Simply Blue Group unveils U.S. Operations & Leadership Team
Simply Blue Group, a floating
offshore wind developer in Europe with over 3.2 GW in development in Ireland
and the UK, announced its leadership team for new operations in the U.S.
"Floating is the future and next frontier for U.S. offshore wind power,"
said Kevin Banister, Chief Development Officer & President, Simply
Blue USA, who led offshore wind development at Principle Power for almost
10 years. "As Simply Blue assesses floating offshore wind markets
around the globe, no opportunity ranks higher than the U.S. I couldn't
be more proud of the team we've assembled to help responsibly develop offshore
wind on all of America's coasts."
Along with Banister, the industry veterans Simply Blue has appointed to
lead its U.S. team include Stephanie McClellan, Ph.D., Chief of Strategy
& Policy, North America and founder, Special Initiative on Offshore
Wind;
Alana Duerr, Ph.D., Director, U.S. Projects, who led DNV's North American
offshore wind advisory team; and, Karolina Pietrzak, Deputy Chief Development
Officer, who has a decade of U.S. and European offshore wind expertise.
"Our U.S. leadership team has, each in their own unique way, helped
lay the foundation for U.S. offshore wind," said Sam Roch-Perks,
CEO, Simply Blue. "Their expertise and experience are just what's
needed to push the next frontier – floating wind off America's coasts.
This team, combined with Simply Blue's experience in floating wind projects
in Ireland and the UK, will hasten the expansion of U.S. offshore wind
into new areas that have vast, untapped wind resources."
A leading developer of sustainable floating wind, headquartered in Cork,
Ireland, Simply Blue has a current floating wind footprint of over 3.2
GW in development and a total project pipeline of over 9 GW. Simply Blue's
projects in development include the 96 MW Erebus and 300 MW Valorous projects
off Wales, under the Blue Gem Wind joint venture with TotalEnergies; the
1.3 GW project off the south coast of Ireland being developed by the Emerald
joint venture with Shell; the 1.35 GW Western Star project off the Atlantic
coast of Ireland; and the 200 MW Salamander project off Scotland with Subsea
7. Last week, Simply Blue announced an $18 million investment by Octopus
Renewables, a specialist investor focused on accelerating the clean energy
transition, for expansion plans in the UK, Ireland and internationally.
Stephanie McClellan said: "Offshore wind's time has come. Now more
than ever, we must look to all of our renewable resources, especially the
strong, steady winds blowing further offshore. I'm excited Simply Blue
is tapping its expertise to bring floating offshore wind power to the U.S,
and help states and the federal government meet their clean power goals."
"It's no longer a question of whether floating offshore wind works
– we know it does," said Alana Duerr. "We see global
markets rapidly advancing to take advantage of this technology. We have
a great opportunity in the U.S. to find the right solutions to sustainably
develop deep-water markets, and each region will require its own care and
approach."
"Our efforts to fight climate change must be redoubled and offshore
wind power is an important part of the solution," said Karolina
Pietrzak. "Deploying at utility-scale is essential, but fixed bottom
projects alone won't get us to the finish line. Floating wind is the future
and we must act now to turn its promise into reality. Simply Blue knows
how to harvest this enormous clean power potential."
