre Consultancy service provider for Corporate and Governmental agencies

6 Existing World Leading facilities

7 World Leading facilities and growing As wind turbines increase in size so do their blades Where do you test new blade designs wont fall apart? Where do you test a 3MW turbine? Narec is building a facility for this Image source

8 World Leading facilities and growing

9 A Highly Skilled Workforce Electrical Mechanical Instrumentation Chemical Physics Electronics Marketing Business Development Project Management Asset Management Health & Safety Human Resources IT Materials Material Forensics Accountancy Operations Management Assembly

10 Approximate split of employees

11 Approximate Job Type Profile at Narec

12 Skills Recycled Distributed Energies Senior Consultants/Engineers mainly from either Building or Electronics Industries Project co-ordinators from Product Design, Environmental Engineering backgrounds Graduates from diverse fields but mainly engineering fields (one Astrophysists) Some have retrained in Renewable Energy through academic study or just through job experience

13 Renewable Energy Job type by Physical Size Training History / Job Role For the Solar cells the Engineers are mainly Physical Science and Electronics background For the Distributed Energy team the engineers are mainly Electrical and/or building industry For the large wind blade and turbine testing the engineers are mainly Mechanical engineers Project and Programme managers from every academic field

14 Personal Career to Date to to to date Graduated BSc Physical Science for Microelectronics Entered Graduate Program at Motorola SPS (Scotland) Specialist Process Engineer in Photolithography imaging patterns for volume electronics manufacturing Joined Atmel NTS and progressed to Senior Principal Process Engineer Join Institute of Engineering Technology with IEng status Study Part-time (with support of Atmel) for MSc in Advanced Silicon Processing & Manufacturing Technologies Latterly working in Technology development team looking at state of the art Lithography solutions for nano-scale electronics Joined Narec as Process Technologist within the Photovoltaics Technology Centre supporting R&D and Manufacturing of Silicon solar cells Currently working within the Distributed Energy group providing consultancy and project management for Renewable Energy deployment throughout the North East. Specialising in domestic and small commercial schemes. Study Part-time (with support of Narec) for MSc in Renewable Energies at Newcastle University Achieved Chartered Engineering status 2010

15 Why Solar Energy in the UK? Renewable Very Low Maintenance Long lifetimes Easy to integrate Roof installations Solar Farms Proven Technologies Produces energy at the location of use PV produces electricity Feed-In Tariff financial incentives Solar Thermal for heating and hot water RHI financial incentive

16 If Germany can do it why can t we? Germany as of 2011 has 25TWp of installed PV capacity UK had only 75MWp PV capacity in 2010 This had increased to 750MWp by 2011 after introduction of Generation Tariff (FIT) We have a similar Sun resource to the North of Germany so could exploit PV and Solar Thermal to help in the bid to be more Energy self sufficient and Green!

17 Offshore Wind Round 3 in the building Skills Needed for Offshore Rig building Drilling Electrical Mechanical Power systems Grid Systems Offshore/Marine skills

18 Suggestions to candidates wanting to work in Renewables Understand the Field it is vast no one renewable technology is going to provide what we need all viable options will need to play their part Be Flexible and Be Informed Renewables expansion and therefore jobs are very dependant upon Government Policy!!!

19 Next big thing (s). Green Deal Avoiding energy use in the first place is the best way to reduce CO 2 emissions and reliance on fossil fuels UK Government keen to promote energy efficiency Green Deal is program of low interest loans to allow householders and businesses adopt energy efficiency measures Still waiting on final Government plans Renewable Heat Incentives As 50% of energy used in UK is for heating makes sense to promote renewable heat options Grants currently available Tariffs in development

20 Current Vacancies at Narec

21 SME Engagement Co-ordinator Work alongside the Project Manager to engage north east Small to Medium Enterprises with the potential to diversify into the low carbon market onto the project s SME engagement programme The role will involve building new links and developing relationships with eligible companies, arranging and attending meetings and following up on agreed actions The successful candidate will be responsible for contributing to the overall targets for the project in terms of SME engagement. Due to the strict evidence requirements of the funding provider, a conscientious approach and excellent attention to detail are crucial. Previous experience of working on funded projects would be desirable, in particular ERDF. This is an exciting role with good development potential for a graduate or someone with equivalent experience

22 Thank you for your attention