John Mullen, formerly SSE’s director of asset management, has joined Ramboll to front the UK arm of its 1,600 strong global energy business. 

“Ramboll’s energy business has been growing, and with the continued momentum on decarbonising the UK’s energy sector we are thrilled to welcome someone of John’s calibre to lead our ambitious growth in the UK”, said Philippa Spence, Ramboll’s UK managing director. 

Mullen, who will be based from Ramboll’s Edinburgh office, is an experienced leader with more than 25 years’ experience across utilities and district energy. He spent 13 years at SSE, one of the largest energy providers and asset companies across the UK and Ireland, serving as the director of asset management. 

He was responsible for the safety, performance and lifetime optimisation of all assets and facilities, including a waste and biomass plant, private water business, sixteen district heat networks, generation plants, and one of the largest private networks in the UK, and drove multi-million pound growth for SSEs distributed energy group. 

Accordingly, as well as fronting Ramboll’s UK energy business overall in the UK market, Mullen will also assume departmental responsibility for the UK district energy team. 

Commenting on his appointment, Mullen said: “With almost every UK organisation in the public and private sector transitioning to net zero, I am looking forward to growing the business to support our clients through every aspect of their journey, from energy master planning to project development and delivery. 

“I joined Ramboll for its ethical and value driven approach to clients and society and its core focus on sustainability and decarbonisation. With such a strong record of innovative projects across offshore wind, battery storage, carbon capture, hydrogen and district heating, Ramboll is well positioned to support the UK’s green transition.”

Philippa Spence added: “There has been great progress toward the green transition in the energy sector, with further opportunity to accelerate this journey. With numerous policy developments from the government, as well as continued innovation in the sector and across their supply-chains, it is an exciting sector to operate in.”