Profile: Phil Dyke

PHIL Dyke is the man who stands up in village halls across the North of England and tells audiences why it is a good idea for his company to build wind farms in fields nearby.

It’s a tough job and one that requires a thick skin. The people who have gathered in those halls are often angry or fearful or both about the impact of giant turbines towering over their little corner of England.

All Dyke asks for is a fair hearing so he can give them the facts, as he sees them, to help them make up their own minds.

He is the development director at Banks Renewables, a leading developer of onshore windfarms in the North, and community engagement is a big and important part of his job.

“We genuinely try to listen to people,” said Dyke, 50. “It’s such an important part of a successful development, the local community.

“But the local community very rarely has one point of view. Sometimes people think their view is the view of the local community. It really is not.

“A lot of people understand renewables and a lot of people in this country are very positive about renewables and understand that something has to be done.”

It is very satisfying for him when he wins them over. Equally, it is very disappointing when people decide to form an opposition before they know the details. Some elected members are guilty of this, he said.

His message to the doubters – and there are a few in Yorkshire judging by our letters page – is to find out the facts. Come along to a meeting, read the pamphlet and make an informed decision; he would rather talk to you than not.

“We will always respect people’s views,” he said. “If Phil Dyke says it’s a good scheme I appreciate it does not make it a good scheme.”

He has helped Banks Renewables deliver three wind farms, in Durham, Doncaster and Barnsley, and achieve planning permission for another three at sites near Leeds and Darlington. Two more are under way, at Rotherham and Sedbergh.

He finds the sites, does the deals, prepares the plans and engages with the local communities. Banks raised its game on community engagement following some criticism from the planning inspector back in the late 80s. “I spend a lot of time in public meetings speaking to people,” said Dyke.

“I don’t set myself up to be a climate change expert but I do feel it’s absolutely clear in my mind that we have to move to more sustainable energy.

“You really don’t need a degree to understand that. The world millions of years ago was full of CO2. All that has been pulled into the coal seam, into oil, into gas. It’s locked up in the earth. If you unlock that, it’s going to unleash CO2.

“Is it the best thing to do? Is it the right thing to do for future generations?”

He leaves the questions hanging in the air. The reality is that there are grey areas in all polarising issues.

“There is not a village hall in the North of England that I have not accepted that wind power at this moment in time is not the whole solution because when it is not windy there is no electricity,” said Dyke. That may not always be such a big issue, though.

“Storage of electricity will come along. That’s the Achilles Heel of most renewables. The paradigm shift will be when you store electricity. Container-sized batteries are being developed. The US is at the forefront of storing electricity.

“Most also forget that the UK is a very windy country. It’s quite unusual that the UK is becalmed. It does happen occasionally.

“Generally speaking our wind turbines are rotating 85 per cent of the time.”

It is still early days for Banks Renewables while individual projects are profitable the overall division is not, due to developments costs. The wider Banks Group is profitable. Dyke has been at the forefront of the group’s diversification into renewable energy, which he initiated in 2005.

Onshore wind has benefited from taxpayer support in the form of renewable obligation certificates.

The Government’s energy market review is looking at new forms and levels of subsidy. In the meantime, companies like Banks, which have invested a lot of money in the sector, must wait and see what unfolds.

Dyke said: “It’s the elephant in the room. The new Government is still very keen to support renewables and we know renewables is an absolutely essential part of the future for this Government and future governments.

“We are confident that the support will be there but we desperately need clarity.

“It’s an industry supported by subsidy. That’s an area of criticism, which we are aware of. It’s costing the average household about £25 a year on their electricity bill. Any increase on an energy bill is regrettable but that’s not the huge amount of money that people claim it is.”

And then there is the issue of energy security; the UK is heavily dependent on its energy from parts of the world that are inherently unstable, said Dyke.

“A wind farm is not overly concerned about the grave political situation in the Middle East or Eastern Europe.

“Once we invest in the wind farm, the cost of that wind farm is fairly constant because much of the investment is upfront.”

As an open-cast mining group, Banks has a high success rate in planning. The renewables division scores above 80 per cent in successful planning decisions. But only 10-20 per cent of all sites looked at progress to land deals and then go on to applications. It has had to write off various projects.

Dyke is frustrated by the slow process in some planning systems.

“The Government is wringing its hands and saying ‘How can we get people back in jobs? How can we kick-start the economy?’

“Onshore wind farms are taking ages to get through the planning system. If it’s a bad site in a bad location it should not get planning consent.

“But we have a lot of good projects held up for spurious reasons and they do create jobs.”

He fears for the prospects of big game-changing infrastructure projects.

“The new High Speed 2 is a classic example. That would have a massive positive impact on the economy, It would get people into training and young people into apprenticeships.

“It is probably not going to get planning consent for decades. It’s a big brake.”

Speeding up planning is not about destroying the countryside, he said. On the contrary, he said Banks is very proud about what it is leaving behind for future generations.

These words are spoken with conviction; the Sheffield polytechnic graduate has spent 25 years of his life with the group. “Renewable energy has to be part of the future. If projects are in the right place then they should be encouraged and brought forward,” he said.

Phil Dyke Factfile

Title: Development Director, Banks Renewables

Date of Birth: August 21, 1962

Education: Shrewsbury School, Sheffield Poly

First Job: Mine Surveyor Elandsrand Gold Mine, SA

Favourite song: Another Girl Another Planet, The Only Ones

Car: Audi A4

Film: Annie Hall

Holiday: French Pyrenees

Last Book: Pure by Andrew Miller

Most Proud of Professionally: A number of restored mining projects, which are now enjoyed by the public, and have much greater bio-diversity than prior to operations.