Mark Shorrock has moved a lot of green electrons. He is a British, clean power systems developer who has been responsible for the development and construction of over 30 UK-based solar and wind sites with a total installed capacity of 302MW. At one point he owned the largest pre-consent pipeline of UK wind assets in 2006.
Mark pioneered two first-of-kind renewable energy investment vehicles, one specialising in early stage low carbon companies and the other focused on solar power investments.
Mark’s epiphany about tidal range power struck in 2011, having visited over 135 investment managers to explain virtues of investments in solar, wind, biomass, nuclear, tidal stream and tidal range. He started working towards a tidal lagoon at Swansea Bay in 2011 and created and staffed Tidal Lagoon Power in 2012 to begin work on a programme of six UK tidal lagoons, addressing project risks in the areas of environment, build cost, turbines, grid, land, planning and local stakeholders.
The first of these tidal lagoons, the 320MW Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, was awarded a Development Consent Order in 2015 and is being prepared for construction. Initial plans for a subsequent Cardiff Tidal Lagoon, around 3GW in installed capacity, were first unveiled in March 2015. The company is also actively examining opportunities for international deployment.
Mark’s early background was as a journalist for the Buenos Aires Herald and the BBC, and in the film industry where he worked as a Location Manager and Producer. He is married to an energy CEO, has two children, and keeps honeybees.