Overview
Director, BVG Associates (2017 to present)
Neil Douglas is part of our senior management group and leads our Scottish team. He is also responsible for business development and company strategy. He delivers strategic projects for governments, enablers, developers and supply-chain businesses. He draws on over 30 years of wind energy sector experience. Before joining BVGA, he spent 20 years in technical consultancy, delivering engineering design, project development, due diligence, cost reduction, and operational services for an international portfolio of onshore and offshore wind farms. Clients benefit from his experience and knowledge of industry evolution, business development, investment due diligence and commercialisation. Neil is passionate about nurturing an energising and sustainable working environment. He is an ardent believer in increasing diversity in wind energy. A natural communicator, he enjoys building rapport with clients, colleagues and partners. He is a non-executive board member of Scottish Renewables, the trade body for renewable energy in Scotland.
Career experience
Non-executive director, ZX Lidar (2013 to 2017)
Served as a non-executive director of ZX Lidar, providing strategic advice, business governance, and technical guidance.
Director of LCOE, Natural Power (2016 to 2017)
Led a multi-disciplinary approach to wind farm cost reduction across all project phases, including asset optimisation.
Director of asset management, Natural Power (2012 and 2016)
Led a team of over 50 staff providing wind farm management, maintenance, control room, performance analysis and commercial services to a fleet of over 1,000 wind turbines.
Director of due diligence, Natural Power (2012 to 2016)
Led technical due diligence for international investors on wind energy projects amounting to over 2 GW of capacity.
Wind engineer/technical director, Natural Power (1996 to 2012).
Developed and led a wind resource team across UK, Canada, Chile, France, and US. Oversaw tool development and contributed to industry level research initiatives.Research officer, University of Abertay (1994 to 1996). Undertook and published research projects on wind energy technology, resource assessment, and UK policy.
Recent key projects
The World Bank: offshore wind roadmaps for Vietnam and Azerbaijan
As part of The World Bank’s global offshore wind programme, Neil worked with governments and stakeholders across regulatory, environmental, social, and technical aspects to deliver robust recommendations to establish and grow offshore wind.
The World Bank: spatial planning for offshore wind in Vietnam
A key follow-on activity to the Vietnam OSW roadmap, Neil led this project to support Government in identifying priority OSW development zones, accounting for biodiversity, social, regulatory, and technical factors.
Scottish Renewables: Scottish onshore wind sector deal
Neil is part of the team that developed and is implementing the sector deal. The deal sets out commitments from the Scottish Government and wind industry to deliver 20 GW of onshore wind in Scotland by 2030 while delivering maximum social benefit to Scotland.
SOWEC: Addressing supply chain barriers in ScotWind
Neil directed this project which delivered a series of five published reports that addressed barriers to supply chain growth, how they can be overcome and how offshore wind opportunities can be realised for Scottish businesses.
International Sustainable Energy Foundation: Accelerating deployment of offshore wind in India
Neil directed this work which identified the barriers facing the OSW industry in India and made recommendations to Government, industry, and stakeholders on the actions and initiatives required to address.
Greenrock: Bermuda offshore wind technical support
Neil led a wind speed and energy production analysis to quantify the technical opportunity for OSW in Bermuda and reduce uncertainty in the route to market. This project formed part of a package of work delivered by BVGA to progress the opportunity for OSW in Bermuda.
Swire Renewable Energy: offshore wind market entry strategy
Neil supported Swire to diversity its oil and gas services business into the wind market. He worked with Swire’s leadership to evaluate operational revenues and identify optimum areas for growth, resulting in the formation of Swire Renewable Energy.
Glennmont: Strategic audit and review of asset management suppliers
Neil directed this project which supported an infrastructure fund to undertake a review of its asset management provision for a portfolio of renewable energy projects in Europe. He provided client’s management team with strategic recommendation to improve portfolio performance.
Energy Technology Zone (ETZ): Energy supply chain innovation and R&D market testing
Neil directed this project which supported ETZ in mapping and understating the offshore renewables innovation landscape in northeast Scotland, focussing on funding frameworks and innovation testing facilities for offshore wind, hydrogen and CCUS. We delivered recommendations on how ETZ could address the challenges raised by the supply chain and the gaps in external support that were identified.
Asian private equity firm: Investment due diligence of subsea survey provider acquisition
Neil directed this project, working closely with the client’s senior management team to deliver a comprehensive analysis of the offshore wind subsea survey market, service lines, technology risks dynamics, and competitor landscape. The outputs of the work were used to inform the client’s investment strategy.