By Abby Whitelock, Marketing & Communications Director
Now that the dust has settled, the pop-up banners stored away and the superb food we were served fully digested, it’s time to reflect on an enormously successful ‘Future of Energy’ event in Glasgow.
Feedback about the event has been glowing, with attendees describing the event as "illuminating", "relevant", and "engaging". None of this would have been possible without our "impressive" line-up of speakers who truly brought the day to life, and the incredible delegates who engaged with the event so brilliantly.
Session one was all about the future of our industry, a Q&A hosted by the University of Strathclyde’s Amy Ritchie who interviewed three future energy champions: Vital Energi’s own Caitlin Villanueva, Jack Ord from STAR Refrigeration, and Ricardo’s Aniruddha Chhatre.
Hearing how the next generation views the energy industry through its unique lens was fascinating and informative. Young people clearly want to know the real world impact of the work they’re doing and value a company which embraces flexible working. A lack of role models in the industry stood out as a key message for me, as well as the need for big business to work more closely with secondary and higher education bodies to ‘sell’ a career in green energy. Caitlin who, like me, is a member of the District Heating Divas, talked eloquently about the need for companies to consider the physical work environment for women in particular (e.g. providing PPE that actually fits!) and the danger of unconscious bias in job adverts.
Next up, my colleagues Nick Gosling and Scott Lutton hosted a session on the minefield that is unlocking funding and commercial support for heat networks. The discussion centred around potential solutions to overcome the barriers, such as the need for increased regulation to build customer confidence, enhanced statutory powers, and greater public awareness of the benefits the sector offers.
Of particular interest were the comments made by Colin Hudson of the National Wealth Fund (NWF). Colin provided key insights into the NWF’s core sectors to target, which include digital & technologies, advanced manufacturing, and transport. With a £5.8 billion budget set to be deployed across carbon capture, port infrastructure, green steel, green hydrogen, and gigafactories over the course of this Parliament.
Vital Energi has first-hand experience of the benefits an institution such as the NWF bring to communities. Recently, the NWF issued funding to its first heat network project in Solihull, which Vital Energi will be designing and building. Knowing support like this exists is essential to businesses like ours, impatient to drive change in a market which is quite risk adverse.
In session three, I was intrigued by Ross Ramsay from the Scottish Futures Trust who said more companies could benefit from the philosophy of animation giant Pixar. It believes that “you get great creative people, you bet big on them, you give them enormous leeway and support, and you provide them with an environment in which they can get honest feedback from everyone”. The point really is you empower people to take risks, to push barriers, and you don’t crush them if they get it wrong. Ross also emphasised the importance of "making friends and keeping them friendly", stressing that strong relationships are crucial for overcoming challenges in a project. It was great to hear from Vital’s friend, Ener-vate’s Steve Hunt, and I did chuckle when Sarah-Jane McArthur from Brodies described lawyers as “the project prevention unit”.
Next, Polly Cook from Leeds City Council and Rhea Marsden from the SWAN Heat Network talked us through the Leeds PIPES project and the large new heat network in Westminster. SWAN will see heat captured from innovative sources such as the London Underground, the Thames, and the sewer network, becoming one of the UK’s first heat network zones. The Leeds PIPES heat network is an innovative and reliable district heating solution that brings heat and hot water into taps, radiators, and heating systems to over 2,500 buildings and residences. It currently uses heat created as a by-product of burning Leeds’s non-recyclable waste. Both are Vital projects, of course, and both show the sort of innovative thinking we’re famous for.
Finally, it was my turn. Together with Tanita Addario from Aberdeen City Council, we started by asking what ‘Social Value’ and ‘Community Benefits’ meant to the audience. It’s clear those phrases mean different things to different people, but the two words that came up more than any others were education and engagement.
For me, the Torry Heat Network project in Aberdeen, on which we were the main contractor, is an exemplar of best practice here. What we learnt from it was to engage early and consult, take people on the journey with you. To achieve this, your messaging must be tailored to the specific people you are speaking to. All our promotional material, published long before spades went in the ground, was produced in three languages to speak to the diverse Torry community and included a direct point of contact for enquiries. And we listened, understanding that in an area of high poverty, heating costs were a key concern. The crucial task of stakeholder mapping helped us to understand the community's worries, allowing us to address them in our communications and alleviate any concerns.
We also went into local schools with our STEM-approved ‘Climate Education Programme’ to try and inspire and educate young people about, yes you guessed it, the future of energy.
Jessica Cooke, Senior Planner at AECOM wrote on LinkedIn that it was “a pleasure to attend” the conference and added “The renewable energy sector is indeed at an exciting juncture!”
Rhea Marsden, Head of Connections at SWAN Heat Network, wrote, “events like this are a great reminder that the industry is heading in the right direction”. And Dr Roddy Yarr, Director of Sustainability at the University of Glasgow and Associate Director of the Centre for Sustainable Energy, was very complimentary, writing “Vital’s can-do and approachable attitude continues to deliver positive impact.”
If you want to join us at one of our future events, email [email protected] to be placed on a waitlist.
