20 . Glasgow Business November/December 2012
Glasgow can have a great renewables future says ScottishPower boss
Keith Anderson, Chief Corporate Officer, ScottishPower
Chamber member poses a question to Keith Anderson
S
cotishPower’s Chief Corporate Officer Keith Anderson told a Chamber Glasgow Talks audience of the enormous opportunity awaiting
the city as a hub for renewable energy. He highlighted the major issues facing the
energy industry – the skills challenge facing an industry that is set to lose “four out of five” of its employees to retirement within the next 15 years; and the challenge of satisfying rising long-term energy demand when “within the next roughly 10 years” a fiſth of current generating plant is due to shut down. Mr Anderson was addressing a sellout
audience at the city’s Blythswood Square Hotel on 14 September. On the future of Glasgow as the UK’s leading
renewables hub, he said: “ScotishPower is based here, Scotish & Southern Energy has set up office in Glasgow primarily focused around renewable energy, we have the Technology Innovation Centre at Strathclyde University, organisations such as Gamesa which has opened offices, Siemens is here – it is already a hub and a great place to do business in the energy sector. Tere is also the new government-funded Catapult Centre to develop offshore renewable energy and the investment that’s coming with that.” He added that ScotishPower would build a
new headquarters as part of its commitment to the city – a new 14-storey office block which is to be completed in 2015. Tere was a cautionary note, when Mr
ALL POWER TO THE CITY
Anderson warned that a lot of work still had to be done around the supply chain. He asked why companies from Glasgow and Scotland were not involved in manufacturing the parts for wind turbines, or supplying vessels, crews and port infrastructure. He then tackled the skills challenge facing the
UK energy industry, saying that four out of five of the industry’s employees in the UK are due to retire in the next 15 years – “a tremendous challenge, but also a terrific opportunity”. ScotishPower has 4,500 people directly
employed in Glasgow, and would probably recruit another 200 engineers over the next couple of years. However, his organisation now
Stuart Patrick
”Glasgow is on the cusp of a wonderful opportunity in the renewables sector”
had a focus on apprenticeships in Glasgow, as it was finding it “incredibly hard” to get experience. He said: “We have to get people through
school, through the education system, through colleges, through the universities. Give us graduates and we’ll train them up. We are running out of engineers… we now have ambassadors who go out to the schools and colleges to encourage the kids, and make them aware of the huge job opportunities.” On the challenge of satisfying long-term
energy demand, the energy industry was trying to make the UK’s future energy more sustainable, make it more secure and make it more affordable. On the issue, he said there is a need to “start
investing and rebuilding”. Glasgow Chamber Chief Executive Stuart
Patrick said: “Keith Anderson emphasised that Glasgow is on the cusp of a wonderful opportunity in the renewables sector, and that we must firmly grasp this opportunity both at private sector and at government level.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60