About Us

Gavin established Green Cat Renewables in December 2004 following over a decade of experience in the renewables industry developing wind, small-scale hydro and solar projects. From a background of electrical engineering, and with a PhD in wind turbine generator design, his broad base of expertise includes project feasibility assessment and optimisation, project management, construction management, commercial risk assessment, environmental assessment, resource assessment, grid connection negotiation and design. In his time as director of Green Cat, Gavin has overseen the delivery of over 800MW of renewables projects.

Hector Arietto is a civil/structural engineer specialising in renewable energy. He has 8 years of academic background and 5 years industry experience as a civil/renewable energy engineer including: hydro scheme design, hydro resource, hydro operation, flooding, civil design of wind farms, general civil and structural design, business development opportunities, project management and due diligence for banks/investors. His civil background and site experience allows him to effectively assess the potential of new sites and optimise the design. He has assessed the viability of more than 70 potential hydro sites in the UK and has been involved in the civil and structural design of over 20 projects.

Ben’s current role is assisting the engineering team in undertaking the necessary tasks to take a wind project from planning consent to commissioning and electricity generation. This includes project management, drafting numerous reports for various stages of wind projects from planning condition discharge to finalising the Construction Method Statement, producing detailed design drawings and appointing and monitoring contractors for conducting off-site access works. Ben is experienced in undertaking thorough inspections of wind turbines and preparing detailed inspections reports. Ben holds the ‘Renewable UK/GWO Working at Height and Rescue Training – Wind Turbines’ qualification. He also aids the Technical Services team by undertaking field work for our noise analysts and erecting and disassembling meteorological masts used for wind resource assessments.

David has a BEng (Hons) degree in Civil Engineering with Construction Management and has over 10 years of experience within the construction industry. He joined Green Cat in 2012 working within the Engineering team. David has experience in design, surveying, site supervision and management, quality management, and project management. David provides a presence on site managing contractors works, project programme and Health, Safety, Environmental and Quality standards during the construction phase of wind farm projects ranging from 0.3MW to 30MW, working with a variety of different turbine manufacturers including Enercon, EWT, Gamesa, GE, Nordex, Northern Power and Senvion. David also assists the Technical Services team in undertaking technical visits to sites for the Due Diligence team and managing health and safety on operational sites managed by the Asset Management team.

Ben is a Mechanical Engineer and Project Manager with a broad base of experience relating to wind and run-of-river and storage hydro scheme developments. Ben has seven years of experience in the industry, working as part of the project management team, feasibility studies of new wind sites, hydro resource assessment and design. Ben’s knowledge and experience of wind and hydropower developments from conception to commission allows him to advise the Project Team on all aspects of new developments. He has significant experience working on projects with significant on-site demand and private grid networks.

Alasdair is a qualified town planner and urban designer, holding a BA (Hons) in Environmental Planning and an MA in Urban Design, with over 10 years of experience in completing Townscape and Visual Impact Assessments; and Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments, particularly specialising in wind energy developments.  Alasdair has experience in taking a project right from initial site selection, through to project design and assessment. He has a wealth of experience in every aspect of completing an LVIA, including site selection, viewpoint selection and photography, graphics and written assessment. Within his ten years of experience, he has undertaken a number of large-scale wind projects as well as landscape capacity work for local authorities. He is comfortable in attending both client meetings, design workshops and consultation with relevant organisations, in order to understand the specific scope of each project he undertakes.  He also has experience in landscape design, including master planning, planting plans and Landscape Clerk of Works.

Jacqueline has a BA Hons in Town & Country Planning and 9 years of specific experience working in renewables. Starting with all aspects of planning for the on-shore wind industry, more specifically in the last 5 years she has worked solely on hydroelectric projects. Jacqueline manages hydro projects from feasibility and scoping; to consent and conditions discharge. This invloves all aspects and complexities of the Scottish planning system, including enforcement and the appeals process; and working on both EIA and non EIA projects. She is experienced in liaison, consultation and resolution with all key players throughout the consenting stage from clients, project designers, the local community, local planning authority, statutory consultees, developers and sub-contractors.

Merlin is a Senior Noise Consultant with an MSc in Renewable Energy and a Diploma in Acoustics from the Institute of Acoustics. Responsible for the management of noise equipment, planning and execution of noise measurement fieldwork, development of data validation and analysis tools, data analysis, reporting and peer review. He has extensive experience in the production of ETSU-R-97 noise impact assessments for wind turbine projects ranging from single 100kW turbines through to multi-megawatt wind farms and industrial noise following BS4142. He has conducted more than fifty post-completion assessments for wind projects throughout Scotland and England. Has experience of several sound power measurements and tonal analysis assessments following IEC 61400-11:2012 (Wind turbines – Part 11: Acoustic noise measurement techniques). Merlin also sits on the shadow sub-committee to MT 11, the British Standards Institute body that reviews amendments to, and discusses the development of, IEC 61400-11 and is an expert in the measurement and rating of amplitude modulation in turbine noise.

Farlane graduated from The University of Edinburgh with a MEng (Hons) degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and has worked at Green Cat Renewables since 2010, accumulating experience in both the renewable energy and construction industries. Farlane has a solid understanding of both planning and implementation phases of onshore wind turbine projects from 0.5MW to 10MW in size, from Cornwall to Shetland. His background includes site civil works design, procurement and management of contractors, liaison with Local Planning Authorities and discharge of planning conditions, and coordination of construction and commissioning phase activities.

Vinnie has over 20 years of experience in the field of geotechnical testing for soils and aggregates. He has extensive experience of managing and setting up laboratories to conform with BS EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005, which enables the laboratory to achieve and maintain UKAS accreditation. The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. During his time at Green Cat, Vinnie has taken on other aspects of environmental monitoring such as noise monitoring and installing met masts.

Les is a Geologist with over 35 years of experience in all aspects of ground investigation. He holds a BSc in Geology and an MSc in Engineering Geology and holds professional qualifications as a Chartered Geologist and Chartered Scientist. For many years, Les has prepared interpretative reports relating to geotechnical, mineral stability and contaminated land considerations for various civil engineering projects, covering every development from a few houses to a concrete gravity dam and from assessment of aggregate sources to nuclear waste stores, plus everything between.

As well as his wide-ranging experience in geotechnics, he is an acknowledged expert in the assessment of mining stability issues and the remediation of undermined sites for development. Les also has considerable expertise in contaminated land, the planning, design and execution of such investigations, a consideration of how any contamination may affect human health and the environment, especially the water environment and the design of cost-effective remediation of contaminated sites, using a wide range of techniques, for their successful development. Les is also IMS Lead and so controls the quality, environmental and health and safety systems for the company.

Gavin has 35 years of experience in all aspects of the ground investigation industry over a wide range of civil engineering projects. These include roads, sewers, housing, multi-storey structures, renewables projects, sewage treatment works, deep excavations, tunnelling in soil and rock, slope stability, machine bases, and the suitability of soils and rocks for reuse.  He has extensive experience of ground movement assessment, including slopes, deep excavations, embankments on soft ground and groundwater installations.  With many renewables sites associated with peaty and soft ground, Gavin has developed in-house peat slide risk assessment, data collection, management and analysis software. Experienced in setting up, auditing and working with quality management systems (ISO 9001, 14001, 18001 and 17025) and UKAS accreditation. Throughout his career he has been involved in ground investigation for many notable developments including the Scottish Parliament Building, Ocean Terminal, Faslane Naval Base, Major Trunk Roads (M74, M8 and A9), 2nd Severn Crossing, and the Forth Replacement Crossing.

Glen is an experienced Wind Resource Analyst who joined Green Cat in 2012. Glen’s experience includes the preparation and analysis of wind resource assessments for sites ranging from 50kW to 50MW, and operational performance assessments for existing projects across the UK for a range of turbine types including Enercon, EWT, Gamesa, Endurance, Northern Power and WTN machines. Glen has formed a key part of the Due Diligence team for the assessment of operational turbines, not only providing resource assessment but also using SCADA information to diagnose performance issues.

Steven is a Civil Engineer and a principal technical analyst within the Due Diligence team, bringing his experience of managing wind construction projects ranging from 0.5MW to 9.2MW. He has managed all aspects of the construction process from discharging planning conditions through holding discussions with councils and developing Construction Method Statement and Route Access Reports, to co-ordinating tender processes and developing Construction Phase Plans, Construction Specifications, Invitations to Tender and Bills of Quantities, and overseeing the co-ordination of all the construction elements on site. Steven is ‘Working at Height’ trained and has completed Rescue Training in Wind Turbines. This experience, and previous work involved in the planning and design of wind projects, gives him valuable insight through the Due Diligence process.

Gavin is an experienced Quantity Surveyor and Project Manager who is currently responsible for the management and delivery of several wind farm projects in their construction phase. Gavin manages all aspects of the construction process: discharging planning conditions, developing Construction Method Statements and Route Access Reports, co-ordinating tender processes, developing Construction Phase Plans, Construction Specifications, Invitations to Tender and Bills of Quantities. On site he has direct experience of overseeing the co-ordination of the various construction elements including roads, hardstanding and foundation construction and overseeing the delivery and erection of the turbines. A key aspect of his role is to liaise and manage challenges as they arise within a tight schedule and with multiple stakeholders involved in the project.

In his role as Technical Director, Cameron leads the Technical and Environmental Services Department.  He has an MSc in Renewable Energy Systems Technology and 12 years of experience in the renewables industry. Cameron has a thorough and in-depth understanding of the technical, environmental and social issues associated with commercial wind development, having provided technical support for over 200 wind projects at all stages of project development, from initial feasibility to post construction encompassing consenting, resource assessment, due diligence and operational asset management.  Cameron also specialises in noise assessment of pre-planning and constructed sites.  Additionally, he has built up considerable experience of solar energy projects over the last five years, having supported planning, resource assessment and due diligence activities.

Louise leads the Engineering Department at Green Cat and has a BEng in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since joining the company in 2009, Louise has built up a broad range of experience relating to all aspects of renewable energy projects. Louise has successfully delivered both wind and hydro projects, taking schemes from feasibility, through obtaining necessary consents, tender of works, procurement of all components and services required, to construction and completion. As Department Manager, Louise oversees project programmes, finances and resources. Her experience and past success demonstrates her knowledge and ability to ensure that any issues that arise as projects develop are efficiently resolved, and that projects progress to completion on time and on budget.

Graham graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a BEng (Hons) in Energy and Environmental Engineering, and joined Green Cat in 2009. He currently leads the Planning and Environmental Team at Green Cat Renewables, overseeing the delivery of all the conceptual studies, feasibility assessments, site designs and Environmental Impact Assessments, condition discharge and financial close. This role requires him to liaise with a variety of people from farmers, developers, lenders, communities, sub-contractors, regulatory bodies, statutory consultees and local planning authorities on a daily basis, often seeking to overcome potentially contentious issues in an effective manner. He has substantial project management experience having successfully gained planning consent for over 58MW of renewable energy projects from commercial scale onshore wind developments to one of Scotland’s largest consented ground mounted Solar PV sites.