Quickfire guide to solar farm security

After leaving the Army, Matt held roles in Operational and Security Management before spending six years with Anesco, being promoted to Director of Operations & Maintenance (O&M) in 2020 and rising to become HSEQ & Operations Director in March 2023.

Boasting almost 15 years’ experience within the renewables industry, Matt has responsibility for overseeing Anesco’s stringent health, safety, environmental processes, and quality standards, including all IT and OT (Operating Technology) Security, while driving industry best practices.

Under his tenure, Anesco’s O&M portfolio has grown to an impressive 1.6GW of clean energy, generated by more than 23,000 assets. He and the team have created a 24-hour Network Operations Centre comprising technical analysts, administrators and engineering resource, and have driven the implementation of a bespoke software solution that utilises real time data and analytics to maintain the life of an asset and ensure optimal functionality and return.

Vicky brings over 19 years of legal experience to Anesco, developed in both start-up and FTSE environments.

Vicky joined Anesco in 2021 from Entrepreneur First, a high growth venture capital fund which works closely with innovative start-up businesses and their founders, where she held both General Counsel and Operations Director roles.

She started her career in the Energy & Infrastructure team at the Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance, before moving in-house to a FTSE 100 energy company where she was Head of Legal, Power Generation and then Associate General Counsel.

Oscar has over 25 years’ experience in the energy sector, including an extensive background within renewables, combined cycle power plants, commercial finance and joint venture management.

He joined Anesco in April 2024 from Maple Power, an offshore wind investment firm, where he served as CFO for five years. Prior to this, Oscar was with General Electric (GE Power) for 14 years where he worked in a variety of senior roles including Commercial Finance and FP&A, Integration leader and CFO for West Europe for Power Services.

As part of Anesco’s senior leadership team, Oscar is helping drive the sustained growth and expansion of our business across Europe.

Paul has more than 25 years’ experience in international EPC leadership, which has seen him leading on major energy and infrastructure projects in the nuclear, CSP, wind and oil & gas sectors, including projects valued in excess of £1bn.

He has previously held senior roles in project management, contracts, commercial and supply chain, in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Caspian, USA & Canada, Central and South America. 

Most recently he was Commercial Director – Nuclear at Arcadis UK and he has also worked on major projects for Petrofac, McDermott and Glasspoint Solar.

Hildagarde joined Anesco in January 2023, having spent the previous 15 years holding various executive roles within the European energy and utility sector.  Prior to joining Anesco, Hildagarde served as CEO of Veolia Nederland B.V.

She is a member of the Supervisory Board of Deerns Group, an internationally based engineering consultancy group that actively seeks to implement future proof, carbon neutral designs for the built environment. She is also the Vice President of the Ireland Netherlands Business Association.

Hildagarde is passionate about accelerating the circular economy and energy transition movements through collaboration, education, and innovative digital and pioneering solutions that help create a more sustainable and equitable tomorrow.

She is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and holds an IEMBA from University College Dublin.

With a career within the energy industry that spans more than 20 years, Mark Futyan joined Anesco from Centrica, parent company of British Gas, where he most recently held the position of Distributed Power Systems Director.

Mark was responsible for Centrica’s international power generation and storage portfolio, along with strategy, change and market innovation across the broader C&I energy services division. He is a chartered chemical engineer and holds an MBA.

Having previously held the position of CEO, Mark is now a Non Executive Director at Anesco.

Victoria brings over 19 years of legal experience to Anesco, developed in both start-up and FTSE environments.

Victoria joined Anesco in 2021 from Entrepreneur First, a high growth venture capital fund which works closely with innovative start-up businesses and their founders, where she held both General Counsel and Operations Director roles.

She started her career in the Energy & Infrastructure team at the Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance, before moving in-house to a FTSE 100 energy company where she was Head of Legal, Power Generation and then Associate General Counsel.

Teresa is a pragmatic, agile and innovative HR and C Suite executive, with extensive start-up and global major projects experience across the UK, EMEA and Asia.

She has more than 25 years’ experience in successfully framing and delivering HR strategy, organisational capability and HR transformation projects, helping build truly people-centric organisations. Teresa is passionate about Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) and is also an ambassador for mental health awareness.

Throughout her career, Teresa has worked for many leading organisations within the oil, gas and energy sectors, including spearheading Angola mobility for Subsea 7, a leader in the delivery of offshore projects. She also held a 17-year tenure in HR and contracts management at BP, where she was recognised for developing a UK/International salary benchmark framework that was subsequently adopted throughout BP western hemisphere.

Teresa feels privileged to have built organisations in developing countries such as Azerbaijan and Angola, whose progress she continues to follow and take great pride in.

With a career within the energy industry that spans nearly 30 years, Guido Fiebes joined Anesco from aeos energy, a company he founded in 2007 and sold to Anesco in 2022.

Prior to joining Anesco, Guido worked in various Senior Management positions at Elf Aquitaine in Berlin, Total in Paris, Essent in Düsseldorf, Encevo in Luxembourg and in a London based energy investment firm.

Guido holds a German master’s degree from the Technical University of Dortmund and an MBA from the University at Albany – State University of New York.

Wouter Beerten heads up Anesco Netherlands from its base in Amsterdam. He joined the company having worked in the Dutch solar and utilities sector for the last 12 years. 

Most recently this included leading on large-scale solar business development for new markets (Denmark & Sweden) as part of the large-scale solar team at European energy company Vattenfall. In 2020-2021, Wouter played a key role in Vattenfall’s tender team winning the first subsidy free solar tender of the Netherlands. Prior to this he was involved in solar and biogas development at ENGIE Energie Nederland NV.

After completing a degree in Economics at the University of Exeter, Sarah Webb entered the renewables industry in 2011, before joining Anesco in 2012 as Development Manager.

While at Anesco, Sarah has overseen the development and pre-construction stages of 105 solar farms and 150MW of battery storage, whilst maintaining the company’s status as a market leader for both solar and battery storage in the UK.

In 2017, Sarah played a key role in the development of the UK’s first subsidy-free solar farm, a landmark achievement for UK renewables. Sarah also achieved Ofgem accreditation for the first co-located battery storage and ROC accredited solar farm system in the UK.

Sarah became Development & Technical Director in 2020. As well as leading a team of project developers, designers, technical engineers, policy coordinators and CAD technicians, to accelerate the development and technological innovation for new renewable energy projects, Sarah also oversees commercial transactions involving the disposal of utility-scale solar and battery storage assets to third party investors.

Tony Thorpe-Morris has more than 15 years’ leadership experience gained in senior management roles. Having spent many years within the IT sector, Tony has an outstanding knowledge of service delivery and the effective management of medium to large teams.

Tony joined Anesco in early 2017, initially as Head of Service Delivery for the Operations & Maintenance division, before joining the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) division in 2018 as Head of ECO delivery. He was promoted to Director of ECO in June 2020.

Working to regulated Ofgem guidelines, Tony continues to build strong relationships with utilities companies and the ECO supply chain, to deliver energy efficiency measures that lift households in the UK out of fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions, whilst maintaining Anesco’s reputation as one of the leading managing agents for the ECO scheme.

With a career within the energy industry that spans more than a decade, Alan Smallwood joined Anesco from Centrica, where he acted as director of UK power markets.

As Optimisation Director for Anesco, Alan is committed to helping investors drive the greatest value from their renewable assets and informing future investment choices.

Working alongside the operations and maintenance team at Anesco, Alan oversees the asset management function, as well as Anesco’s third-party market optimisation service, including market intelligence.

With extensive knowledge of the energy commodity markets, Alan has a proven track record in building, developing, and interrogating fundamental models, underpinned by an education in mathematics and an ability in programming and statistical techniques.

Daniel Cohen has more than 24 years’ experience in both the energy and utilities arena, including holding roles at EDF Energy, UK Power Networks and several SMEs. He joined Anesco in 2016 as Director of Connections and has a proven track record for leading cross-functional teams across the operational delivery lifecycle and extensive programme management experience.

Daniel became EPC Director in early 2019 and is responsible for developing Anesco’s operations strategy in line with the company’s delivery targets, playing a key role in driving the business forward.

His responsibilities at Anesco are broad and include implementing the operational strategy, supply chain management, project lifecycle activities, planning and programming, effective team leadership and communication, whilst maintaining the highest level of health and safety throughout the organisation.

Brian joined Alcentra in September 2014 as an Analyst in the Direct Lending team. Brian is responsible for sourcing and execution of private debt investments across a variety of industries and geographies with a focus on the UK.

Charles St John was formerly a Partner at private equity investment firms Cognetas and Electra where he sat on a wide range of Boards, and is a chartered accountant. He is also a Non-Executive Director of NHS Blood & Transplant, Capstone Fostercare, and Whiteline Windows.

Kevin Mouatt, CEO, is a fellow of the Institute of Directors and has been a Chartered Director since 2005. With an enviable track record, Kevin is committed to business excellence and prides himself on forging values-driven working environments that deliver outstanding results.

Providing leadership and vision, Kevin has held various senior director, managing director and non–executive roles within companies, trade associations and governing bodies, and was a founder member of the CBI Construction Council and UK Contractors Group (UKCG).

Mark Browning has more than fifteen years’ experience in finance, which includes 10 years with Deloitte where he held several technical and leadership positions and was part of the UK Pensions Audit Leadership Team.

After working within the strategic finance function in a highly transactional private equity-backed business, Mark joined Anesco in 2017 as Assistant Finance Director. Mark was promoted to Finance Director in 2019 and less than a year later became Chief Financial Officer, joining the company’s board of directors. He currently manages a team of 14.

Responsible for what is often complex contracting accounting and diligence on the acquisition and disposal of SPV’s, he has introduced divisional reporting and business partnering, working closely with each area of the business to drive ongoing success and growth in enterprise valuation.

Alex joined Alcentra in July 2013 as a member of the European Credit team. He is responsible for advising on the documentation of Alcentra’s new and existing deals. In particular, Alex works as a senior member of the Direct Lending team, leveraging his previous experience of structuring and executing leveraged finance deals and specifically bringing a legal focus to the deal documentation involved with originating and structuring new deals.

Prior to joining Alcentra, Alex was a Senior Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright, working in the Finance Department. Previous to this he worked at Linklaters LLP from 2006 to 2012, within the Banking Department. He has an L.L.B in law from Leicester University and is a graduate of Nottingham Law School.