Client Stories: ScottishPower

11/07/24

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Our contributors:

Keith Anderson

CEO, ScottishPower

Claire Reid

Head of Risk, PwC UK

Steven Heeps

Director, PwC UK

The transformation of the energy sector is crucial for powering change right across business and society.

From ensuring power is available to support the building of new homes and critical infrastructure to decarbonising the economy, the change happening in the energy sector is arguably the most important transformation taking place in any industry.

It is a challenge which demands a holistic approach, where repowering, rewiring and reskilling happen in parallel. In this film, shot on site at Whitelee, the UK’s largest onshore windfarm, we explore how that can be achieved. Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower is joined by PwC UK’s Claire Reid and Steven Heeps to discuss how skills needs are changing in the sector, the importance of collaboration and the critical role of data and technology in enabling rapid change that can be measured and managed effectively.

“There is an absolute fundamental need for us to transform our energy sector. And if we don't go fast enough, this country will miss the biggest opportunity since the Industrial Revolution.”

_{Keith Anderson

CEO, ScottishPower}

Keith Anderson
Transformation is critical to everything we do. It's about the whole future of this country.

Steven Heeps
Transformation in the energy sector is arguably the most crucial transformation of any industry in the UK.

Claire Reid
There is an absolute fundamental need for us to transform our energy sector.

Keith Anderson
We need to decarbonise the entire economy and go to a green, clean, better future. And if we don't go fast enough, this country will miss the biggest opportunity it has ever seen since the Industrial Revolution.

Claire Reid
The time and the moment really is now. We have a real social need and a real global sustainability crisis on our hands.

Keith Anderson
This requires massive amounts of investment to deliver the big transition we're going through. We've already committed another £12 billion between now and 2028. We need to get the new technology coming at us now. Bigger wind turbines, more efficient wind turbines, more efficient substations. Digitising the grid system. Rolling out the rest of the smart meter programme. Speed is the most critical thing for the future.

Steven Heeps
We talk about the notion of repowering, rewiring and reskilling to deliver a low-carbon future. Repowering means the development of low-carbon generating assets such as the windfarm that I'm standing in today.

Keith Anderson
This is the biggest onshore windfarm in the United Kingdom. Not only does this generate enough clean, green energy for the whole of Glasgow, which is 10 minutes down the road, what this provides is a huge facility for the local communities.

Steven Heeps
I grew up about 10 minutes in that direction, and I now live today about 10 minutes in that direction. I use the windfarm for cycling, for running. I spend a lot of time with my family here.

Claire Reid
Here we have this amazing windfarm on our doorstep.

Steven Heeps
Rewiring involves the transmission and distribution network that will take the new generation to the end user.

Keith Anderson
We need to rewire the entire country to deliver an economy that's fit for the future. Jobs, investment, manufacturing, housebuilding, everything we want to do as a country, that's what this change is about.

Claire Reid
But ultimately we can't do that without the right people and the skills to enable that whole system to work effectively. We need all three aspects to work together. We won't achieve our ultimate ambitions as a country if we don't have everybody leaning in, transforming and working together.

Keith Anderson
We need the industry working with government, working with regulators, working with stakeholders, working with local communities.

Claire Reid
It's not just the transformation required with the energy companies. It's also looking at customers and the demand as well.

Keith Anderson
Skills needs are changing all the time. We need thousands of people coming into the sector: engineers, digital people, IT people.

Claire Reid
Tech is built into absolutely everything we do. We are investing ahead of the curve. Whether it comes to GenAI, cloud transformation, cyber security, data and analytics, our clients are demanding it more than ever.

Keith Anderson
The whole future of energy is about digitising the system.

Claire Reid
Data is absolutely critical for us to achieve our goals here. It is really the thread that brings all of this together. It’ll allow us to forecast demand from businesses, from homes, but also ensure we have the supply coming in from the right places.

Keith Anderson
The more data we can gather, whether it's through smart meters, whether it's through the technology and wind turbines on the site, whether it's through our distribution system, using all of that data to actually make the whole system more efficient, that's the importance of data and digitisation.

Steven Heeps
We have over 5000 technologists at PwC in the UK. I'm one of those. We're supporting transformation activity across ScottishPower. We're working very closely in their technology and networks businesses with transformation.

Keith Anderson
Change is never going away. It's here forever. That's part of our life.

Claire Reid
This is not just one off. This really is setting the foundations for the future.

Keith Anderson
What does the future look like? We're in a country where the economy is booming and every community is benefitting from safe, secure, clean green energy.

Claire Reid
Transforming the UK energy sector is one of the biggest challenges facing us today. However, I believe that that will bring profound positive change, not just for our businesses, but for our communities and our whole economy too.