UK carbon capture developer Storegga has appointed Michael Alsford into the new role of head of corporate finance and investor relations.
Mr Alsford joins the company from global investment bank Citi, where he was a director in equity research, specialising in energy transition areas such as renewables, biofuels and carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Prior to Citi, Michael held equity research roles at Morgan Stanley and Nomura and also worked in leveraged finance following his qualification as a Chartered Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Storegga chief executive Nick Cooper said the company was “very lucky” to have Mr Alsford join its team.
“He brings substantial relevant experience and has really impressed the industry with the quality of his research at Citi on CCS and the energy transition,” Mr Cooper added.
“In only a couple of years, Storegga has grown from coordinating a single cluster of decarbonisation technologies in Scotland into an international developer with projects in in several countries. The UK’s experience in decarbonisation is world-leading and accordingly our knowledge is directly applicable to many countries.
“We are a small but fast-growing business; Michael will be another key contributor to this essential effort.”
Commenting on his new role, Mr Alsford said: “It’s really exciting to work with a company at this stage of its development. As Storegga replicates the blueprint of its Scottish Acorn project globally, there is a real opportunity for me to help support the company’s growth.
“There are significant pools of international capital looking to invest in energy transition developments and increasingly we are seeing the world’s leading thinkers back decarbonisation technology as an important part of solving the climate change conundrum. It’s therefore no surprise that Storegga already has the backing of some of the world’s leading infrastructure investors.”
Storegga’s investors include funding from Australian bank Macquarie Bank, GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and Mitsui, and it is currently developing projects in the UK and internationally, including the Acorn project and a newly proposed direct air capture (DAC) scheme in the north east.
Mr Alsford said the company was of great interest to investors because it is proving that it can bring together diverse groups of stakeholders “around high integrity decarbonisation developments,” describing the process as “a difficult task which requires a particular mix of expertise, from geologists to regulatory specialists to finance experts.”
“I am really looking forward to working with such an impressive team and being part of the company’s vital mission to tackle climate change.”
Mr Alsford is the latest in a string of appointments for the fast-growing developer, which also took on a new head of corporate affairs in January, followed by a new head of policy and regulation.
