Important detailed design wins secured in the US by Wood Thilsted

Leading offshore wind engineers Wood Thilsted are to provide detailed design for Avangrid Renewables’ two offshore wind projects in New England, which combined will provide 2,000 Megawatts (MW) of clean renewable power to the region.

The portfolio of projects includes Park City Wind, which will provide 804 MW to Connecticut, and Commonwealth Wind, which was selected in December 2021 to bring 1200 MW to Massachusetts. Together, these projects will create more than 10,000 jobs and power over one million homes in New England, as well as deliver the first offshore wind manufacturing facility to Massachusetts.

These two new prestigious contracts for Wood Thilsted cements its key role in the USA’s now fast-developing offshore wind industry, as it is also providing its detailed design expertise to Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts; the inaugural utility-scale project in the United States owned by Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

“Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind represent a historic opportunity for Connecticut, Massachusetts, and the entire New England region, and we are pleased to partner with Wood Thilsted to ensure these projects are designed to maximize their enormous potential,” said Bill White, President and CEO of Avangrid Renewables Offshore. “These projects will provide enough clean energy to power over one million homes, create thousands of jobs, and bring transformational economic investments to local communities. Wood Thilsted’s global experience will help us develop the projects efficiently and cost-effectively.”

Sy Oytan, Avangrid Renewables’ Senior Vice President for Offshore Project Management, added: “Wood Thilsted has been an invaluable partner in developing the first-in-the-nation Vineyard Wind project, and we look forward to working with their experienced team as we advance the Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind projects. Securing the best possible design for these projects is critical to maximizing their value for the New England region, and Wood Thilsted’s global experience is a welcome addition to Avangrid Renewables’ development strategy.”

Matt Palmer, President of Wood Thilsted USA, commented: “We have great belief in the future of America’s offshore wind industry, so are very much looking forward to bringing our skillset to Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind. In addition to New Bedford, where Vineyard Wind will deploy from, seeing additional cities such as Bridgeport, CT and Salem, MA develop into key construction and staging hubs is great news across so many positive economic and environmental fronts. Through our work at Vineyard Wind and from projects such as EA Hub in Europe and Akita in Asia, we have a vastly experienced first-class team in place to cover every angle”.

He continued: “For both Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind, we will fully utilize our all-embracing knowledge of marine/wind/soil conditions to produce the safest, most efficient and cost-effective design for the project’s wind turbines”.

Wood Thilsted currently has five employees in its US office in Quincy, Massachusetts; two of whom joined in March. Driven by the ongoing work on Park City and Commonwealth Wind, the firm expects the number of employees to grow to 12-14 by the end of this year.

In January 2022, Avangrid Renewables announced the completion of the restructuring of its existing Vineyard Wind joint venture to become the largest offshore wind supplier in New England.  In total, Avangrid Renewables has a projected offshore wind pipeline of 4.9 Gigawatts (GW) on the East Coast of the United States – enough to power more than two million households. In addition to Park City and Commonwealth Wind and its 50% stake in the first-in-the-nation Vineyard Wind 1 project (800 MW total), AVANGRID owns 100% of Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind (2500 MW off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia).