Tom takes on key Yorkshire community engagement role with OnPath Energy

Leading renewables developer OnPath Energy has chosen Tom Chaplin to take the lead on its community work across Yorkshire.

Tom has joined OnPath as its new partnership & community manager and will be working with local residents, community groups, landowners and other stakeholders in the areas around the company’s four onshore wind farms in the county, as well as in locations where new renewable energy projects are being built or planned.

Tom brings more than 15 years’ communications industry experience to his new post gained across a number of marketing and stakeholder engagement roles, including within the renewable energy sector.

Prior to that, he worked in the television industry, working as an assistant director and a writer on a range of well-known programmes, including Monarch Of The Glen, Peak Practice and Eastenders.

OnPath Energy is one of the UK onshore renewable energy sector’s leading owner/operators and has four operation onshore wind farms across Yorkshire – the Penny Hill Wind Farm near Sheffield, Hook Moor Wind Farm to the east of Leeds, Marr Wind Farm to the west of Doncaster and Hazlehead Wind Farm near Barnsley.

The business is extending its investment in Yorkshire this year, with work now progressing on its first two solar energy projects, the Barnsdale Solar Energy Park near Leeds and the Common Farm Solar Park, a co-located solar and battery energy project to the east of Sheffield.

Tom Chaplin says: “After nearly a decade working in renewables, I’ve found that the stakeholder engagement work I’ve done in that time has been the most rewarding part of the job and the opportunity to do that full time with OnPath Energy is something I’m relishing.

“It gives me the chance to get involved with a wide range of developing and mature projects, and to have a real impact on the business’s success through the positive relationships that we develop across our communities.

“Yorkshire has always been a really important area for us, and with our first two solar energy projects now also being built here, there’s a great opportunity for me to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones right across the county.”

OnPath’s four Yorkshire wind farms generated over 96,500 MWh of electricity between them during 2024, which is enough to meet the average annual electricity needs of more than 33,200 homes, while as part of the company’s OnPath Together value-led approach, they also delivered combined revenues of over £61,000 last year to their respective community benefits funds.

Robin Winstanley, sustainability and community director at OnPath Energy, adds: “We place people, communities and planet at the heart of everything we do, and believe that better projects come through listening, collaborating and delivering with care and consideration.

“Tom has a very impressive track record in effective and meaningful stakeholder engagement and is an excellent addition to the OnPath community team.”