Energy Technology Innovation
Charlie Blair
Charlie Blair is an entrepreneur and innovator with over two decades’ experience in early-stage CleanTech commercialisation.
Charlie has designed and managed innovation and research projects related to numerous emerging energy technologies, particularly energy storage, marine energy, DSM and waste-to-energy.
Clients include corporates, startups and government agencies. CWB ENERGY works as project lead, with associates, and as a subcontractor.
Our services
Incubation services
Helping early stage innovators to develop strategy, raise money, build teams and understand their markets. CWB ENERGY can provide direct support to cleantech startups and knows what does and doesn’t work when designing incubation programmes.
Market assessments
Helping innovators and investors understand and quantify market opportunities for emerging energy and related technologies.
Strategic review
Typically for innovators themselves, but also for investors or customers wanting to understand how they should engage with particular aspects of the Energy Transition.
Business Plans
Developing Business Plans and strategy documents for startups and projects. Particularly funding and investment strategy. Specific experience with Corporate VCs, Impact Investors and Crowdfunding.
Feasibility Studies
Will it work? Will it work at a price that someone wants to pay?
Also Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE), Levelised Cost of Storage (LCOS), etc analysis and TRL assessments.
Innovation Funding support
CWB ENERGY’s team has experience on both sides of Innovation Funding: successfully applying for money as an innovator and designing innovation programmes for funders. Experience includes EU funded projects.
Our experience
Charlie is an experienced senior Executive in the private and public sector. He has built teams covering all engineering disciplines, commercial strategy, finance, legal and PR. Charlie was a founder of underground energy storage pioneers Gravitricity and led the team from 2016 to 2023. Before that he was Head of Marine Energy in the Carbon Trust’s Innovation team and an energy sector specialist/Associate at Delta Energy & Environemnt, Climate Limiting Technologies and the Sustainable Development Commission Scotland.
Charlie’s worked as a strategic consultant for innovators developing novel technologies and for global utilities trying to understand how those innovators fit in.
Charlie also has hands on experience in regenerative / organic agriculture and continuous cover forestry. He is based near Edinburgh.
Fellow of the Energy Institute since July 2019 and member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology.
