Kate Gilmartin has announced her decision to step down as chief executive of the British Hydropower Association (BHA), with a commitment to support the organisation through the transition.
Gilmartin will move into a full-time role delivering Net Zero Terrace Streets, which she has helped develop voluntarily for more than five years. The project has secured nearly four years of SIF Beta funding to progress from demonstration to delivery.
“Leading the BHA has been an enormous privilege. For the past four years, I have worked with some of the most remarkable and inspirational people in the energy sector,” she said.
Announcing her departure, Gilmartin highlighted the breadth of the hydropower sector, from community schemes and the maintenance of existing assets to pumped storage development and tidal range.
“What unites the hydropower community is not simply an interest in a technology. It is a shared determination to protect and renew the infrastructure previous generations left us, while building the assets the next generations will need,” she said.
Her next role will focus on developing a street-by-street approach to decarbonising Britain’s terraced housing. Looped Energy Communities CIC, established as a joint venture between Rossendale Valley Energy and the Centre for Energy Equality, will support communities in delivering the approach.
For the SIF Beta phase, the organisation will partner with Middleton Cooperating to explore how collective action and cooperative structures can deliver warmer homes, affordable energy and a wider distribution of benefits from the energy transition.
Gilmartin said the project’s move into delivery would require her full-time commitment, while stressing her continuing support for hydropower.
“I remain fully committed to the BHA and to supporting the organisation through the transition. There is still plenty of work to do, and I intend to make every remaining moment count.”
