Building connections: Luke Ellis on bringing power to the people

“I just like building things.” A quick answer to the question of what makes him tick, Luke Ellis breaks a smile when he recalls working at developing power stations, new business units, or a passionate team.

An engineer by background, Luke is driven by the satisfaction of seeing ideas materialise and milestones achieved. It’s a theme that runs throughout his career – a journey defined by development, construction, innovation, and leadership. But it was his first steps into the energy sector that set the tone.

In his early career Luke found himself responsible for turbine maintenance outages – annual shutdowns, which came with repetition and routine.

“There were people there who’d been doing the same thing for decades. I thought, I don’t want to do this forever. I want to create something new.”

And as E.ON began a programme of building a new portfolio of power generation, Luke jumped at the opportunity. “I just wanted to be responsible for delivering a major development and construction project.” After three years of hard work as a project engineer at E.ON’s Steven’s Croft biomass power plant near Lockerbie, he was next put at the helm of project managing at the construction of the Blackburn Meadows renewable energy plant in Sheffield, overseeing everything from development and construction to the early phase of operations.

Blackburn Meadows stands out in Luke’s story – not just for its scale, but for its bold, visibe impact (an architectural and design-winning project with distinctive orange lighting designed to represent the fire within the boiler).

“It’s quite iconic, really,” he reflects on the eight-year project spanning development, construction, and those critical first years of operation. “I had all three of my children while I was working on that plant. I used to call it my fourth child!” For Luke, the real achievement was the sense of ownership, the teamwork, and the visible results – “being able to celebrate milestones with the people who delivered them.”

But the story doesn’t end there, the hunt for new challenges saw him move into innovation projects, firstly working with Nissan on vehicle-to-grid (V2G) EV charging technology.

“I’d never done anything other than power stations,” he admits, “so it was nerve-wracking. The culture was different, the technology was new, and it was actually just quite good fun.” Collaborations with teams across Europe pushed his thinking and expanded his skillset, laying the groundwork for a move into executive leadership.

He then moved into heat networks, as Head of Construction. “It was actually a lot more going back to what I knew, it was construction, it was engineering, but it brought with it insight into dealing directly with customers. You had to give people what they needed – empathy, explanations, technical answers. At the end of the day, you’re just a person, responsible for helping others.”

From there Luke took on the role of Head of Lighting and Grid and most recently Director of E.ON Utility Solutions, including being a legal director for E.ON UK Networks, the IDNO business that he and his team have created. These are roles which have led him to cover a raft of new technical skills, products and customer groups - from highways lighting to EV charging hubs to new connections for housing developers – all supporting the development of a flexible energy grid.

The ‘builder’ emerged again as he took on the challenge of creating new business units within E.ON Networks - Independent Connection Provider (ICP) and Independent Distribution Network Operator (IDNO).

“It was the cherry on the cake,” Luke says. “We built these new businesses from scratch. That made it really exciting.” Within 12 months, E.ON’s ICP and IDNO teams went from concept to fully operating – and nationally accredited – businesses. This is something Luke is proud of, particularly the rapid progress and the breadth of collaboration.

For Luke, building isn’t just about infrastructure, it’s about people.

“I like to build teams of people who are really passionate about what they do,” he explains. “Technical and commercial skills can be developed, but passion is essential. When we built Blackburn Meadows, I used to say it was my hobby as well as my job. If you love what you do, that’s not a bad thing.”

What gets Luke up in the morning is clear: the satisfaction of creating, the joy of seeing progress, and the pride in developing others. “We’re creating something that makes a difference.” He sees personal growth in his team as a key measure of success, noting milestones like first power generation and first big sales as cause for celebration and recognition.

Luke’s career is one of continual building – of infrastructure, businesses, and teams. And as E.ON continues to help transform energy there is always another project, another challenge, and another opportunity to build.