Vineyard Wind, a 50/50 joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has appointed Sy Oytan as deputy CEO and Bill White as head of U.S. offshore wind.
Oytan joins Vineyard Wind from Arup, an international offshore wind consultancy. The current deputy CEO, Alan Hannah, is stepping down but will remain with the company for a period of time to ensure a smooth transition. Hannah joined Vineyard Wind in 2019 to oversee the management of the company while focusing specifically on the finance and business case development for Vineyard Wind projects.
White will lead the development and implementation of Avangrid Renewables’ overall offshore wind strategy in the U.S. Prior to joining Avangrid Renewables, White served as president and CEO of EnBW North America, the U.S. offshore wind subsidiary of the German utility. He was previously the senior director of offshore wind sector development for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, where he led the state’s offshore wind planning efforts and directed initiatives to support the responsible siting of offshore wind projects.
Oytan joins the team with 24 years of experience in the development and construction of international onshore and offshore wind projects in a wide range of geography, including the U.S., Europe and Asia. During his career, he led development, delivery, construction and advisory on 6.5 GW of onshore and offshore wind energy projects. Moreover, he led a range of offshore wind port and supply chain development initiatives for the state of New Jersey.
“Oytan’s experience in the renewable industry will be a great asset to the team and I welcome his appointment,” says Lars T. Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind. “He will be an integral part of a project that will create thousands of jobs in the U.S. and lower energy costs for consumers.”
Oytan’s work to date has included almost all aspects of wind farms and large-scale power generation projects. He has held a variety of leadership positions at Arup, New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Siemens Gamesa and Schlumberger.
In addition to the two southern New England projects, Avangrid Renewables is developing its wholly owned Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind project, a proposed 2,500 MW offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina. In total, Avangrid Renewables has an offshore wind development pipeline of nearly 5 GW.
Vineyard Wind is developing the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the coastal waters of the U.S. Vineyard Wind I, which could become operational as early as 2023, will be an 800 MW offshore wind farm delivering power to Massachusetts.
White and Oytan will be based, respectively, in Avangrid Renewables’ and Vineyard Wind’s offices in Boston, Mass.
Photo: Sy Oytan
