WALLINGFORD, Connecticut — Burns & McDonnell, ranked the No. 1 firm in Power by Engineering News-Record, has hired industry veteran Mark Rogers to lead the firm’s development of offshore substations for offshore wind farm projects in the U.S. With the addition of Rogers, Burns & McDonnell is now capable of providing the complete electrical system design for offshore wind farm projects.

“We believe the offshore wind industry in the U.S. has potential to help create thousands of high-paying jobs, support a growing economy and help us to create efficient, sustainable energy for years to come,” says Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO of Burns & McDonnell. “To support the development of offshore wind farms in the Northeast, our firm plans to grow 15% to 20% each year in the region throughout the next five years. Mark is a big part of that as he brings his European experience to the emerging U.S. market.”

An engineering manager with more than 35 years of experience in offshore and onshore electric transmission and power generation, Rogers will serve as the offshore substation engineering manager for the firm. Most recently, Rogers led the offshore platform engineering team at one of the largest global technology firms, developing a portfolio of offshore substation platforms for over 3 GW of offshore wind in Europe.

Rogers will work to train and mentor Burns & McDonnell engineers in the U.S. and hire additional electrical engineers to expand knowledge of offshore substations and share his experience from the European market.

“Mark has created innovative market-leading solutions that have shaped the offshore wind industry,” says Jason Cabral, Northeast U.S. regional vice president for Burns & McDonnell. “With Mark’s industry knowledge, our firm will be able to execute the electrical components of offshore wind projects in the U.S. from the turbine to the interconnecting utility, using the services and skill sets required to design and manage the complex and expansive needs of offshore wind projects.”

While the offshore wind market is in the early stages in North America, Burns & McDonnell is engaged in work on approximately 80% of the announced projects.  The firm’s involvement currently includes services for new and updated onshore substations, overhead/underground transmission lines including HDDs and transition join bays, offshore export cables with voltages from 66-kV to 275-kV, interconnection stations with voltages from 69-kV to 345-kV, HVDC converter stations, and station ratings from ~100 megawatts (MW) to ~900 MW. The firm has undertaken interconnection studies, system analysis reviews, grid connection analyses, harmonic measurements, permitting, overall project management, FEED packages and bid development support.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of 7,600 engineers, construction professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists to design and build our critical infrastructure. With an integrated construction and design mindset, we offer full-service capabilities with more than 55 offices, globally. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is a 100% employee-owned company and proud to be on Fortune’s 2020 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn how we are on call through it all.