EI LIVE free webinar | People, Project & Partnership at 60North

Branch event

29/04/2021

17:00 - 18:30 UK Time

Online

Free

This event is now closed. Please email rwainwright@energyinst.org if you have any questions.

The Shetland Islands, located at 60°North has always been an outward-looking place with a mindset to match. By geological design, Shetland has been a strategic location for fishing, aquaculture and oil & gas for decades.

Now a new low carbon opportunity is at the shores of Shetland which could create a future for the energy industry and a new outlook for many. The ORION project seeks to enable the offshore oil & gas sector's transition to net zero by electrification of assets, transform Shetland’s current dependency on fossil fuels towards cleaner technologies and create a green hydrogen export business at an industrial scale.

Come and join our expert panel in an interactive discussion around the UK's first energy island – the ORION project.

Speakers:

Douglas Irvine, Future Energy Director, Shetland Islands Council

Douglas manages Shetland Islands Council’s new Future Energy service, which is tasked with identifying pathways for Shetland to switch from fossil fuel dependency into cleaner forms of energy use. This work emphasises the Just Transition aspects to ensure that the Shetland community has access to secure, affordable energy and shares the economic benefits from future clean energy developments that take place in and around the islands.

Douglas is the Council’s lead officer in the ORION project team. He has worked for the Council for 35 years, and for most of that time he managed the Economic Development and Business Development services.


Gunther Newcombe, ORION Project Coordinator

Gunther has over 40 years experience working in the energy sector, firstly 35 years working with BP in areas ranging from exploration right through to decommissioning in a number of senior leadership positions, followed by 5 years as Operations Director with the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA), including working on the development of energy hubs.

At the end of 1Q 2020, Gunther stepped down from the OGA and started working on the development of an energy hub project called ORION, centred around the Shetland region, with an ambition to electrify the offshore, transform Shetland to renewable energy, and develop green H2 for use on Shetland and export. 

Emma Swiergon, Project Engineer, OGTC 

Emma started her career as a technical safety consultant with ERM and moved to OGTC at the start of 2020. Emma works within the Energy System Integration team which covers three industrial sectors that offer huge growth potential – offshore renewables, hydrogen and CCUS.

Emma supports the delivery of technology development projects and recently along with colleagues has been supporting the ORION project.


This event is free to attend but registration is required.

Contact details

Aberdeen, Highlands & Islands Branch: aberdeen@energyinst.org