Spotlight on…Valpy Fitzgerald – Head of Renewables

Valpy has been with us for eight years, but has only been ‘Head of Renewables’ since 2010. Valpy tells us what his new role means for the company’s future.
 

What does your job involve?

I'm responsible for bringing in Opus Energy's renewable power, and setting up cleaner supply to meet our customers' demand. I also work with our risk management team to monitor weather stations across the UK, and predict how the changing weather will affect our customers’ usage.

Just as I know that colder weather will mean buying more power, windier weather means we can buy less non-renewable energy and more from wind farms.
 

Why is cleaner energy important to Opus Energy?

Because it’s important to our customers. Taking care of the environment is now a global concern and the UK is one of its main drivers. As a supplier, we’ve got to understand this change and its effect on the energy market to stay one step ahead.

I have two daughters who learn about cleaner energy at school. It’s nice, when they point out a wind turbine, that I can sometimes tell them we’re using its energy.
 

How has cleaner energy developed over time?

‘Renewables’ has only been part of my job title since 2010, but in truth I’ve been looking after our cleaner energy for much longer.

The cleaner energy debate has been around really since I started at Opus Energy, with Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) available since 2001.

However this year the landscape has changed dramatically thanks to the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (now the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme), and Feed-In Tariffs (FITs).

As FITs can offer greater incentives to those selling renewable energy, particularly smaller generators, we’ve seen a huge rise in interest, and have quickly developed greater understanding to harness these new opportunities.
 

What are your cleaner energy goals for 2011?

In 2011 I’d like to see us bring in as much generation from renewable sources as we can. Ideally I’d like to make our business demand fully exempt from the Climate Change Levy.

I think it would be great if Opus Energy could turn its innovation in product development to our power purchasing agreements. I imagine Opus Evolution ‘in reverse’, allowing larger generators to play the market when they sell power, just as they can when they buy from us.

Only Opus Energy has a product like Evolution, so I think we’re in a unique position to take advantage of these opportunities.
 

What’s your favourite thing about your job?

The sheer variety of cleaner energy projects keeps me interested. I enjoy seeing how different UK businesses and entrepreneurs are tackling the challenges of responsible waste disposal and reducing their carbon footprint.

This year we’ve looked into buying energy generated from many different cleaner sources; from pyrolosis, in one case from burning used London taxi tyres, to anaerobic digestion using Opus Energy’s own kitchen waste.

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