Pete Aston joins the Roadnight Taylor team
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Pete Aston, who joins from Western Power Distribution (WPD) where he was responsible for all grid connections to the high and extra-high voltage networks across all four of WPD’s licence areas.
As Network Engineer at Roadnight Taylor, Pete will be bringing to bear his 20-year experience of the industry to help clients gain the grid connections they are finding increasingly challenging to achieve for their low carbon technology projects and demand-led schemes.
At WPD, as Primary System Design Manager, Pete led a team of 60 people managing connections, and reinforcement of the primary network from 33kV up to 132kV. He managed an annual capital budget of £30m and held responsibility for some 500 formal grid connection offers a year (up to 299MW).
Pete says, “I’m really looking forward to using my technical, commercial and regulatory expertise, and my insider knowledge of how network operators really work, to help Roadnight Taylor’s clients secure the most appropriate, cost-effective and timely grid connections. One of the reasons I became an engineer was because I love solving problems, whether it’s a technical, regulatory or commercial issue. With grid capacity getting scarcer and flexible connection arrangements growing in prevalence and complexity, the expertise needed to get viable connections has become increasingly specialist. I know I’ll see plenty of interesting challenges in my new role.”
“It’s a really exciting time for the electricity industry and much as I’ve enjoyed my time working for a big organisation, I wanted a new experience, and to help hasten decarbonisation across the whole of the UK. I believe I can do that best by working with a dynamic, adaptable consultancy like Roadnight Taylor. The team has some of the best grid experts in the country, so they already pack a punch much greater than their size,” adds Pete.
Roadnight Taylor is seeing a growing demand from energy developers, funds, landowners, commercial and industrial and the public sector for their grid consultancy services. In 2020 alone they were successful with 2GW of connection offers for their clients – including a number of the biggest energy companies in the UK.
Hugh Taylor, CEO at Roadnight Taylor, said, “Our services have been in such demand we have had to turn down a lot of work, but now Pete is on board we have a much greater capacity to offer the high-quality service our customers need. Pete is a fantastic addition to the team and means our clients have even greater access to the specialist knowledge needed to achieve viable connections.
“In particular, Pete owned WPD’s transmission boundary relationship with National Grid – and was responsible for their rollout of ANM. Given most proposed schemes now have some level of interaction with National Grid and/or require ANM offers, his insight will be invaluable to developers and funds struggling with these potential hazards.”
Contact us
If you need help with your grid connections for any technology or scheme of any size, call us on 01993 830571 or send us a message via our contact form.
