Team / Partners

Over the past nine years, Scotrenewables Tidal Power Limited has built up a highly motivated and dedicated team, to progress the design and testing of the tidal turbine. Lead by Barry Johnston, who is the founder and company director, and Mark Hamilton as CTO, the company has expanded from a two man team to over 18 staff members including design engineers, hydrodynamicists, offshore operations, electrical engineers, environmental and consents, health & safety and business development.

Management

Barry Johnston – CEO & Company Director

Following his first degree in Offshore Engineering at Heriot-Watt University Barry went on to undertake a PhD in marine renewables at ICIT (Heriot-Watt University’s Orkney Campus). Barry founded Scotrenewables in 2002 with an Enterprise Fellowship from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and has now worked in renewable energy for over 10 years with a continued focus on the commercialisation of the tidal device. In addition to being CEO and Director, Barry is involved in all aspects of the engineering design with a particular focus on offshore testing operations.

Mark Hamilton – Chief Technical Officer

Mark joined Scotrenewables in 2004 having completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Limerick in Ireland. He has been responsible for the project management of the SRTT floating tidal turbine development programme since 2005. His role includes technical, resource, and contractor management, engineering development and construction management with responsibility for coordination and integration of all engineering disciplines. Mark also manages all model test programmes.

Trevor Walls - Principal Electrical Engineer

Trevor has responsibility for the design of all electrical and control systems on the SRTT since joining the company in 2007. His role involves specification of electrical and control hardware and software, contractor and personnel management, commissioning of all onboard electrical systems, and has responsibility for all electrical works during testing operations. Trevor has previous experience working in the marine sector in DP vessel electrical design and construction.

Jonathan Meason - Principal Structural / Mechanical Engineer

Jonathan joined the company in 2007. His responsibilities cover the design of most primary components and systems - SRTT superstructure, rotors, power take-off, and auxiliary systems including hydraulics. During the design and build of the SR250, Jonathan led the DNV certification process and oversaw the fabrication and assembly of the primary structure as well as assisting with the outfitting of the model. Jonathan has extensive experience and proficiency in Computer Aided Design (CAD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and other numerical modelling codes. Jonathan has developed SRTP’s rotor modelling tool, jFAST from a wind industry standard code, reconfiguring and adding features using FORTRAN language. Further to jFAST, Jonathan has produced a number of in-house numerical modelling tools to aid the design and development of the SRTT covering the rotors, structure, hydrodynamics and mooring system.

Calum Miller - Senior Hydrodynamicist / Marine Operations

Calum has been with Scotrenewables since 2009.  Calum has a dual role in the company, taking a lead role in planning and undertaking all offshore operations, including sea trails of the SR250, and managing the hydrodynamics department in the design of the future turbines and mooring systems.  In his role as a hydrodynamicist Calum uses software packages such as Orcaflex and Matlab, and has developed an array of in house tools for data analysis and environmental modelling.

John McGlynn - Business Development Manager

John joined the Company in 2010 following completion of a Msc. in Renewable Energy Development at Heriot Watt University. John is involved in Company financial management and is responsible for all SRTP business development activities as well as the sourcing of public and private funding for the Company. He also has a leading role in the progression of commercial sales opportunities and commercial project development. John has a background in international business and finance and brings to the team his substantial experience of working and managing teams internationally.

Briony Spence – Financial Manager

Briony joined the Company in 2007, shortly after graduating from the University of Aberdeen with an MA in Accountancy and Management. She was involved in developing the financial monitoring & reporting mechanisms present in the Company and is responsible for all aspects of SRTPs financial management. Her role includes budgetary planning & analysis, cash flow monitoring, sage processing & liaison with SRTP accountants, solicitors & banking officials. Briony also oversees general office activities & administration within SRTP

Partners

SRTP has worked hard to secure knowledgeable corporate partners who in addition to financial support have brought significant added value in terms of marine experience, project development and engineering support.  The Company has purposely avoided any venture capital investors.  The result is one of the strongest investor partnerships in the marine renewables sector between SRMP and the extensive maritime experience of the Fred Olsen group and energy company TOTAL.

Energy major TOTAL first invested in SRTP in 2006. A long-standing supporter of green energies, TOTAL stated "Aside from the fact that it does not emit any greenhouse gases, tidal power has the advantage of being predictable. In the long-term, marine power could make a significant contribution to electricity generation from renewable sources, particularly in the UK".

2008 saw SRTP secure a major investment from Norwegian based Fred. Olsen Group. Mr. Olsen said "Scotrenewables face a difficult challenge, but have a good team who are trying to cover every eventuality". Having looked at a number of marine energy projects, Fred Olsen Renewables chose to invest in the Scotrenewables Tidal Turbine project, taking a keen interest in the development of the technology. 

Scotrenewables investors remain actively involved in the development of the technology and future commercial tidal sites.