Pen Underwriting has appointed Petra Votzakis (pictured) as renewable energy underwriter. The MGA is looking to grow its anaerobic digestion (AD) specialism, expand its risk management-led propositions for the waste-to-energy industry and move into new areas of renewable energy.
Votzakis joins the Gallagher-owned MGA from Allianz's engineering, construction and power business. There she was renewable power underwriter, focused on UK onshore risks including solar, wind, hydro and anaerobic digestion. She has 20 years of insurance experience across broking and underwriting, and has spent the past decade specialising in construction, engineering and renewable energy risk.
The hire follows Pen's launch in November 2025 of a dedicated product for the AD sector, which marked the MGA's formal entry into renewable energy. The Commercial Combined wording brings the specialist property, business interruption and liability exposures faced by AD businesses under a single policy. It is aimed at wastewater treatment plants, animal and farming waste facilities, food and drink production sites, landfills and recycling facilities.
Pen has positioned the wording as a way to increase broker choice in what it describes as a limited and highly specialised segment. AD, which converts organic waste into energy and produces by-products such as fertiliser, remains a comparatively under-served corner of the renewable energy insurance market.
Andy Dixon, commercial director for hazardous goods and environmental industries at Pen Underwriting, said growing the renewable energy proposition is a key strategic priority. He added that Votzakis brings engineering and renewable power underwriting experience across a broad range of technologies, along with a track record of supporting brokers on complex risks.
The appointment comes as brokers report that insurer appetite has not always kept pace with the spread of renewable technology among their clients. Agricultural brokers have told Insurance Business UK that solar panels, battery storage and AD units are becoming increasingly common on farms. Some underwriters, however, treat these technologies with a caution that brokers see as out of proportion to claims experience.
Votzakis's background spans the onshore technologies those clients are adopting, and Pen has said it intends to extend its expertise across the wider renewable energy sector. For brokers placing waste-to-energy, farm and onshore renewable risks, that points to another specialist market beyond AD, although Pen has not yet set out which additional classes it will write.
Votzakis said renewable energy is entering a period of rapid growth and innovation. Clients, she said, need partners able to keep pace with evolving technologies, changing regulation and increasingly complex risk profiles.
