In March, Ethical Power welcomed Jeff Dummett as the new Head of Development for our Development team. His background in planning, project development, landowner engagement and much more meant that he was the ideal fit to lead our Development team. We had a catch-up with Jeff to learn more about him and his plans for the team in the future.
Ethical Power: Congratulations on your recent appointment as the Head of Development. What inspired you to pursue this leadership role within Ethical Power?
Jeff Dummett: “I have been familiar with Ethical Power for several years and the organisation was very much on my ‘one to work for’ list, so I jumped at the opportunity.
This enthusiasm stems from my perception that Ethical Power demonstrates pride in projects, a positive company culture and the backing of a strong leadership team.
After meeting the development team and learning more about the integrated and vertically aligned nature of the business, I knew that the company was a great fit for my ambitions in clean energy. “
Can you share some insights into your background and career journey that have led you to this position?
“I have been lucky to have had a varied career, working with some ambitious and talented individuals and businesses across a variety of sectors relating to project development. Sustainability and combatting climate change have been a ‘golden thread’ running throughout my career.
I started off my career in renewable energy doing planning for ground-mounted solar. I found that I got a lot of satisfaction from the business development aspects, including land identification, landowner engagement and the project sale process. It was a steep learning curve of project development, interaction with subsidy mechanisms and business operations.
Since then, I have expanded my skills in investment and commercials, land and planning, project development and sustainability, and more recently in zero emissions mobility. I have spent two years working on low-carbon hydrogen projects linked to zero emissions vehicles. The connection between creating green electricity and linking it directly to end-use benefits is a compelling proposition for me and I am looking to build upon that aspect with Ethical going forward.”
What do you think are the most important trends in the renewable energy or sustainable power solutions industry these days and how does Ethical Power play its part in the growth of the sector?
“I think we will see a bigger connection between the power generation and the eventual end-user, in a whole-system approach, as grid constraints and renewable growth continue to change the way our networks operate.
Consumers are already beginning to be engaged with this process with smart tariffs, EV home charging and domestic PV/battery systems.
On a commercial scale, this could lead to more private-wire and co-located micro-grid schemes, hydrogen, and storage schemes on the grid-connected side. I do believe that partnerships, collaboration and strategic consortiums will be a common theme of growth in the next few years.
Ethical Power is in a unique position to engage at any level of this process. The internal expertise aligned with the vertically integrated nature of the company makes the group an attractive development partner.”
Looking ahead, what do you envision as the biggest challenges and opportunities for renewable energy development and how do you think we can address them?
“In the UK, the main challenges that the development team will face relate to planning and grid constraints, but the biggest by far will be the impact that climate change is having on the communities and stakeholders we work/engage with.
The impact of extreme weather events, in particular flooding and seasonal temperature movements, is causing harm to the farming, natural environment, and rural communities within which renewable energy projects are developed.
The main role of Ethical Power is in producing new clean energy to help combat climate change. Our solar farms will also make a significant contribution to biodiversity and ecology, creating and maintaining well-planned habitats of scale, protected and managed for the life of the installation.
Our projects also help provide landowners/farmers with a stabilised income base, which can help manage their overall farm business. The structural challenge is ensuring that policy and decision-making, particularly in infrastructure, can keep pace with the action we need to take.”
The Development team have a lot going on this year with new projects, events and international expansion. Is there anything in particular that you’d highlight as the thing you are looking forward to the most in the next few months?
“I am most looking forward to helping the development team push forward with the next wave of new projects and supporting the talented individuals working together to achieve their objectives. We have skilled people across landowner engagement, project management, grid, planning, design, GIS and marketing, who all unite to make projects successful.
I am also excited about some prospects and potential new development approaches in some very innovative technology sectors – I can’t say too much at the moment, but there are exciting possibilities emerging from the work Ethical Power is doing!”
About Ethical Power
Ethical Power is a global renewable energy company. Its end-to-end capabilities add value across the entire lifecycle of green energy infrastructure projects. With 1GW+ of renewable projects in operation and over 800MW in development, Ethical Power is making strides toward helping consumers reach Net Zero 2050 targets.