Burns & McDonnell Awarded Onshore Front End Engineering Design for Offshore Wind Project

Burns & McDonnell has been awarded the onshore Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for an offshore wind project with Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, a joint venture of Shell and Ocean Winds.

Burns & McDonnell will also provide market engagement support for Mayflower’s project.

Mayflower Wind won the rights to develop a lease area that could eventually support up to 1,600 MW of offshore wind, over 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 20 miles south of Nantucket. The project will provide enough energy to power more than half a million homes as early as the mid-2020s.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has approved long-term contracts between Mayflower Wind and the state electric distribution companies. Wind power from the project is expected to eliminate 2.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually once in operation.

“We are committed to doing right by our communities, working with local and regional partners to use cost-effective and innovative technologies as we deliver affordable, renewable energy to Massachusetts,” Michael Brown, chief executive officer of Mayflower Wind, said, in part.

Burns & McDonnell has provided conceptual design for onshore elements of the project over the last year and will continue to draw on New England-based resources to provide a FEED (30% design) package and market engagement services for the onshore substation and underground transmission line. The firm’s design will be used to file key federal and state permitting applications next year, as well as to further develop the project for the construction phase. It will rely on regionally based personnel and in-state survey and geotechnical engineering consultants to support this project for Mayflower Wind.

Jason Cabral, Northeast U.S. regional vice president for Burns & McDonnell, said, in part, “To support the development of offshore wind farms and critical infrastructure projects in the Northeast, our firm plans to grow 15% to 20% each year in the region throughout the next five years.”

The project would help train New England workers for jobs in the offshore wind industry. Manufacturing and supply chain development for the industry could grow to represent thousands of new jobs across the Northeastern U.S.