Former NSTA chief Andy Samuel to support leadership team

X-Academy, the world’s first energy jobs accelerator that works in partnership with governments, the private and public sectors in the UK and beyond, has strengthened its team with the appointment of Andy Samuel, as strategic advisor. 

As a highly respected leader with extensive experience across start-ups, large multinational companies and government, Andy was most recently chief executive of the UK’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) where he played a pivotal role in conceiving and delivering on a fresh vision for the UK Continental Shelf.

Andy will support the senior leadership team in its aim to accelerate clean energy jobs by developing people today, that can be deployed on the pipeline of clean energy projects tomorrow. The announcement comes as members of the team, including Andy, head to the UAE for COP28.

With a keen focus on climate change and the opportunities arising from the global energy transition, Andy was attracted to X-Academy by its mission to deliver a renewable energy workforce, by creating suitable and sustainable green jobs.

He said: “X-Academy has gone from strength-to-strength. The impressive diverse team continue to expand their positive impact through excellent partnerships including bp and EnBW JV, Fred Olsen, Full Circle 21 and NZTC. I’m very happy to be supporting as we play our part in solving the energy trilemma.”

Launched in November 2021 and led by global consultancy Xodus with investment from ETZ Limited and ScotWind consortium partners, bp and EnBW, the programme has attracted those with environmental, science, legal, education, engineering and art backgrounds.

Programme cohorts, ‘xccelerators’ are employed on the salaried programme where the organisation delivers professional development experiences for individuals to enhance their technical, professional, and behavioural skills by working directly on projects which will contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2024, X-Academy will be actively targeting projects and initiatives with the potential to unlock the talent, capability or infrastructure of specific regions. Its partnerships will continue to expand in Aberdeen and Orkney, and new regions are expected to be added wherever accelerating employment has the potential to increase the pace of achieving energy security and net zero.

Peter Tipler, managing director of X-Academy, said:
“As we approach the new year, and edge even closer to 2030 climate goals, our minds are sharply focused on driving change now. 

“Andy’s appointment comes at a pivotal time when we are closely exploring our next steps. We are now reinvesting revenue to create additional jobs across the globe and plans are already underway to scale as the UK jobs accelerator and expand globally in Australia, with intended projects developing in the Middle East, Japan and USA.

“With a singular focus on jobs and employability to deliver the energy transition, Andy’s role as strategic advisor and executive coach to X-Academy, with experience of working across multinational companies and governments, will bolster our plans to be a huge enabler of the energy transition jobs transformation.”

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