Ian Hutchison, BSc, MSc

Director (Operations)

Ian has an in-depth industrial insight coupled with a well-established marine environmental background. He is currently engaged in marine energy projects around the world and has become well acquainted with the majority of wave and tidal energy development companies through various projects. He has an excellent understanding of the relationship between marine energy development and the receiving environment.

Ian has managed the consenting process and acted as the Licence Agent for a number of wave and tidal developments at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC). He is currently leading a number of Environmental Impact Assessments for proposed demonstration and commercial scale wave and tidal developments within the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters (PFOW) Strategic Area. This often involves the development of bespoke solutions and regular consultation with regulators, advisors and other key stakeholders. Ian currently sits on the UK Marine Energy Programme Board’s Consents and Licensing sub-group.

He has coordinated a number of marine surveys within and around the Pentland Firth area focusing on site selection for marine energy projects and infrastructure development (including potential marine cable route surveys and landfall location assessment) and provided environmental monitoring support around marine energy deployments.

Ian has led and participated in a number of strategic projects focused on understanding the potential environmental effects of marine energy developments. This has included work for the Scottish Government, Marine Scotland and The Crown Estate in the UK, as well as international bodies such as the Oregon Wave Energy Trust and the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.