Biography:

Dr Anna Ferguson

Anna has 15 years’ of experience in Power Networks and Renewable Energy, including nearly a decade of experience working at Director level with Atkins, TNEI, WSP and now as Managing Director of Blake Clough Consulting. Since Sept 2021 she has grown the Blake Clough team from a small startup to one of the UK’s leading Power Networks consultancies.  During her time with Blake Clough, Anna has also developed skills in electrical package management for large offshore wind farms, as well as carrying out complex power systems studies and delivering regulatory and strategic projects.

Anna has a broad range of knowledge and experience in areas including electricity regulation, power system economics, technical advisory/ due diligence, innovation, support to generation/ demand/ storage developers and multi-disciplinary project management.  She is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the IET and an active member of Cigré, where she sits as a member of the Steering Committee.

Prior to moving into the field of Power Networks, Anna has worked in other industry sectors including Strategy Consulting and Investment Banking, and applies principles gained working for major global clients to projects within the Energy industry. Anna has a strong academic background, having read Electrical and Information Sciences at the University of Cambridge (MEng), gained a PhD from the University of Leeds and an MSc in Electrical Power Systems from the University of Bath.  Following successful completion of the MSc, she was invited to be a member of the teaching staff at Bath University for this course, and held the post for five years.

Anna is also a keen amateur musician, currently playing principal cornet for the Slaithwaite band, as organist of the Upper Slaithwaite Church and she has recently been awarded the Associate of the Royal Schools of Music (ARSM) diploma in trumpet with distinction. 

Biography:

Mr James Thornton

James is a Power Systems Consultant with experience in automation, optimization, and power systems analysis. At Blake Clough Consulting, James developed Python scripts to automate the modelling of complex power networks, contributing to more efficient engineering workflows. He has also worked on revenue projection software and optimization problems using the CPLEX solver.

During his time at the University of Huddersfield, James earned a First-Class Honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He was actively involved in several societies, founding and serving as Vice President of the Investment and Consulting Society, and leading the HUD IET Engineering Academic Society as President. These roles allowed him to develop leadership skills and organize a range of events for fellow students. Currently, he is pursuing a Master’s degree in Electrical Power Systems Engineering at the University of Manchester, where he is a part of the Finance and Consulting Society.

In addition to his academic achievements, James possesses hands-on experience with power systems software integration and automation. For his degree thesis he developed a machine learning tool for the automated optimisation of power park control systems specifically working with black box OEM systems, he recently presented this at the Wind & Solar Integration Conference in Finland.