Nottingham City Council Receives Expert Renewable Energy training from the REI

The Renewable Energy Institute (REI) was delighted to deliver a bespoke course in Renewable Energy and Finance for Nottingham City Council, who approached the REI for customised specialist training to help them achieve their goal of becoming a carbon neutral city by 2028.

The course was taught by two of the REI’s renowned expert lecturers, who both have many years of experience working as consultants and researchers in Finance and Green Energy. At the end of the course, participants had the opportunity to sit the exam for the internationally recognised Galileo Master Certificate. The REI, in collaboration with United Nations UNEP, is proud to promote best practice in Renewable Energy and Technology, providing the latest research, information and training to companies and organisations around the world in order to stop the climate emergency and ensure the planet’s future.

“The REI was selected as the training provider for several reasons:
– They were able to tailor a course to meet the specific training needs of the team
– They are a recognised provider of CPD
– The customer service provided throughout the process was outstanding
– The price was competitive”

Midlands Energy Hub, Nottingham City Council, Michael Gallagher

The REI sat down with Michael Gallagher, Regional Energy Projects Manager for Midlands Energy Hub, to talk about the experience of receiving professional training from the REI.

1. Hello Michael. Please tell us a little bit about the team that participated in the course – what are their backgrounds and what was your aim with the training?

The course was developed for the Midlands Energy Hub’s Regional Energy Team, alongside colleagues from their Nottingham City Council hosts Energy Services. The Regional Energy Team are working with LEPs and Local Authorities supporting the development and delivery of low carbon and renewable energy projects in line with the Midlands LEPs Energy Strategies. The team have a diverse Energy background having worked in technical, operational and installation project roles including Solar PV, Heat Pumps, Energy Procurement and Carbon Abatement.

The team are supporting a broad range of energy projects including large scale Solar Power, district heating and Hydro-electric. With each team member being a specialist in one or several areas but not all, a need was identified to find a course that would give all the team the opportunity to learn about technologies outside of their specialism and refresh them on their own areas of expertise. There was also a skills gap identified for the team (and the project teams they were supporting) around more detailed understanding of energy project finance. With project finance being a critical part of project development the aim was to enable the team to “bridge the gap” in the project development process, and give them sufficient understanding of the terminology and mechanisms that would allow them to have productive conversations with public and private sector finance teams.

Find out more about REI’s courses in Renewable Energy, Technology and Finance here.

“The energy project finance element of the course, which was the main focus, was fantastic. The team were applying the knowledge learned before the course was even over and it is having a really positive impact on the project development process.”

Midlands Energy Hub, Nottingham City Council, Michael Gallagher

2. Why did you choose the Renewable Energy Institute as your professional training course provider?

The REI was selected as the training provider for several reasons:

• They were able to tailor a course to meet the specific training needs of the team
• They are a recognised provider of CPD
• The customer service provided throughout the process was outstanding
• The price was competitive

3. How has the REI’s training helped you with your current projects?

The course provided the team with a good overall understanding of a range of technologies, alongside excellent case studies that can now be applied to a range of projects.
The energy project finance element of the course, which was the main focus, was fantastic. The team were applying the knowledge learned before the course was even over and it is having a really positive impact on the project development process. To improve efficiency a simple financial model was developed for use by the whole team within a week of the course. Now three weeks on a more detailed “base financial model” is being developed to enable the team to work with finance teams to build more complex financial models where appropriate.

4. The REI has named the 2020s the Decade of Renewable Energy: what are Nottingham City Council’s goals for sustainability?

Nottingham City Council is working towards being a Carbon Neutral City by 2028, supported by the work of their Energy Services Team. Nottingham are a leading Local Authority for Energy delivering exciting, innovative projects including: Energiesprong (Deep Retrofit), Vehicle to Grid, Energy Storage, D2 Grids (Heat from Mine Water).

The Midlands Energy Hub – Regional Energy Team are supporting Midlands LEPs and Local Authorities, many of whom are working towards a 2030 target for Carbon Neutrality, develop a range of exciting projects including: District Heating, Heat from Mine Water, Large-scale Solar Power, and Electric Vehicles infrastructure roll-out.

Read the REI’s article on the Decade of Renewable Energy and find out what can be done to reduce carbon emissions and stop the climate crisis here.

Contact the REI for bespoke, in-house training from industry-leading experts to support your current projects or plan your future strategy: email training@renewableinstitute.org or call +44 (0)131 446 9479 to speak to a course advisor.