Meet Us

Dr Gabriel Gallagher

BEng (Hons) PhD CEng FIMechE MCIBSE

Managing Director

Gabriel is a Chartered Engineer with over 24 years experience and practical application of engineering, commercial delivery and innovation in the decentralised renewable energy sector. Gabriel has a comprehensive background beginning with a Mechanical Engineering Apprenticeship with the MoD, going on to study Engineering at Cardiff University, working as researcher at the International Flame Research Foundation in the Netherlands and returning to Cardiff to study for his PhD in Heat Transfer and fluid Dynamics before founding Sustainable Energy Ltd. Gabriel has acted as principal consultant for the design and implementation of many of the UK's leading district heating, cooling and renewable power projects. Gabriel is a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the Energy Institute and a Chartered Member of CIBSE.

Chrissy Woodman

BEng (Hons) CEng FEI IMAPS PgC

Director

Chrissy is a Chartered Energy Engineer and Fellow of the Energy Institute with 20 years experience of low carbon heat and power projects. Chrissy has held key delivery roles for the implementation of hundreds of renewable heating and power projects including development of technical specifications, procurement support, contract administration and Principal Designer role for large district heating projects. Chrissy also provides technical compliance support services for a number of blue chip companies including RHI, ROCs, CHPQA and Metering and Billing Regulations compliance. Chrissy has secured over £35m of grant funding for heat network construction projects and gained planning approval for a number of large renewable projects and regularly advises on permitting and licensing. She is an Incorporated Member of the Association for Project Safety.

Richard Townsend

FIET DipNeBOSH

Associate Director

Richard is a highly experienced multi-disciplinary engineer and project manager specialising in heat network project delivery. Richard has over 32 years of experience of delivering large scale utility projects including construction and contract management, CDM, Quality Management and Health and Safety.

Dr Penny Maxwell-Lyte

BEng (Hons) MSc PhD CEng MIMechE MEI

Principal Engineer

Penny is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and CIBSE Heat Network Consultant with a PhD that focused on pyrolosis and gasification for EfW and biomass. Penny has extensive knowledge in the technical and financial assessment of district heat networks and her skills and experience are key to Sustainable Energy's masterplanning and feasibility studies including detailed technology assessments and techno-economic modelling. Penny also has in depth knowledge of carbon intensity methodology and assessments and has developed numerous complex MS Excel tools for data analysis, technology sizing and economic assessments. Penny has overseen numerous district heating projects for local authorities and BEIS Heat Network Delivery Unit. She has extensive knowledge of complex energy demand modelling, technology assessments, technical and financial modelling, detailed reporting and presenting.

Omied Khakshour

BEng (Hons) MSc CEng DipNDEA MIMechE

Principal Engineer

Omied is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and CIBSE Heat Networks Consultant. Omied has 15 years experience of the detailed design of district heating schemes including full network modelling, detailed hydraulic systems schematics, functional controls specifications and equipment specification. Omied has undertaken technology assessments, sizing and specification for a range of energy centre technologies including biomass, heat pumps, CHP and solar and has provided design review and client engineer support for the construction and commissioning of many low carbon heat networks. Omied regularly undertakes early stage feasibility assessments for low carbon heat and power projects which includes site surveys, energy demand assessments, techno-economic modelling, concept design and business case reporting. Omied is also a STEM Ambassador and provides training and mentoring to a number of external organisations as well as SEL staff

Paul Woods

MA MSc CEng FEI FIMechE FCIBSE

Associate

Paul is a Chartered Mechanical and Energy Engineer specialising in district heating, CHP and sustainable energy for buildings. As Technical Director for two major consultancies he oversaw the design and construction of many CHP and district energy projects. He has also provided advice to Government both on the potential for district heating in the UK and on the implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. More recently he has held senior roles within ENGIE, responsible for the strategic development of their six major district energy schemes and for the operation and development of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and ExCel London district heating and cooling companies. Paul is also well known for his work as author of key industry guidance including CIBSE’s AM12 - CHP for Buildings and the ADE/CIBSE CP1 - Code of Practice for Heat Networks.

Matthew Crawford

MEng (Hons) AMIChemE

Senior Consulting Engineer

Matt has a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering and is a CIBSE Heat Networks Consultant with extensive experience of design and specification of buried heat networks, low carbon energy centres, thermal substations for building connections and secondary/tertiary system upgrades. Matt has also delivered detailed techno-economic feasibility studies and commercialisation support for large scale heat networks including a number of heat pump projects for housing developments comprising mine water source, sewer source, air source and ambient loop networks.

Mari Roberts

MEng (Hons) CEng MIMechE

Senior Consulting Engineer

Mari has a first class honours MEng degree in Chemical Engineering with Energy & Environment from the University of Manchester. She has delivered numerous detailed techno-economic feasibility and detailed project development studies for a range of low carbon district heating schemes from social housing sites, to new garden village developments and large city centres. Mari has significant knowledge of low carbon technologies including mine, ground, open, and waste water source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, gas CHP, solar thermal, energy from waste plants, and waste heat sources. She is a highly experienced consultant engineer with excellent techno-economic modelling, technical reporting, and presenting skills.

Adrien Grubb

MEng (Hons) CEng MIMechE

Senior Consulting Engineer

Adrien is a CIBSE Heat Networks Consultant with extensive experience of managing and delivering detailed techno-economic feasibility studies for large scale heat networks, and detailed project development and commercialisation including a 12MW town centre network. Adrien regularly provides technical and commercial support to heat network customers, including specification of connection plant and secondary/tertiary upgrades and negotiation of heat tariffs. Adrien has developed complex techno-economic modelling and technology sizing tools and developed outline and final business cases to secure funding for a number of high profile heat network projects.

Alexis Ciunek

BEng (Hons) MSc AMIMechE

Consulting Engineer

Alexis holds a BEng (Hons) degree in Environmental Engineering from Swansea University and an MSc in Sustainable Energy and Environment from Cardiff University. As a Consulting Engineer at SEL and a certified CIBSE Heat Networks Consultant, she brings extensive experience in energy demand modelling, technology appraisals, network route assessments, heat sales tariff assessments, RIBA Stage 2 designs, technology sizing, and techno-economic modelling. Alexis has worked on a variety of projects, ranging from city centre feasibility and DPD studies to projects for large-scale planned developments. Previous work has included studies for Wakefield City Council, North Tyneside Council, Bristol City Council, Cadogan Estates, and Lewisham Borough of London and planned developments at Filton Airfield and Welborne Garden Village. She excels in delivering key project components, including data analysis, detailed GIS outputs, business case assessments, and comprehensive report writing, showcasing her exceptional organisational skills and high level of attention to detail.

Sarah Philip

BEng (Hons) MSc AMIChemE

Consulting Engineer

Sarah holds a BEng (Hons) in Chemical Engineering and an MSc in Advanced Chemical Engineering from Imperial College. She has been working on feasibility studies and design aspects for heat networks in Bedminster, Old Market, and Redcliffe, gaining experience in reviewing the compatibility of buildings connecting to heat networks, substation design and issuing associated tender documentation. Sarah also supports with reviewing external design submission compliance against our specification. Her areas of expertise include the design and specification of thermal substations, design compliance, heat exchanger sizing software and in-house hydraulic system sizing

Joseph Pitkethly

BEng (Hons) AMEI

Project Engineer

Joseph has a BEng in Energy Engineering from University of East Anglia. He has been working on a number of feasibility processes across the company, for proposed heat networks in Wakefield, Royal Borough of Greenwich, Carlisle, South Kilburn and Bedminster, gaining experience in a multitude of areas including; building heat demand modelling, techno-economic modelling and heat generation technology assessment. Joseph has used his experience on heat network projects to build his skills in 3D modelling of heat network energy centres and building substation connections, and generation of outputs required for tender scope of works documents. His areas of expertise include a wide range of experience using ArcGIS mapping software, engineering software including AutoCAD & Revit, and hydraulic modelling of heat networks using NetSim in a wide range of applications

Reece Dillon

MEng (Hons)

Project Engineer

Reece has an MEng (Hons) in Chemical Engineering and is an experienced Project Engineer who has contributed to the detailed design of a number of large scale district heating schemes, undertaking full network modelling and developing detailed hydraulic schematics, sizing and specification of low carbon technologies. He has supported delivery of early stage feasibility assessments for low carbon heat and power projects, his role included site surveys, energy demand assessments, techno-economic modelling, concept design and business case reporting.

Llywelyn Hughes

BEng

Project Engineer

Llywelyn has recently joined the team having attained a first class honours BEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cardiff University and is nearing completion of his Engineering Doctorate (EngD) specialising in integrating additive manufacturing and heat pipe technology. Llywelyn has previous experience within the heat pump industry performing in-depth heat loss assessment and system sizing in addition to investigating the feasibility of decarbonising hybrid-based heat pump systems with the use of alternative fuels.

Matthew Carrington

BEng (Hons) MSc MIET

Junior Engineer

Matt has a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering, an MSc in Sustainable Engineering Management for International Development and is a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Matt is a Junior Engineer with experience in masterplanning and feasibility of low carbon district energy projects (including a number of local authority and hospitals schemes) and retrofit of low carbon solutions for single buildings. He has recently provided technical support for a range of air source heat pump installations (up to 500 kW) at local authority sites where he has contributed to system design and specification, developed 3D plant room arrangements and carried out site surveys and snagging visits.

Mike Nixon

BEng (Hons)

Junior Engineer

Mike has a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering and provides technical support during heat network construction and commissioning stages. He has provided installation support for replacement of the Duffryn Heat Network (large residential network supplying 1,000 homes) and Cardiff Heat Network (supplying a number of high profile buildings in Cardiff Bay). He has experience of undertaking review of contractor submissions, site surveys, development of snagging reports and contractor management and has developed 3D models illustrating energy centre design and thermal substation integration.

Ollie Campbell-Lendrum

BSC (Hons) MSc

Junior Engineer

Ollie has a BSC in Physics and an MSC in New and Renewable Energy. Ollie has supported on the delivery of heat zoning and detailed techno-economic feasibility studies for district energy projects, from large city centre schemes to smaller social housing networks. His role includes energy data collection, energy demand modelling, technology and network assessments and design, techno-economic modelling and report writing.

Tom Heath

BEng (Hons) MSc

Graduate Engineer

Tom has a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and an MSc in Sustainable Energy & the Environment. Tom contributes to heat network zoning assessments and techno-economic feasibility studies, and the skills he has developed so far include development of heat maps in ArcGIS, energy data gathering and analysis, and heat demand and supply assessments.

Mhairi Parsons

MEng AMIMechE

Graduate Engineer

Mhairi has recently joined the team following an 18 month sojourn, working and travelling internationally. She has a first class Masters of Engineering with honours from the University of Sheffield, for which she undertook a dissertation stress behaviour of railway-related materials, having also undertaken a year in industry in design and analytics in the energy sector, as well as a number of placements. She has immediately brought to bear on her role her zeal to learn, and is fast amassing a considerable breadth of experience in various stages of the concept and design of heat networks, especially using GIS to establish constraints, managing planned developments for potential network areas, and managing stakeholder lists, as well as contributing a bright and engaging disposition to SEL's team dynamic.

Sam Snow

BEng

Graduate Engineer

Sam is the team's newest member, having joined SEL in the third quarter of 2024, directly after graduating from Cardiff University with a Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering. He has already contributed to projects from Greenwich to Gateshead, assisting senior consultants with tasks is GIS and AutoCAD and working on establishing planned developments within outline areas and heat demand assessments for proposed networks.

Andrew Simms

BTEC HNC & ONC Mechanical Engineering NEBOSH

Associate

Andrew is one of the UK's leading district energy scheme specialists in the design and installation of buried heat networks, including 25 years experience of contractor management, design and project delivery, commissioning, training and handover. He is a very knowledgeable and versatile senior heat network engineer with both mechanical and civil engineering expertise. He has a proven track record of managing specialist teams to successfully deliver heat network projects for large multinational energy providers and local authorities and provides expert support to renewable energy projects across the UK.

Denise Seager

Administration Manager

Denise is a key member of the team and manages all administrative activities of Sustainable Energy, including accounts receivable and payable, project costing, office management and payroll. Denise has over twenty years experience of finance and accounting and has excellent management and organisational skills

Angharad Beurle-Williams

MPhys (Hons) MSc

Project Administrator

Angharad is a skilled project administrator who oversees management of the administration of projects and SEL's social value delivery, and supports the team in tender writing, information handling, template management and scheduling, as well as occasionally contributing directly to project work, helping SEL to maintain the high-quality of our work and deliver on our company aims and objectives. She assists the directors in business development, ISO-compliance and budgeting, and she is the company's qualified Mental Health First Aider and promotes emotional health and support throughout the team. She has a background in running small companies and supporting start-ups with sustainability and fairness at their core.