Why Apex exists
Technical advice on solar and storage assets usually comes from one of two places: a party with an interest in the outcome, or a large advisory firm whose reviewers have never built or operated what they are reviewing. Apex was founded to be a third option: independent by written policy, and informed by years on the owner-operator's side.
The practice works on three kinds of question. Before money changes hands: is the asset what it is represented to be, and which of its problems will cost money? While an asset operates: what should it produce, what does it, and where does the gap go? When something has gone wrong: what happened, whose problem is it, and what is it worth?
Apex is based in Glasgow and works across the UK, Ireland and the EU. Desk-based work is location-independent; site work is scoped and priced per engagement. The practice is small by design, which means the engineer who scopes the work is the engineer who does it.
- 11 yrsin utility-scale solar engineering
- 2 GW+of PV assets reviewed, designed or operated
- 9countries worked in, from the UK to Japan
- 100%independent: no EPC, no equipment sales, no commission
Dale Barnard
Dale started in technical advisory at SgurrEnergy in Glasgow, doing due diligence and owner's engineering for the lenders and funds behind solar and wind projects. That work teaches one habit above all: you are not paid to be enthusiastic, you are paid to find the thing that will go wrong and put a number on it.
He then spent seven years in Copenhagen on the other side of the table. First as a senior project engineer at European Energy, designing utility-scale PV and advising on the EPC, O&M and financing contracts around it. Then at Better Energy, a developer and owner-operator, where he built the systems that watch an operating fleet, led digitalisation across the business, and ran plant engineering for everything the company designed.
Building and running assets after somebody else has reviewed them changes what a reviewer looks for: which findings mattered, which were noise, and how much of a plant's lifetime performance is decided months before anything is built. Apex applies that to every engagement.
Where the experience comes from
- Founder and Principal Engineer Apex Renewable Engineering, Glasgow
Independent engineering for lenders, investors, owners, developers and EPCs across the UK, Ireland and the EU.
- Senior Director, Plant Engineering Better Energy, Copenhagen
Led the four plant engineering teams of a utility-scale developer and owner-operator: energy systems, design and drawings, energy yields, and civil engineering.
- VP, Director of Digital Solutions Better Energy, Copenhagen
Built the platforms the business used to run and analyse an operating fleet: performance, reporting and numerical modelling across finance, development, operations and design.
- Head of Systems and Analysis Better Energy, Copenhagen
Responsible for the systems that collect and analyse operational data, and for the performance of the parks.
- Senior Project Engineer European Energy, Copenhagen
Design across the solar pipeline and technical input to EPC, O&M and financing contracts. Assets in the UK, Egypt, Australia, Canada, Italy and Portugal.
- Renewable Energy Consultant SgurrEnergy (now Wood), Glasgow
Technical due diligence and owner’s engineering for lenders, funds and developers; plant design optimisation, yield studies and data analytics.
- Power Academy intern National Grid, Warwick, Leeds and Boston MA
Network planning and transmission line engineering.
The full record, with dates, is on LinkedIn.
Credentials
Insurance details, a CV in the format lenders and solicitors expect, and references are available on request.
- MEng, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering with International StudiesUniversity of Strathclyde, 2010 to 2015
- Exchange year, Electrical and Electronic EngineeringNanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2013 to 2014
- Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET)Since 2010
- Royal Academy of Engineering Advanced Leadership Award2013
- IET Power Academy Scholarship, with National Grid2011
- Royal Academy of Engineering alumnusSince 2013
Four things worth knowing before instructing us
Written for the decision-maker
A report that only another engineer can read has failed. Findings that change the number go at the front, with the evidence behind them. That is what "engineering, in your language" means.
We will say when the answer is no
Some assets are fine. Some claims will not succeed. Some scopes do not need an engineer. Saying so is the point of instructing somebody who is not selling anything.
Fixed scope, fixed fee
Defined work is scoped and priced in writing before it starts. Open-ended rates are reserved for genuinely open-ended problems, and we will say so if that is what yours is.
Independence is a written policy
No commission from anyone in the supply chain, a declaration of interest in every report, and the relationships that could test that published. The policy is here.
What clients and colleagues say
I can confidently say that anyone who has the opportunity to work with Dale Barnard is very fortunate. His professionalism, creativity and supportive nature make him an asset to any client.
I have come to highly appreciate Dale’s expertise as an engineer, and just as important, his ability to explain complex technical issues to non-engineers.
Dale’s approach is as a flexible and sympathetic leader, where morale, integrity and motivation are high. Dale is loyal to the direction of the clients and is an extremely effective communicator.
Tell us what you are trying to decide
Most engagements start with a short call about the asset, the transaction or the dispute, and the timetable. We will tell you what we would do, what it would cost, and whether you need us at all.