Clean energy unit established in London
01 October 2009
In order to support the UK’s renewable energy and carbon abatement industries, such as wind, wave, tidal and CCS, DNV is strengthening its presence in London. “A new unit will accommodate at least 25 specialists within a year,” said Remi Eriksen, DNV Energy’s chief operating officer.
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has a strategy of supporting and speeding up the development of cleaner energies and is today a significant player in the global wind and carbon capture and storage industries.
"Now, we want to strengthen our position in the UK with a dedicated unit to support the renewable and clean energy industries. The UK energy market is leading on in several areas, and DNV aims to mirror this development with its portfolio of risk based services and standards," explained Eriksen.
The office is co-located with DNV’s conventional maritime and energy operations in the London office, supported by offices in Manchester and Aberdeen. It is also an integral part of DNV’s global cleaner energy and utilities competence centres in Europe and North America. Eriksen predicts that DNV’s global Cleaner Energy unit will continue its growth from 250 to over 500, with the UK accounting for at least 50 people by the end of 2012.
Donald Brown, who will be heading the UK unit, says that it strategically focuses on new and emerging energy technologies which can significantly impact and mitigate the causes of climate change. Specifically, the UK team will support players in the wind, wave and tidal energy, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and conventional power generation sectors.
Karen Conover is one of the former owners of the US leading wind consultancy GEC, which was acquired by DNV in 2008. She now heads DNV’s wind segment from the new unit in London and will continue to develop DNV to become the world’s leading service provider to the wind industry. The services cover a wind project’s entire life-cycle – including energy resource assessment, onshore and offshore technology applications, in addition to certification of wind turbines to DNV’s wind turbine standard. Her mission is also to transfer knowledge and technology between North America, Europe and Asia.
The UK operation will play a major part in tackling the technical challenges associated with the qualification and implementation of large-scale, commercially viable CO2 capture, transmission and storage schemes. For example, DNV is leading the way with global joint industry projects covering the whole carbon capture and storage value chain. The European Commission has also asked DNV to facilitate Europe’s CCS development.
"All this knowledge-sharing and standard-setting work is providing the industry stakeholders and regulators alike with the necessary impartial knowledge to guide safe and sustainable development," said. Brown.
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