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 and General Manager for Ireland of SSE Renewables, leading the company’s wind farm projects across the island. Before joining SSE, 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 Member 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.

Having lead the HR aspects of the implementation of the operating model changes for the Wholesale businesses she was appointed as HR Business Partner for SSE Renewables in April 19. Supported by 3 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.

Annant Shah is the Director of Strategy and Route to Market at SSE Renewables with c.20 years international energy industry experience. He is responsible for strategy, risk & assurance, corporate PPAs and green hydrogen. Annant joined SSE Renewables in September 2021 as the Director of Commercial and Investment Management, and is also a Director of several Joint Venture Boards.

Prior to joining SSE, Annant held senior leadership positions across the Treasury, Strategy and M&A functions at Equinor where he was closely involved in delivering its strategic re-positioning, growth agenda, and financing. Earlier in his career, Annant was an investment banker with Rothschild, having graduated with a degree in Economics and Management from Oxford University.

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.