An engineer who was involved in trials of a pioneering tidal project before going on to head up Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre (Emec) has been honoured for his outstanding contribution to the green energy industry.
The accolade for Emec managing director Neil Kermode came at the 2013 Scottish Green Energy Awards in Edinburgh.
Drink firm Diageo and Cambridge-based Clearfleau came away with the best project award for a scheme in Aberlour, Moray, which uses a bio-energy plant to produce energy from waste.
SSE’s Open4Business Highlands and Islands service was honoured for its contribution to supply chain development, in recognition of a procurement system which has attracted 800 businesses and awarded £2million of contracts.
After collecting his Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)-sponsored gong, Mr Kermode said: “I’m delighted to receive this award – it means an awful lot to me.
“It is all very well to believe you are doing the right things, but to receive such a public affirmation and unexpected endorsement is deeply moving.”
He added: “This is on behalf of everybody who is working in the marine renewable energy industry, most of whom work harder than I do and have more on the line than me.”
Mr Kermode joined Emec in late 2005, having previously worked in Italy with the developer of a turbine that generated electricity in a relatively gentle tidal stream off Sicily.
Emec started operations 10 years ago following a £5.65million investment supported by the HIE network, the Scottish Executive, the Department of Trade and Industry, Scottish Enterprise, the Carbon Trust and Orkney Islands Council.
The first machine to use its tidal test bed was nearly eight times larger than the pioneering Italian device Mr Kermode worked on.
He has overseen the development of the Orkney site from an initial four berths for wave-energy devices to the facility it is today, with six wave and eight tidal test berths. It also has two test sites especially for smaller-scale technologies.
The workforce has grown from just four to 24 employees during Mr Kermode’s time at the helm.
Presenting his award, HIE energy and low-carbon director Calum Davidson said: “Creating a new global industry takes investment, ingenuity, innovation and a focus on the long-term from across the public, private and academic sectors. It takes the kind of dedicated and powerful leadership shown by Neil over the years.”
Scottish Renewables (SR) chief executive Niall Stuart said: “Emec has played a key role in the development of Scotland’s world-leading wave and tidal sector, and Neil has been at the heart of that success since the moment he joined.”
SR’s Scottish Green Energy Awards also honoured Fife Council and Livingston firm FoundOcean, whose innovative offshore grout boosted the business from an income of zero to £12.9million in just three years.