Transforming the Energy Mix for a Sustainable Tomorrow with Noureen Faizee | Conversations in Cleantech | Season four, Episode six
Noureen Faizee is a true veteran of the energy industry, having had a successful career that has spanned a decade. Through fate, drive, passion and seizing every opportunity, Noureen is now the Global Director of Strategy and Growth for Hydrogen at Worley. In this position, she explores opportunities for genuine transformation within the hydrogen marketplace.
Whilst many people are quick to disregard the role oil and gas companies have in the energy transition, they arguably can have the biggest impact on the transition. By 2026, Worley is aiming to generate 75% of their revenue from sustainability-related projects and Noureen is playing a huge part in this.
In this highlights article, Noureen discusses her career journey and in particular a pivotal few years after returning from maternity leave and finding a new path after a tough period for the oil and gas market. She also offers her unique perspective on the hydrogen market and the steps needed to meet ambitious targets by the end of the decade.
Read on to discover more and catch Noureen’s full Conversations in Cleantech episode here.
Could you start by giving us an introduction to yourself?
My name is Noureen Faizee, and I have over 14 years of experience in the energy industry. Currently, I am the Global Director of Strategy and Growth for the Hydrogen Division at Worley. Worley is a global leader in providing engineering and consulting services across the energy, chemicals and resources sectors. As a leading service provider in these sectors, we play a key role in shaping and supporting the transition to a low-carbon world. Our purpose is simple and that is to deliver a more sustainable world.
A little bit on me - I am originally from India and I came to the United States in 2006 to pursue my Masters in Chemical Engineering. I have lived here ever since and met my husband who is a Marine Engineer. We have seven-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.
How did your return to work after your maternity leave shape your future career?
My maternity leave in 2015 happened to be one of the turning points in my career. At the time, oil prices dropped by more than 50% compared to the previous year and that was a big hit to the business and the wider industry. As a result, I didn’t have many oil and gas projects to go back to.
As I was nearing the end of my maternity leave, I had the opportunity to become the Environmental Permit Specialist for a big petrochemical facility. This would become a career-defining project for me. I interacted with colleagues across different departments and our customers to gather the necessary documentation for obtaining local permits. These permits were critical for success as failure to comply can lead to delays and huge fines.
As a result of my work on this project, I was recognised as a key talent in the company. A few years later I had the opportunity to participate in a company-wide future leaders programme which cracked open the door to the strategy role I am currently in.
I didn’t make it into the finalist's selection but it was as a result of that experience that I was able to pivot my career towards strategy. I think it is crucial to recognise failures as stepping stones to success and that is true in my case. I wasn’t the winner of the programme but it allowed me to broaden my network and showcase my capabilities.
A couple of months after the programme ended, the sponsors reached out and offered me a part-time role in the strategy group. I’ve been in strategy since 2018, initially for our core business, oil and gas, but now for hydrogen. It’s been an amazing journey of twists and turns.
I want to encourage everyone to not feel rejected by failures. The only time you truly fail is when you don’t try. Accept every opportunity that knocks on your door and just give it a shot because you never know how things may turn out.
Could you explain a bit more about the hydrogen industry from your perspective and Worley’s role in it?
The industry is experiencing unprecedented growth and momentum! However, despite the buzz, there is still a lack of awareness about the use of hydrogen, its safety and its role in the future energy mix.
Net Zero targets, policy support and financial incentives are all great to help introduce new energies into the mix. However, education and awareness are equally as important because no matter how attractive the economics are, if the public doesn’t accept it, it isn’t going to happen.
It is vital to take every opportunity to increase awareness of the long-term benefits of hydrogen in creating a cleaner and more sustainable world. We’ve grown very comfortable using natural gas in our everyday lives but hydrogen is very much the same - it is only unsafe if not handled properly. Hydrogen also has several properties which make it safer to handle - it is non-toxic and lighter than air allowing it to disperse quickly if there was a leak.
Whilst we must continue to develop robust safety standards for hydrogen’s new applications, we should also remember that hydrogen is not new, it has been used for decades. I think it is important to continuously reiterate just how safe it is.
From a commitment and planning standpoint, we have seen a significant increase in the number of national hydrogen policies announced in the last two years. In early 2019/2020, only a handful of countries had started working on hydrogen strategies. As of November 2022, 38 countries have announced national hydrogen strategies.
Today’s hydrogen market faces the classic chicken-and-egg problem between supply and demand. Both are lacking secure volumes from each other to help establish that value chain. Currently, government focus is heavily on the supply side of the equation and less on
the demand side - we now need to focus on what is needed to trigger the demand side and then work on further developing the infrastructure and supply chain.
Our current ways of working will not be sufficient to establish a full hydrogen economy by the end of the decade - that is only seven years away which is not a lot of time. As an industry, we need to come up with new ways of working from creating partnerships, innovation standardisation and leveraging digital tools.
Enjoyed this article? Listen to the full podcast here, and connect with Noureen on LinkedIn to follow the Worley journey.