Yorkshire Energy Park Project Director joins key Waterline Summit panel

The project director behind the flagship £200m Yorkshire Energy Park development has been announced as one of the speakers at the largest and most important decarbonisation event in the North of England.

Andrew Reynolds will join international speakers and panellists at the launch of the Waterline Summit 2021 – Connecting the Humber to COP26 on October 18th, a major event placing the Humber at the forefront of climate change, empowering people and places to net zero and creating an economic model for decarbonisation.

He will speak at the summit’s A Question of Carbon event, which will link to the globally critical United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Glasgow in November.

It will bring together a range of innovative thinkers, industry experts and key government figures to discuss the crucial role the Humber region must play as the UK’s biggest carbon emitter with the greatest decarbonisation potential.

The event aims to focus on the importance of the UK’s Energy Estuary being positioned as central to the global climate challenge and connecting the Humber on a global scale. As rebuilding from the Covid-19 pandemic continues, the first day of events at the Waterline Summit will be based around the need for a global green transition.

A Question of Carbon will take place at Hull City Hall at 8.45am, as well as streaming live via Zoom, and include a Q&A Question Time-style panel approach.

Andrew, who has extensive experience in the UK commercial property markets, spent more than a decade as Development Director at Hines, one of the largest private real estate investors and managers in the world.

He is also chair of EC Partnership, a business collective working to promote and enhance a unique part of London, and has played an instrumental role in shaping the skyline with landmark developments such as Cannon Street Station.

Andrew said: “I’m delighted to take part in the Waterline Summit launch and be invited alongside other fantastic speakers and panellists.

“Yorkshire Energy Park is unique both regionally and nationally, and I’ll be able to share the benefits the scheme will bring, as well as our aims to become one of the first zero carbon business parks in the UK and provide an update on the development’s progress.

“We have a huge part to play in the wider decarbonisation work being done both locally and nationally and the Waterline Summit is playing a key role in helping to communicate, promote and share those messages and actions on a global scale.”

Yorkshire Energy Park, an event partner in the Waterline Summit, is a next generation green energy and technology business park which will play a critical role in revitalising the local economy and cementing the Humber region’s reputation as the UK’s Energy Estuary.

Located at the former Hedon aerodrome site to the east of Hull and within the Humber Freeport Zone, it is uniquely positioned to utilise skills and resources to help accelerate the regional transition to net zero, creating thousands of jobs, attracting hundreds of millions in investment in energy, data, technology and manufacturing.

The park received its formal decision notice in late 2020 following East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Planning Committee approval in 2019.

Its delivery will kickstart the economic future of the Humber region with over £200m inward investment anticipated. The target of 80% local labour through the construction period, along with the creation of trainee, graduate and apprenticeship opportunities, will also ensure considerable social return on investment.

The energy park team’s vision is to power the park through hydrogen via the nearby Saltend Hydrogen Hub. The 212-acre site will include:

  • An energy centre, battery storage and primary substation, providing on-site green energy and off-site green energy for export.
  • A data centre and disaster recovery suite
  • A mixture of space for businesses, including start-ups and SME growth
  • A National Centre of Excellence for education, training and research facilities, as well as short stay accommodation
  • An outdoor building material testing facility
  • New sports facilities for the community
  • Forty-five hectares of green space, protected for 150 years as an ecologically enhanced area for protected species.

Other speakers and panellists involved in the A Question of Carbon event are:

  • Liz Barber, Chief Executive Officer of Yorkshire Water and Kelda Group
  • Professor Dan Parsons, Director of the Energy and Environment Institute at the University of Hull
  • Patrick Harnett, Senior Programme Director at Ørsted UK
  • Dominic Martin, Vice President for Government and Regulatory Affairs at Equinor
  • Amy Meek, Co-Founder of Kids Against Plastic.

Cameron Wood, Junior Consultant at Shared Agenda Solutions, who is also working on the Yorkshire Energy Park team, will speak at the Waterline Summit’s Cities and Built Environment Day at 9am on October 22nd, providing his thoughts from a graduate perspective in a live panel discussion and Q&A session.

Taking place for the third consecutive year, the Waterline Summit runs from October 18th to October 22nd. To find out more and register, visit www.thewaterline.global/summit-2021/