Managing Director, Hamish Campbell didn’t have an end goal in sight when he started Gael Energy in 2015. However, he understood there would be a demand for a quality engineering service in the small wind sector, but to what extent was not yet clear. Having grown up on a farm in East Sutherland, going on to gain a strong engineering skillset working as a licensed helicopter engineer in New Zealand and subsequently working in the offshore wind industry installing the largest wind turbines in the world at that time, the scene was set for Gael Energy.

The journey started with an old, beat-up Landrover and trailer in 2015 repairing 5kw turbines while home on rotation from offshore and has grown to an industry leading business operating from 3 bases (Invergordon, Mintlaw and Dumfries), employing a team of 13 and maintaining a growing fleet of upwards of 300, sub 100kw wind turbines throughout the UK.

Hamish said ‘We have achieved this steady growth by always putting the high standard of our workmanship at the forefront of what we do and never compromising on quality. This is reflected in our levels of customer satisfaction and impressive customer retention. Establishing a foothold in the North-East market has been our biggest challenge to date, however we now have 5 extremely competent engineers based out of our Mintlaw workshop and have plans to continue our growth in the area as well as throughout the rest of the country’.

Gael Energy provide O&M services for Endurance, C&F (large and small), Harbon and Proven wind turbines, with well-established supply chains and competent engineers set up for all.

In some instances, it has become apparent that the original design specification of small turbines has not endured their intended life span. Gael have established working relationships with Wright Wind Ltd for supply of Endurance upgrades, TMSL for C&F upgrades and SD Wind for Proven/Kingspan upgrades, all of whom are industry leaders in their field. These repairs and upgrades are carried out from 2 fully equipped workshops in Mintlaw and Invergordon.

More recently, and with a view to alleviating some of the growing pains experienced by a small company, Gael Energy has entered into a partnership with Inverness based GEG Capital Ltd (a Global Energy company). Hamish commented ‘This exciting new investment allows us to fast track where we want to be in terms of stock levels, staffing levels, reliable machinery and ultimately response time. It is a very exciting time to be involved in the wind industry and we look forward to supporting our customers for years to come.’

 

**This article contains sponsored content and does not necessarily represent the views of The Scottish Farmer.​​