Pat O’Doherty
Chairman and Non-Executive Director
Pat joined the board of MaresConnect in October 2022 and serves as the group’s Chairman and non-executive Director.
From 2011 to 2021, Pat was Chief Executive of ESB, the Irish State-owned energy company with €14Bn of Assets, 8,000 employees and annual operating profits in the region of €600m with operations across Generation, Transmission & Distribution and Electricity & Gas Supply in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain and Internationally.
During this time, Pat oversaw the transformation of ESB, repositioning the company to lead the transition to a low carbon future powered by clean electricity. Pat led a capital investment programme of €1Bn per annum in electricity transmission and distribution networks, and generation assets, raising over €5Bn of debt funding in the Euro bond market.
He oversaw a threefold increase in ESB’s investment in renewables including its first offshore wind development, as well as the generation of over €1.5Bn in shareholder dividends.
Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive, Pat headed ESB’s largest businesses as Executive Director ESB International, Managing Director ESB Networks and Executive Director ESB Power Generation.
Pat holds Primary and master’s degrees in Engineering from UCD and has completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme. He is a Chartered Engineer & Fellow of Engineers Ireland.
He was appointed Chairman of the National Apprenticeship Alliance by the Minister of Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, an advisory role in the development of the Irish apprenticeship system overseeing the development of new apprenticeships across the economy.
Pat is a former Vice President and President of Eurelectric, the Brussels-based industry association of the European power sector representing 3,500 electricity utility companies.
He is also a former Director of Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry representing suppliers, generators, and service providers across the UK, as well as a former Trustee of the Conference Board of the USA.