Shepherd and Wedderburn partner appointed chairman of Scottish Renewables

Patricia Hawthorn, partner at Shepherd and Wedderburn, has been appointed chairman of the renewables body while Gordon MacDougall, managing director, Western Europe at global renewable developer RES, has been appointed vice-chairman.

Ms Hawthorn replaces Ronnie Bonnar, managing director of Repsol Nuevas Energias UK, who has chaired Scottish Renewables since 2013.

Commenting on her appointment, Ms Hawthorn said: “With renewables now making an increasingly significant contribution to our energy mix, it is an exciting time to take on the role of chairman of Scottish Renewables, an organisation which acts as a powerful advocate for the benefits provided by Scotland’s renewable energy sector.

“Given the opportunities and challenges presented by the move from support under the renewables obligation to competitive auctions for contracts for difference and the upcoming UK and Scottish parliament elections, it is more important than ever that Scotland’s renewables sector speaks with a strong and united voice and that the interests of our members across all technologies are robustly represented by their industry body.

“I would like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Ronnie Bonnar, whose invaluable contribution helped Scottish Renewables navigate its way through some significant changes to the industry over the last two years.”

Since joining Shepherd and Wedderburn in 2007, Ms Hawthorn has focused on consenting four of the offshore windfarms planned for Scottish and UK waters.