Focus on low carbon investment
Latest speakers confirmed for global green finance conference
India’s Renewable Energy Minister, the Head of Climate Change & Environment for the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the EU’s North Sea Grid Co-ordinator are due to address a major international conference focused on the multi-billion pound opportunities presented by renewable energy and other low carbon developments.
Senior financiers, utilities chiefs and politicians will take part in the two-day Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference, to be opened by First Minister Alex Salmond on September 28 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
Confirmed speakers include: Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New & Renewable Energy in the Indian Government; the EIB’s Head of Climate Change & Environment Christopher Knowles; Georg Adamowitsch, European co-ordinator for the connection of offshore wind power in Northern Europe; and UK Energy & Climate Change Minister Charles Hendry.
The latest schedule for the conference – to be chaired by Angus McCrone, Chief Editor of Bloomberg New Energy Finance – is available on the SLCI website, here: http://www.slciconference.com/
The Conference will provide a unique forum for Government, international finance, utilities and developers to engage directly, bringing projects and investors together - matching opportunities and debating the risks and rewards of major capital, public/private and ‘venture’ size projects in the low carbon sector.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond said: “A massively expanded renewables industry, together with advanced carbon capture and storage development and cleaner, more energy-efficient developments across transport, housing and other sectors are key to reducing worldwide CO2 emissions, tackling damaging global climate change and driving forward sustainable economic growth. The low carbon economy is a global market, estimated to be worth £3 trillion in 2007-08 (around $5 trillion) and forecast to grow to £4.3 trillion (around $7 trillion) by 2015 – three times the size of the global aerospace sector.
“Just as Scotland has been blessed with North Sea oil and gas, we also have huge wind, wave and tidal resources well beyond our domestic needs, enabling us to become a net exporter of clean, green energy. Together with our extensive offshore energy and engineering expertise and our record of financial innovation, this places Scotland at the forefront the development of the global low carbon economy.
“This week I have been in Norway discussing plans for renewable energy projects involving leading firms from our two nations. The SLCI conference will build on these existing partnerships, bringing major utilities and developers of low carbon projects together with key financial leaders and investors – to scope opportunities, explore challenges, identify solutions and help forge the new green economy.”
The Conference is strongly supported by Scottish Enterprise and forms part of the economic development agency’s project to create innovation in finance and secure investment in Scotland’s growing low-carbon economy. It will highlight the scale and diversity of the investment opportunities in Scotland and provide a showcase to attract inward investment. Other key partners are the Scottish Futures Trust, Arup and Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, who are also the conference organisers.
Lena Wilson, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, said: “Scotland is preparing itself to capitalise on a generational opportunity. This will require the co-ordination of key players from not just Scotland, but from around the entire world. Through the Scottish Low Carbon Investment conference we are engaging with technology providers, supply chain companies and the world of finance to position Scotland as the optimum location for low carbon opportunity.
“In offshore wind alone, Scotland offers a skills base including that built on the offshore oil and gas industries, the infrastructure of our ports and harbours and close access to a market with the potential of employing at least 20,000. With our partners, we are focused on bringing this opportunity together with industry and both public and private sector finance to ensure Scotland achieves maximum economic benefit.”
Ron Hewitt, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, added: “It is gratifying that the sector is so supportive of all of the work that is going into the project and the Conference. We will work with those involved in the sector and with the financial community to identify and debate the risks and rewards, opportunities and challenges within the renewables arena.”
The recent Offshore Valuation study report indicated that harnessing just a third of Scotland's practical offshore wind, wave and tidal resource by 2050 would take its installed offshore renewables capacity to 68 GW - with a net value in terms of electricity sales of around £14 billion (around $22 billion), positioning Scotland as a net exporter of low carbon energy. Scottish-based companies are well-placed to capitalise on these, and resources elsewhere. Using just one third of the UK's resource could unlock the electricity equivalent of 1 billion barrels of oil a year (matching North Sea oil and gas production), delivering CO2 reductions of 1.1 billion tonnes by 2050 and creating 145,000 new jobs, many in Scotland.
The same report estimated that delivering this output would require capital expenditure between now and 2050 estimated at £443 billion (around $690 billion) across the UK – which, if apportioned on the basis of share of practical resource, would equate to some £177 billion (around $275 billion) of capital investment in offshore sites around Scotland. The full report can be viewed here: http://www.offshorevaluation.org/
The SLCI conference will facilitate financial solutions and investment, highlighting and promoting Scotland’s strengths, including opportunities for investment, skills, resources, research and technical expertise on an international scale.
Work is ongoing to identify low carbon projects in Scotland, clustering them together to maximise their attractiveness as investment opportunities where appropriate. Those involved in projects can provide details through the website. The SLCI website is also compiling information on investors and investment activity in the sector, and will seek to “match-make” through the online data capture and through a series of events in the lead up to, and during, the conference.
The latest speakers confirmed for the SLCI conference are:
Banking and Finance
Lady Susan Rice, Managing Director, Lloyds Banking Group
Andrew McLaughlin, Group Chief Economist, RBS
Andrew Buglass, Director of Power, Structured Finance, RBS
Kevin Maddick, Director of Infrastructure Finance, RBS
Rob Cormie, Executive Director, Quayle Munro
Chris Knowles, Head of Climate Change & Environment, European Investment Bank
Helen Wade, Director of Project Finance, National Australia Bank
Ed Wilson, Head of Renewable Energy, Lloyds Banking Group
Gareth Miller, Head of Renewable Energy Project Finance, Barclays
David Thorburn, COO, Clydesdale Bank
Thomas Ruschen, Global Head of Asset Finance, Deutsche Bank
David Kipling, Partner, Clean Earth Capital
John Rendall, CEO HSBC Scotland
Andrew Marsden, Managing Director, Europe, GE Energy Financial Services
Utilities, Developers and Industry
Ian Marchant, CEO, Scottish and Southern Energy
Nick Horler, CEO, ScottishPower
Keith Anderson, MD, ScottishPower Renewables
Michael Weinhold, CTO, Siemens Energy
Jim Dehlsen, Chairman, Clipper Windpower
Mauricio Quintana, CEO, Clipper Windpower
Martin McAdam, CEO, Aquamarine Power
Neels Kriek, CEO, Pelamis Wave Power
Eric McAfee, CEO, AE Biofuels
Jim McColl, CEO, Clyde Blowers Group
Professional Services, Advisory and Consulting
Paul Brewer, Partner, Corporate Finance, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Ron Norman, Partner Global Energy, PA Consulting
Ben Warren, Energy and Infrastructure Advisory Leader, Ernst & Young,
Angus McCrone, Chief Editor, Bloomberg New Energy Finance
Daniel Buira, Strategy Manager, The Carbon Trust
Michael Rea, COO, The Carbon Trust
Andrew Mill, CEO, NaREC
Dr. Richard Tipper, Managing Director, Ecometrica
Dr. Isabel Boira-Segarra, Renewable Services Director, WSP Environment & Energy
Nathan Goode, Partner, Grant Thornton
Jennifer Ballantyne, Partner, McGrigors
Government and Public Sector
Rt. Hon. Alex Salmond MSP, First Minister of Scotland
John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Scottish Government
Jim Mather MSP, Minister for Energy, Enterprise & Tourism, Scottish Government
Richard Lochhead MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs & the Environment, Scottish Government
Jamie Hume, Head of Renewables and Low Carbon, Scottish Government
Crawford Gillies, Chairman, Scottish Enterprise
Lena Wilson, CEO Scottish Enterprise
Adrian Gillespie, Senior director for Energy and Low Carbon, Scottish Enterprise
Charles Hendry MP, Minister of State, Department of Energy & Climate Change, UK Government
Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Indian Government
Georg Adamowitsch, European Co-ordinator, European Commission
Rob Hastings, Director, Marine Estate, The Crown Estate
CONTACT
Russell Fallis (Scottish Government) +44 (0)131 244 3054, +44 (0)7920 595435.
David Forsyth (SLCI Conference) +44 (0)131 225 0782, +44 (0)7887 955 778.