Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

The Case for GW Nuclear - Ep94: Julia Pyke

Episode Summary

Julia is currently leading the introduction of private financing into new nuclear in the UK – Sizewell C is the path finder project. This involves working cooperatively with Government, with cross party MPs, trade unions, with industry and with the financial community. Julia has lead the development of a new vision for nuclear as ‘servant of the future energy system’ – nuclear working together with renewables and contributing to both the growth of a hydrogen economy and to the development of Direct Air Capture, as well as generating electricity for the National Grid. Prior to joining EDF to develop the Sizewell C Project, Julia was Head of Power at Herbert Smith Freehills for the UK and Europe, and led a team advising on power projects of all technologies, and has worked on a range of infrastructure projects in transport and defence sectors, and in M&A. Julia led the team advising BEIS (then DTI) on the formation of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and spent a year on secondment to the NDA. Julia frequently appears in the media to talk about nuclear (Radio 4, local and national TV), on podcasts, and is in demand to speak at conferences. Julia has appeared in front of parliamentary committees (most recently the Bill Committee for the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill). Additional to her role for Sizewell C, Julia is a non executive director of Newcleo (small nuclear) and an adviser to Hycap (financing hydrogen projects).

Episode Notes

Julia is currently leading the introduction of private financing into new nuclear in the UK – Sizewell C is the path finder project. This involves working cooperatively with Government, with cross party MPs, trade unions, with industry and with the financial community. Julia has lead the development of a new vision for nuclear as ‘servant of the future energy system’  – nuclear working together with renewables and contributing to both the growth of a hydrogen economy and to the development of Direct Air Capture, as well as generating electricity for the National Grid.  

Prior to joining EDF to develop the Sizewell C Project, Julia was Head of Power at Herbert Smith Freehills for the UK and Europe, and led a team advising on power projects of all technologies, and has worked on a range of infrastructure projects in transport and defence sectors, and in M&A. Julia led the team advising BEIS (then DTI) on the formation of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and spent a year on secondment to the NDA.  

Julia frequently appears in the media to talk about nuclear (Radio 4, local and national TV), on podcasts, and is in demand to speak at conferences. Julia has appeared in front of parliamentary committees (most recently the Bill Committee for the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill).  

Additional to her role for Sizewell C, Julia is a non executive director of Newcleo (small nuclear) and an adviser to Hycap (financing hydrogen projects).