Carol Gould, Head of Power and Renewables at MUFG, has been ranked as the fourth most influential individual in the first Women's Power List, published by wind industry intelligence service, 'A Word About Wind' (AWAW). The report aims to promote and celebrate the contribution of the female deal-makers and power-brokers shaping the wind industry's development.
The report is the first of its kind, with rankings compiled by the AWAW editorial team in collaboration with an impartial senior advisory board. Carol's position on the list testifies to her growing influence and that of her team on the sector, and she has played a key role establishing MUFG as a key funding partner for renewables.
In recent months, these have included MUFG participating in the project finance consortium for the 573MW Race Bank, where Macquarie bought 50% of the project from Dong Energy for £1.6bn in December; and in the financing group for the 370MW Norther.
MUFG also acted as Financial Advisor and co-financed the £2.6bn 588MW Beatrice, which reached financial close in May. The offshore sector has provided Carol with her career highlights. In 2009, the bank took part in the 14-strong group that refinanced Centrica and EIG's 220MW Boreas portfolio, which included two offshore wind farms with combined capacity of 194MW; and, in 2012, she worked on the nonrecourse project financing of the 270MW Lincs in UK waters.
"I am delighted to have been recognised in this way. When I started doing power project finance back in 1996, you'd go into a meeting with 30 people and you might be the only woman in the room. Now it might not be the senior people who are women, but you'll have much more of a chance of there being one or two female lawyers in the room, and female bankers as well."
Adam Barber, Publisher of AWAW added
"Despite women being significantly under-represented at senior management and board level within the wind industry, ranking the key female players within the sector was no easy task.
In doing so, the report aims to highlight the achievements and exciting careers these women have carved out within the wind sector – and hopefully encourage more women to follow in their footsteps."
The report profiles the top 100 women currently working in the wind industry, with each candidate having been nominated by her peers, and then assessed and ranked by an independent judging panel made up of senior industry representatives.
Emma Pinchbeck, RenewableUK's Executive Director said
"This new power list highlights the important role women are now playing in the wind industry. The UK is one of the leading performers in the rankings, which is an encouraging sign that our sector is becoming more inclusive.
We need to ensure that women across the country see wind energy as an open and attractive industry to work in. This means promoting renewable skills and opportunities to a new generation of women entering the workforce."
In total, MUFG invested in 53 clean energy and smart energy technology projects in 2016, in deals worth $2.9bn according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. This meant MUFG came out on top of BNEF's global league table of lead arrangers for these kinds of transactions.
For further information, please click here.