The wind industry in Europe is so fickle at the moment that while some will want to forget all about the past 12 months, others will champion them as a watershed period for growth and prosperity. As always, we’ve gathered together a clutch of executives from throughout the sector with a range of
differing perspectives. And while we touch upon 2012, this is by no means a navel-gazing retrospective. We look to the coming years, dissect the current trends in technology, certification and legislation and offer a fresh selection of viewpoints for your consideration.
Contributors
Alan John
Partner, Osborne Clarke
Reema Mannah
Head of Business Development and Senior Underwriter for Renewable Energy Products for Scotland & Northern Ireland, First Title
David Cruickshank
Director of Renewables, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP
Glenn Johnson
CEO, Endurance
Kim Mørk
Director Business Line Renewables, DNV KEMA
Stefan Franko
Business Leader Renewables, GE Power Conversion
John Peters
Managing Director, Engage Consulting
PES: Welcome to the magazine. Before we head into the main subject of the day, can you tell us a little about your company and how it serves the industry?
Alan John: Osborne Clarke is an international law firm, with over 550 lawyers working in our offices in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and North America. We’ve been specialising in renewable energy since we advised on our first wind farm project in 1991 and have since then advised on a range of on and offshore wind projects. We’re also active in advising on solar, landfill gas, biofuels, energy from waste, marine and renewable heat projects, contracts and regulation.
Reema Mannah: First Title Insurance plc is one of Europe’s leading providers of title insurance for the property industry. Over the past decade First Title Insurance plc has been consulting with the renewable energy industry to develop products for bespoke title risk management solutions which is now branded under Green Title to reflect the sector’s exposures.
Each of our Green Title policies has been designed with the specific class of project in mind. Through consultation with project developers and their funders we have developed products that uniquely capture the exposures on each project style. In addition to the Green Title Wind Farm policy, we have developed policies for solar PV, hydro electric and biomass, which reassure developers that their risk management requirements are met.
