LET'S TALK TRANSITION
Interview with Ben Backwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC)
Interview by Moray Melhuish – Founder of Annet Consulting, an Offshore Wind and Subsea Specialist

Hi Ben, thanks for joining us and can you introduce yourself and your organisation?
“Great to be here Moray and yes, I'm Ben Backwell. I'm the CEO of the global wind energy council, who are basically the representative body for the global wind energy industry.

We represent the big corporates in the sector from all around the world and all the associations from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and the United States. Collectively, our membership makes up around 99% of all the wind power installed in the world.

“What we are really trying to do is spread the message about wind and advocate for wind power with international institutions, as well as defending the reputation of the wind industry and promoting it. We are looking to create new markets for wind energy around the world by engaging directly with governments and creating the market and regulatory conditions necessary to be able to build a sustainable wind energy business. So those are our kind of two missions really.”

Great. And how long have you been involved in the industry?
“It's been about 12 years. I actually came from oil and gas and was a journalist for many, many years and was an OPEC correspondent and used to cover energy policy. I also worked as an analyst as well, looking at energy policy and economics in different places around the world and then increasingly got interested in renewables as the wind and solar industry started to become kind of serious industries. I then became increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of oil and gas and got involved in renewable energy journalism and writing about this whole new scene.

Read the article HERE