Mayflower Wind, the 50/50 joint venture between Shell and EDP Renewables, has awarded a framework agreement to offshore wind consultancy firm OWC for provision of engineering support to the US wind farm development.

Will Cleverly, managing director of OWC commented,
“Over the past few years, we have established offices in Boston and New York to support offshore wind developers along the US east coast. The Mayflower Wind frame agreement confirms that we are providing the right competence mix in this part of the world.”  

In December 2018, Mayflower Wind won the rights to develop a federal offshore lease area located about 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 23 miles south of Nantucket, which has the potential to generate over 1,600 megawatts of low-cost offshore wind energy. That is enough to power over half a million homes. 

OWC’s scope of work awarded to date is to provide electrical, SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) and power systems support to the offshore wind development. The company has not disclosed the value of the agreement.

The work will be led by OWC’s electrical team lead and US country manager Jeff Fodiak who has worked as an electrical engineering consultant in offshore wind since 2008, specialising in the electrical design, grid connection, and general engineering of offshore wind farms. 

“Efficient power systems are key to harnessing and capitalizing fully the power developed from offshore wind. OWC helps developers optimize transmission costs and ensure the electrical system is technically feasible. This increases the return on investment from each kilowatt of electricity produced,” says Jeff Fodiak, OWC’s US country manager and head of grid and electrical services for the wider OWC business. 

Since its inception in 2011, OWC has been involved in a total of 58 GW of offshore wind projects worldwide. This constitutes a quarter of the world’s offshore wind capacity by 2030. 

OWC is an independent technical advisor, engineering, and project management consultancy to the offshore renewables sector. The company is the offshore wind unit of Oslo-listed AqualisBraemar ASA.

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