Our people

Stephen Wheeler is Managing Director of SSE Renewables. Together with his team Stephen is responsible for delivering SSE Renewables’ strategy to drive the transition to a net zero future through the world class development, construction and operation of renewable energy assets.

Stephen was previously Managing Director of SSE Thermal, focused on decarbonising the company’s flexible generation and energy storage portfolio, as well as Managing Director of SSE Ireland, where he was responsible for driving SSE's leadership position in Ireland in renewable energy development and operations, and in green energy supply. Before joining SSE, Stephen spent over 10 years working with ABB and Siemens internationally, specialising in the development and construction of thermal generation assets.

Stephen is a graduate of Electrical Engineering at University College Dublin, with an MBA from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, and a past Chairman of Wind Energy Ireland (WEI).

Paul Cooley is Director of Offshore at SSE Renewables, where he has end-to-end accountability for the development, construction, and operation of SSE Renewables offshore energy assets including the company's 8GW-plus pipeline of in-construction, consented and in development offshore wind farms in the UK and Ireland. Previously he held the roles of Director of Generation Development and Director of Performance Improvement within SSE’s Wholesale business and was also General Manager for SSE/Airtricity in Ireland.

Prior to joining the energy industry, he held various senior positions within the chemicals and manufacturing industry in the UK, Ireland and overseas, including operational, regulatory and engineering management roles at DuPont, Koch Industries and the Quinn Group. He has an Honours degree in Electrical Engineering from Queens University, Belfast and lives in Troon with his wife and three children.

Finlay McCutcheon is Director of Onshore Renewables (Europe) at SSE Renewables, where he has end-to-end accountability for the development, construction, and operation of all of SSE’s Onshore Wind, Hydro and Pumped Storage investments across Europe. These include nearly 2GW of operating Wind across GB and Ireland, with a further 1GW in active Development (including the 370MW Viking wind farm currently under construction on Shetland) and 1.5GW of operating Hydro in GB (including the 300MW Foyers pumped storage scheme), with the 1.5GW Coire Glas pumped storage project consented and under active development.

Finlay joined SSE in 2010, initially working on SSE’s flagship Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind project and then leading SSE’s Offshore Wind development team.

Alexandra Malone is Director of Corporate Affairs for SSE Renewables. She has responsibility for policy development, stakeholder engagement, community and government relations, communications and brand across all the jurisdictions in which the business operates. Previously she held several senior positions in Corporate Affairs and worked in SSE’s Energy Portfolio Management business.

Prior to joining SSE in 2012, Alexandra worked for the Government of Canada focussing on energy and climate policy. She holds a BSc from McGill University and a Master’s in Resource Management from Dalhousie University.

Elaine is SSE Renewables' HR Business Partner. She is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD. She joined SSE in 2012 having previously worked as an HR Business Partner for organisations including ScotRail and Rolls Royce. After 3 years as manager of the HR Service Centre, Elaine became HR Business Partner for Wholesale in 2015.

She has been HR Business Partner for SSE Renewables since it was established in April 19. Supported by 4 HR Managers and the wider HR team, she is responsible for ensuring effective workforce planning, organisational design, staff engagement and employee relations for SSE Renewables.

Barry O’Regan is Finance Director of SSE Renewables as well as Group Finance Director at SSE plc for Corporate Finance, and is responsible for investments and acquisitions in the renewable energy sector consistent with the company’s strategy as well as group M&A activities, investment appraisal and credit ratings.

Barry trained as a chartered accountant with Pricewaterhouse Coopers in Dublin before joining Airtricity in 2005. He has around 15 years’ experience working in the Energy sector holding various roles in financial control, corporate finance and treasury. He is also a Director on a number of Joint Venture Boards.

Kate Wallace Lockhart is Head of Sustainability, responsible for the development and implementation of SSE Renewables’ sustainability approach, climate change strategy and just transition plan. With almost a decade of experience working within the SSE Group sustainability team, Kate has played a central role in establishing and building the Group’s sustainability approach including, in her previous role as Head of Social Impact, its world-leading strategy for supporting a fair and just transition to net zero. Kate's background is in economics, with an active interest in behavioural science. From April 2021, Kate has been Chair of the Living Wage Scotland Leadership Group.

Dan Pearson is Director of Business Development, responsible for leading and supporting SSE Renewables’ outstanding Business Development teams in building our pipeline and expanding into new technologies across our core and international markets. As the business looks to deliver on its strategic goals, Dan has renewables executive level responsibility for identifying and executing high-quality growth options, from bids to M&A prospects to partnerships, across all technologies and markets.

Dan joined the company from RCG (The Renewables Consulting Group), where he was Director and Chief Strategy Officer, responsible for the global growth of the business. With a background in marine engineering, Dan has gained extensive experience in the renewable energy industry across two decades. He has particular expertise in the origination and development of wind, solar, and hydro projects, and a track record of successfully entering new markets.​​​​​​