Dr Andrew Garrad CBE
Member since 2006
Andrew Garrad co-founded the Garrad Hassan Group (GH) in 1984, providing renewable energy consulting services around the world from its Bristol headquarters, the remarkable gothic St Vincent’s Works in St Phillips. He sold the company to the Hamburg-based Germanischer Lloyd in 2009 and stayed on to run the combined company until 2016. When he retired, it employed 1,000 people with offices in 29 countries. The company is now owned by the Norwegian Det Norske Veritas and it continues to provide services in all areas of renewable energy.
Andrew built his first wind turbine in his parents’ garden in 1971. After taking his first degree in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford, he received a PhD from the University of Exeter. He holds the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering from both the University of Exeter and the University of Bristol, where he is now the Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor of Renewable Energy. He is also an honorary fellow of New College, Oxford.
Andrew was President of the European Wind Energy Association from 2014 to 2016, and in 1989 served as Chairman of the British Wind Energy Association.
He was Chair of Bristol’s year as European Green Capital in 2015. He is actively involved in Ambition Community Energy’s project in Lawrence Weston to build England’s biggest onshore wind turbine, which will be community owned. Andrew sits on the board of the Cabot Institute, and is a keen supporter of The Bristol Old Vic, St George’s Brandon Hill, The Park Community Centre in Knowle and the Ideas Partnership in Kosovo.
For SMV he is Chair of the Society’s Social Enterprise Committee and is a Trustee of the St Monica Trust.
Andrew says: “Wind energy has been with us for millennia, but in the last 50 years, it has entered a new era. The 10m diameter turbines of my early professional life have become the 250m giants of today. I am just one of a great many scientists and engineers who have made wind energy an essential part of our zero-carbon future.
“In 2023 renewables’ share of total UK power generation achieved both an annual record of 47.3%, and a quarterly record which, at 51.5%, was the first time over half of all generation came from renewable sources. These significant achievements have been made possible by revolutionary improvements in the generation of electricity from wind energy. Prestigious awards such as this one help to raise the profile of the industry and the actions we must all take to address the climate crisis.”