In this episode, host Munir Haque’s guest is Gareth Gregory, the North American Head of Strategic Energy, Client Delivery, and 59Hydrogen Decarbonization Division of the Energy Security Services North America or ESSNA. Munir and Gareth discuss the intersection of governance, innovation, and the evolving energy landscape. With decades of experience in energy modelling, decarbonization, and hydrogen technology, Gareth shares his journey from entrepreneurship to leading ESSNA and 59Hydrogen. The conversation explores the future of hydrogen as a clean energy solution, the challenges of traditional energy markets, and the importance of balancing risk management with strategic decision-making.
Gareth details how ESSNA provides energy modelling and funding focusing on decarbonization and hydrogen technology, while 59Hydrogen specializes in decentralized hydrogen production and purification. He challenges outdated boardroom structures, emphasizing that governance should enable growth rather than restrict it. Governance failures, he points out, often stem from outdated leadership, and companies need to modernize decision-making processes to stay competitive. Munir and Gareth explore the importance of regulatory evolution, industry collaboration, and financial independence. Gareth hopes that ESSNA will become North America’s leading decentralized hydrogen provider, with major projects, a hydrogen symposium, and a strong focus on transparency and implementation.
About Gareth Gregory:
Gareth Gregory is the North American Head of Strategic Energy, Client Delivery, and 59Hydrogen Decarbonization Division of the Energy Security Services North America Inc (ESSNA). He was accountable for the launch, development and stabilization of the North American operation in Calgary Alberta. Gareth will continue to lead the engineering of 59Hydrogen solutions globally as the market develops across North America.
In his previous role, Gareth served as the Africa Head of Strategic Energy and Client Delivery in the commercial division, Energy Security Services Africa (Pty) Ltd. His business activity has covered numerous sectors with a combination of finance and technical experience.
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Contact Munir Haque | ActionEdge Executive Development:
Contact Gareth Gregory:
- Website: EnergySecurity-na.com
- LinkedIn
Podcast Production:
- Recording: PushySix Studios
- Production Assistance: Astronomic Audio
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Transcript
Gareth Gregory: [00:00:01] Part of the reason that governance fails is that you have such a historic, out of date perspective as to what it actually means. Under 40 year olds sitting on boards making decisions, only 0.3%. You’ve got to get real in terms of innovation, how quickly things are adapting and moving. I meet people that sit on boards probably every week, and I can honestly say I would lose sleep if 95% of them sat on our board. It just seems like a very detached perception of reality.
Munir Haque: [00:00:39] Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Boardroom 180 Podcast. I’m your host Munir Haque, an executive coach and senior board strategist. I have partnered with Action Edge Executive Development to lead their governance and political acumen division. In each episode we meet with governance leaders and step into their boardrooms, where decisions shape the world around us.
Munir Haque: [00:00:59] On today’s show, we have Gareth Gregory. He’s with the Energy Security Services North America Inc., or ESSNA, the North American head of strategic energy, client delivery and 59Hydrogen Decarbonization Division. Gareth Gregory is the leader in strategic energy solutions, specializing in decarbonization strategies for industries with carbon liabilities. As the North American head, Gareth oversees operations, growth and the implementation of DAAS carbon intensity framework. A hydrogen specialist, he manages the design, funding and operation of decentralized modular hydrogen plants. His experience spans energy economics, policy and technology, integrating these with ESG reporting to drive meaningful impact. Gareth has also delivered capital projects exceeding $1 billion globally, gaining a reputation for innovative decarbonization programs. Under his leadership, ESSNA developed refinery projects and modular hydrogen solutions across North America. He holds a BCom in Auditing and Management Accounting from the University of Pretoria and a BSc Honors in Energy Studies, cum laude from University of Johannesburg. Welcome to The Boardroom 180 Podcast, Gareth.
Gareth Gregory: [00:02:15] Thank you very much for having me, it’s a great pleasure being here.
Munir Haque: [00:02:19] Thanks for making the time. We met last year at the Petroleum Club, I think there was an event going on there. I was sitting at a table and there was a lawyer there, and I was giving her my spiel about The Boardroom 180 podcast on governance. When she heard governance she said, you need to talk to this guy over here, pointing at you. Admittedly, I don’t know much about hydrogen production or use. Before we get into the nuts and bolts of this, tell me a little more about yourself and your career arc, how you got into what you’re doing now.
Gareth Gregory: [00:03:00] It’s been a great journey over many years, this being our sixth company now. I think, on the entrepreneurship side, we’ve always been looking out for great opportunities. The educational side of my background has certainly assisted and helped both in the finance and the technical side. But I think what was really important was the journey to get to this point in time now in North America and overseeing both the Canadian markets and the US market. In the early days, we had established a company that focused on energy modeling and planning, which is very much a professional services orientated environment. Over a period we had clients that were asking us to oversee construction, which we did. Then we started doing a lot of our own construction, and it got to a point that we developed ourselves into an EPCM, engineering, procurement, construction and management firm for the sub-Saharan African market. There was a great experience having both the background modeling knowledge, but also the ability to start building out on smaller projects in terms of delivery. Shortly after that, we had one of our clients that had engaged with us on a combined cycle gas and steam turbine design, their internal engineering department couldn’t maintain the efficiencies of the system.
Gareth Gregory: [00:04:19] They actually sold that facility back to us for 50% of what we had sold it to them at. That was our first off balance sheet transaction. The reason that that is so important is that I think that actually enabled our arrival and expansion now, both in Canada as well as the US, understanding an annuity based financial model. About 14 years ago was our introduction into hydrogen, possibly by some level of fluke. We had a client that required a 4% hydrogen mix in their annealing ovens, which was natural gas driven. That was…