An experienced senior infrastructure manager who has dedicated his career to ensuring that the UK has enough energy to meet demand, literally keeping the lights on and homes warm, has been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List.
Robert White, who worked in the same role for the UK’s energy departments until the North Sea Transition Authority (formerly the Oil and Gas Authority) was formed, has been given the honour for “services to energy security”.
Robert, who has worked in the role since arriving at what was then the Department of Trade and Industry in 2006, has been an integral part of making sure the UK has had enough energy for nearly two decades, throughout the “big freeze” of 2010, the “Beast from the East”, COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Robert said: “There are a lot of people who put in a long slog as a public servant and I’m just one of them, but of course I’m flattered. I could have retired by now, but I really enjoy my job and recently I’ve started work on carbon storage and hydrogen and it’s fascinating to see how we can take the best bits from our work in oil and gas and apply them in a new way.”
His work has seen him investigate ways to increase the UK’s gas storage, see the nation through four gas-balancing alerts in one winter and manage supply issues in the face of an outage of the Forties Pipeline System in 2017.
Robert, 65, a father of three, and grandfather of two, is based in the NSTA’s London office and recently became part time but has in no way slowed down. Instead, he has taken up volunteering with Age UK, visiting an elderly gentleman for company, after witnessing the number of people in care homes without visitors in the later years of his own mother’s life. He also leads walks for the Ramblers' Association where he lives in Reading.
NSTA Chief Executive Stuart Payne said: “Robert represents the best of the NSTA, deeply experienced and knowledgeable with many years of service to the country including in times of crisis and in sensitive areas. We couldn’t be prouder of his recognition.”