MIIN Member Spotlight - Green Rebel

[Transcribed]

 

Introduce yourself and the organisation. What is your role and focus area?

My name is Kieran Ivers and I'm the CEO of Green Rebel. Green Rebel is a marine services company, founded as little as two years ago. We've spent our first year developing competency and capability in the area of data acquisition, that supports the consenting process for offshore wind farm developers. Last year, 2022, was our first year fully operational.

We currently provide three primary data acquisition services to the industry.

We do baseline aerial ecology services, effectively surveying investigation areas for developers which informs the consenting process in terms of birds, mammals, and the impact that that might have on their environment.

We also have a geophysical op-co within Green Rebel. So effectively, we survey the seabed. Again, providing key information to offshore windfarm developers in terms of how, or where best to place offshore windfarms to minimise environmental impact, but also to maximise the efficiency and engineering design of their wind farms.

A third area of data acquisition is our metocean team. So, effectively our metocean team assist offshore windfarm developers to quantify the wind resource, providing bankable data that enables them to go and get finance for their projects. So, across the board Green Rebel provides those three primary services.

Our ambition for the future is to continue to provide services that are not currently indigenously provided in Ireland. For that we have built what we believe to be a very strong brand and recognisable brand within Green Rebel.

 

Why did you choose to work in the Marine Industry?

I'm relatively new to the marine industry, I come from a comms and data background. Effectively the services that Green Rebel provides is data products to developers. There's no experience necessary, and I suppose it's encouraging for the industry to see that currently in Ireland there's a lot of job losses, for example, in the tech industry, but there is absolute opportunity for people with all manner of backgrounds to enter this industry and to really add value to this industry.

Naturally, Green Rebel has over 90 employees as of today, full-time employees, with a number of employees down as consultants or on a part-time basis. We have some of Ireland's foremost experts working with Green Rebel. Some of which that have actually, literally, written books about the Irish Continental Shelf. So, we bring a lot of expertise, whether it's directly from the marine industry, but also we encourage people to diversify from our other industries, and build their skillset within the marine.

What is your organisation’s unique selling point? Are you developing any new products or innovations?

In a short space of time, Green Rebel has built competency and capability to really compete with international players who otherwise would be doing the work that Green Rebel now does within Ireland. We are an Irish solution for developers. I believe, and I suppose the industry believes, that to achieve the social license to operate, the Irish people, the Irish population need to see jobs on the ground. They need to see the economic opportunity being realised. Ireland has a very poor history of maximising the benefit of its natural resources. The opportunity is there now to build a really strong economic powerhouse to support, one that isn't just to supporting Irish supply chain or Irish development, but one which we can export internationally.

Green Rebel isn't chosen by the developers because we're the Irish solution. It does help, and it's a very unique selling point for us, that we already have pre-established relationship with the fishing community and others. But we also deliver our products to an international standard, and that's critically important.

What do you see as the biggest opportunity for your company as part of Ireland’s Marine Industry in the coming 5-10 years?

The biggest opportunity for companies like Green Rebel and companies that will enter the supply chain is looking at what is currently being done now and look to innovate and look to establish new ways of working. The "Rebel" in Green Rebel is about disrupting the convention. It's about looking at how data is acquired or how services are provided today, and look forward to the next five to ten years.

I believe Ireland's opportunity, in general, is within floating offshore wind development. Whilst we're seen often right now as the laggards within Europe, floating offshore, particularly the profile of Ireland's west coast, gives us a real basin for innovation, a real opportunity to harness what is on our west coast and become leaders in that area. If we can harness and demonstrate that we can build floating offshore and fixed offshore on the west coast of Ireland then we can export that IP to anywhere in the world. So for me, floating is probably one of the more exciting areas which Green Rebel and the supply chain in general should look to innovate in and to export our talents in IP in that area.

What is the biggest challenge, in your opinion, facing businesses like yours in the marine industry today?

As of today, the biggest challenge that we face is the consenting process. It is challenging both for developers and supply chain to really focus on this industry. Without the necessary certainty that's required, what directly affects developers in their ability to get direct work done has a direct impact on supply chain.

Another big challenge that Ireland is going to face is talent and the talent pools that exist. There's only so many ecologists and ornithologists and geophysicists and we're all competing with each other for that same talent. There needs to be a call on government and universities to really start upskilling in this area, for Ireland to really achieve its opportunity from an economic perspective.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your company with the network?

Green Rebel was set up to help Ireland achieve the economic opportunity for offshore wind. We very much see and take an air of responsibility around creating a template or inspiring other companies to set up and start servicing this industry. So, Green Rebel as of today have 90 - 91 full time employees but we expect to grow. We expect to, hopefully, inspire other businesses, and other companies, and other entrepreneurs to enter this market. We have an opportunity in Ireland to create a brand new industry. One where we can right now set the tone for the culture and set the tone for what this industry could be. Green Rebel takes its role and its responsibility in that area very, very seriously. Hopefully, we can be a template for others to follow.

Green Rebel has grown quickly, it has built quickly, it has failed quickly, but we continuously see our role here as a means to inspire other companies to do similar.

Where can we find more information about Green Rebel?

Website: greenrebel.ie
Facebook: Green Rebel
Instagram: @_green_rebel
Twitter: @_green_rebel
LinkedIn: Green Rebel
Youtube: @_green_rebel

If you are interested in taking part in the #MIINMemberSpotlight and would like to feature in this series, please email MIIN@bluewisemarine.ie