Talk title: Introduction to Conference
Speaker: Dr Tanja Groth, Triple Point
Event: CIBSE Scotland Conference 2026: Heating the Future, 27 May 2026
Video: https://youtu.be/hwmVd6z4DFE

[00:00] I have been asked to give a quick introduction to myself, so you know who I am as well. So I'm Tanja. I'm your host. I'm a director at the Green Heat Network Fund at Triple Point. We're a financial services company. We invest in other companies like HeatGeek. We invest in projects like Onshore Wind and Solar. We have a significant private credit facility if you need a new home for your money. And what I think is most important is we run the UK's largest heat network grant program, which operates in England and Wales.

[00:31] And we have over 900 million pounds out the door to date in grants for heat network schemes. I'm also here to give a shout out to my fellow district heating divas. For those of you who are not aware, the divas. Are the biggest UK heat network export success to date. We started seven years ago with 12 members. We have over 800 members now in the UK and we have branches in Denmark, in Latvia, in Brussels and in India with another 800 members internationally.

[01:07] So if you'd like to find out more about the divas, how to get involved, how we can support you, please do hit me up in the breaks throughout the day. I was also going to get a bit. Poetical about the proud engineering legacy you have here in Scotland, starting with George Bruce from the 16th century, who pioneered offshore coal mining, which is pretty cool. My personal favorite, Robert Stirling from the 18th century, who was, of course, the inventor of the Stirling engine.

[01:36] And side note, my first job was in a manufacturer of Stirling engines and is probably still my favorite job to date. And then, of course, Alexander. Graham Bell in the late 18th century, early 19th century, who is noted for his invention of the telegraph, but more importantly, for the first wireless telephone, which forms the backbone of the fiber optics industry that we have today.

[02:02] And we're here today to discuss heating the future, building on that very proud legacy and mindful of the triple challenge we face around affordability, decarbonization and energy security. As I hand over to our first keynote speaker, James Hemphill, and before I do so, a couple of housekeeping bits. But as I hand over to him, I would like you to all think about your own legacies, your networks that you can draw on, the unique opportunities you have from working here in Scotland, which is both big enough to matter and small enough to care.

[02:38] Housekeeping wise, no fire alarms scheduled. So if you hear one, we're going to make orderly exits out the room. And for questions and presentations, there are no question slots except for the breaks, the workshops and the panel discussion at the end. So do ask questions, but please not during the speaking slots.