ICT solutions integrator NEC XON has appointed Hilary Campbell as GM of its renewables and energy storage unit.
According to a statement, Campbell, who takes over from Herman Viljoen − who is now GM of strategic projects – brings experience and expertise in the renewable energy sector to her new role.
Campbell will lead the alternative energy team to help conceptualise energy projects for customers, based on compliance with the energy and electricity regulatory landscape in SA and across Africa.
She has been familiar with NEC XON since 2013, when she worked as an expert adviser for energy and storage projects with the company, it says.
Johannesburg-headquartered NEC XON is the combination of systems integrator XON and NEC Africa, the African business of global technology giant NEC Corporation.
The company has operated in Africa since 1963, and offers communications, energy, safety, security and digital solutions. It operates in 54 African countries and has a footprint in 16 of them.
By working with subsidiaries, NEC Corporation and NEC Energy Solutions, NEC XON says it has gained experience in the battery energy storage systems (BESS) market over the last decade, with NEC’s installed base reaching over 1GW BESS.
According to Campbell, NEC XON's ability to support projects in regions where local suppliers lack the technical skills or financing provides an opportunity to advance renewable energy, particularly in projects incorporating BESS and engineering, procurement and construction services.
“Campbell’s impeccable timing in aligning with the emergence of the first three IPP [independent power producer] programmes allowed her to gain extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of renewable projects, from technical and legal to financial, by working on many of them for funders and developers,” says Magnus Coetzee, executive: infrastructure and energy at NEC XON.
“This spring-boarded her into the substantial renewable energy and storage sector as an overall project adviser and technical consultant to companies, banks, developers and consultancies.
“It is this experience and skill in every part of a renewable project required to make it successful for both clients and NEC XON that make her such a valuable acquisition to lead the alternative energy team.”
Campbell has a Bachelor of Science degree and Scots Law LLB from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
In 2010, she pivoted from being a corporate lawyer specialising in technology and energy mergers and acquisitions, to becoming a renewable energy specialist. Campbell used her engineering and renewable energy qualifications to offer advice on early-stage solar and wind projects in SA and across the African continent.
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