Burns & McDonnell has hired industry veteran Mark Rogers to lead the firm’s development of offshore substations for offshore wind-farm projects in the U.S. With the addition of Rogers, Burns & McDonnell is now capable of providing the complete electrical system design for offshore wind farm projects.
“We believe the offshore wind industry in the U.S. has potential to help create thousands of high-paying jobs, support a growing economy, and help us to create efficient, sustainable energy for years to come,” said Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO of Burns & McDonnell. “To support the development of offshore wind farms in the Northeast, our firm plans to grow 15 percent to 20 percent each year in the region throughout the next five years. Mark is a big part of that as he brings his European experience to the emerging U.S. market.”
An engineering manager with more than 35 years of experience in offshore and onshore electric transmission and power generation, Rogers will serve as the offshore substation engineering manager for the firm. Most recently, Rogers led the offshore platform engineering team at one of the largest global technology firms, developing a portfolio of offshore substation platforms for more than 3 GW of offshore wind in Europe.
Rogers will work to train and mentor Burns & McDonnell engineers in the U.S. and hire additional electrical engineers to expand knowledge of offshore substations and share his experience from the European market.
“Mark has created innovative market-leading solutions that have shaped the offshore wind industry,” said Jason Cabral, Northeast U.S. regional vice president for Burns & McDonnell. “With Mark’s industry knowledge, our firm will be able to execute the electrical components of offshore wind projects in the U.S. from the turbine to the interconnecting utility, using the services and skill sets required to design and manage the complex and expansive needs of offshore wind projects.”
While the offshore wind market is in the early stages in North America, Burns & McDonnell is engaged in work on approximately 80 percent of the announced projects. The firm’s involvement includes services for new and updated onshore substations, overhead/underground transmission lines including HDDs and transition join bays, offshore export cables with voltages from 66-kV to 275-kV, interconnection stations with voltages from 69-kV to 345-kV, HVDC converter stations, and station ratings from approximately 100 to 900 MW. The firm has undertaken interconnection studies, system analysis reviews, grid connection analyses, harmonic measurements, permitting, overall project management, FEED packages and bid development support.
MORE INFO www.burnsmcd.com
