The wind company boss

15 April 2013

Why did you want to work in renewable energy?

What I really like is that I do something that's not only paying my salary and enabling me to buy food and housing and all the rest of it, but I honestly believe I contribute to solving a problem, or at least make a big problem less big, by developing renewable energy.

I take an awful lot of satisfaction out of the fact that we are able to contribute to what I believe will be a better future.

What are your thoughts on tackling climate change?

I think tackling climate change is absolutely key.

We're a commercial business so we want to make a profit of course, but it's also vital to be sustainable in the long-term.

It's remarkable to see how my whole team is deeply committed to this. When we're having lunch, there are always discussions about sustainable fisheries and Hugh's Fish Fight. You see that people really have their heart in it; it's fantastic to work in a place where people believe in what they're doing and not just waiting until it's the weekend again.

What's a typical day for you?

It's a big juggling act really - we have 40 different projects running at the moment around the UK.On the one hand I work to secure planning consent and build wind farms, so it's about being entrepreneurial and getting things done. But on the other hand, another important part of my job is facilitating and making sure that people can do their work. So, for example, I have to buy a new server to make sure everybody gets their emails and things like that. My work is extremely diverse.

Esbjorn Wilmar with colleagues on site. (c) Infinergy.

Does wind have a big role to play in powering the UK?

There's no silver bullet: no one technology that will solve all.

Wind will definitely play an important role; one of the reasons being that it's by far the cheapest renewable technology available. I honestly believe that we'll see lots more wind turbines on the landscape in the future, but there' ll be a natural limit to it as well. It is not the technology and we won't rely on it completely, but it will have its place.

Do you support a clean power target in UK law?

I think it's absolutely vital that we have confidence in the Government's long-term standing on renewable energy.

As both a developer and operator, we're investing quite significant amounts of money in this country - especially in onshore wind. But our investments take 10 years to start to materialise; it's a really long-term play.

So for me, it's extremely important we have long-term certainty to base business plans on, and that's what setting this target would do.

Are your children interested in what you do?

It's amazing actually because we have this 'Say yes' sticker on our car. It's a wind turbine and it only says 'Yes'. I see more and more cars in the school car park now having that sticker and I'm so proud of that.

Saying that, they're getting a little bit bored of me pointing out every wind turbine I see, especially when we drive in the Netherlands, because you hardly see them in England. I can't help myself.

What do you do when you're not working?

What I really like is working around the house. We just had a big house extension so at the moment every free hour is going into painting, carpentry, things like that. Unfortunately, it's surrounded by trees: we don't have any wind, so we can't have a wind turbine. We have solar panels, so I do my bit.

Feeling inspired? If you want to see more clean British energy, ask your MP to support a clean power target now.