Pen Underwriting has appointed Petra Votzakis (pictured) as renewable energy underwriter as it looks to grow its existing anaerobic digestion (AD) specialism, expand its risk-management-led insurance propositions for the waste-to-energy industry, and extend into new areas of renewable energy.
Votzakis joins from Allianz's dedicated engineering, construction and power business, where she was renewable power underwriter focused on UK onshore risks including solar, wind, hydro and anaerobic digestion. She brings 20 years of insurance experience across broking and underwriting, having spent the past decade specialising in construction, engineering and renewable energy risk.
The appointment continues a specific strategy Pen set out publicly in November 2025, when it launched a dedicated risk-management-led insurance product for the anaerobic digestion sector, marking the MGA's formal entry into renewable energy.
That product, a Commercial Combined wording, was designed to bring together the full range of specialist property, business interruption and liability exposures faced by AD businesses under a single purpose-built policy, aimed at operations including wastewater treatment plants, animal and farming waste facilities, food and drink production sites, landfills and recycling facilities.
Andy Dixon, commercial director for hazardous goods and environmental industries at Pen Underwriting, said the continued growth of the renewable energy proposition is a key strategic priority for the business, and that Votzakis brings significant engineering and renewable power underwriting experience across a broad range of technologies. He said her proven track record supporting brokers, managing complex risks and developing colleagues makes her appointment an important step in strengthening Pen's capability and reinforcing its commitment to comprehensive, tailored underwriting solutions for the sector.
Votzakis's arrival lands against a backdrop where broker frustration with renewable energy underwriting appetite has been building, particularly at the smaller end of the market. Insurance Business UK has reported that agricultural brokers see solar panels, battery storage systems and anaerobic digestion units becoming increasingly common on farms, but that insurer appetite hasn't always kept pace, with underwriters treating some of these technologies with a degree of caution one broker described as disproportionate to actual claims experience, noting he had "never had a biomass boiler fire in 20-odd years of insurance." Pen's purpose-built AD wording, and now a dedicated cross-technology underwriter to support it, is a direct response to exactly that kind of gap between where renewable technology adoption is heading and where mainstream insurance appetite currently sits.
That gap isn't unique to Pen's corner of the market. Insurance Business UK has separately reported that Allianz UK, Votzakis's former employer, expanded its own battery energy storage system underwriting capability earlier in 2026 specifically because more clients were exploring grid-scale battery projects faster than the insurance market's specialist capacity was expanding to meet them, with Allianz framing early engagement between brokers and experienced renewable energy underwriters as valuable given how quickly the risk landscape is developing in this space.
Anaerobic digestion is often described by the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association, the UK trade body representing the sector, as one of the cleanest forms of renewable energy, converting organic waste into energy while producing beneficial by-products such as nutrient-rich fertiliser. It remains a comparatively under-served corner of the renewable energy insurance market, with Pen positioning its purpose-built wording as a way of increasing broker choice in what it describes as a limited and highly specialised segment.
Votzakis said renewable energy is entering a period of rapid growth and innovation, creating significant opportunities for insurers that genuinely understand the risks behind the transition. She said clients need partners able to keep pace with evolving technologies, changing regulation and increasingly sophisticated risk profiles, and that insurance is about more than protecting assets, it's about enabling investment and growth. She said she was excited to join a business taking a proactive approach to managing AD plant risk while supporting growth and mitigating loss impact, and was looking forward to helping Pen extend its expertise across the wider renewable energy sector.
