We have appointed Rick Campbell as Head of Offshore to lead the development of the offshore business and explore new opportunities both within the UK and internationally. He is joined by Erlend Christiansen as Offshore Consents Lead in Ireland.
Keith Burns, Commercial Director at Natural Power, said: “Offshore wind plays a crucial role in achieving renewable energy targets, and will enable many European countries to continue decarbonising their power infrastructure in a cost-effective way. We are supporting clients with wind projects throughout Europe and so must ensure our team reflects this opportunity. We are delighted to welcome Rick and Erlend on board. Their skills and experience undoubtedly complement our existing offering, and ensures we are in a strong position to support the anticipated growth.”
Having worked in renewable energy since 2006, Rick joins from Scottish Power Renewables and has been involved in offshore wind for more than ten years. He has experience of working across all stages of offshore windfarm consent activities from site identification to post-consent compliance, with a particular focus on stakeholder engagement. He has worked in a number of roles on the East Anglia offshore wind farm projects, one of the largest offshore wind farm zones, most recently leading the stakeholder and landowner engagement teams across the portfolio, and prior to that, had responsibility for consent compliance across all work packages on two offshore windfarms at pre-construction and construction stages.
Rick said: “I’m delighted to be joining Natural Power. The company has excellent experience and a strong reputation in the renewables industry, and I look forward to playing a part in developing our offering across the life cycle of offshore wind farms. The offshore wind market is at an exciting and interesting phase and is certain to play a large part in both the future energy mix and the economic recovery from the global pandemic.”
As Erlend Christiansen joins the team in Ireland, his new role underpins Natural Power’s commitment to developing offshore wind projects in support of meeting Ireland’s renewable energy targets and expected demand for electricity.
Erlend previously held the role of offshore lead for the Celtic Interconnector Project with EirGrid. Here he was responsible for managing the delivery of the offshore consents and permits, marine surveys, cable routing, cable burial, foreshore license, offshore environmental assessments, fishing liaison, PCI consultation process for UK EEZ, and the projects’ marine studies and the marine installation specifications for the HVDC cable. Prior to this, he worked in the offshore industry; both in the offshore renewables and oil and gas sectors, and has significant experience in project management roles developing strategic infrastructure projects.
Natural Power’s offshore renewables experience spans more than 50 projects, covering offshore wind, wave and tidal technologies and interconnectors. Drawing upon the skills and experience of more than 400 employees, with in-house experts on grid, offshore ecology, environmental compliance, human use considerations, ground conditions and planning legislation, Natural Power works seamlessly to provide a comprehensive range of expert services to developers and investors alike. Find out more here.
Rick is based at Natural Power’s Stirling office and can be reached on rickc@naturalpower.com and Erlend is based in Dublin and can be reached on erlendc@naturalpower.com