Offshore wind developer Simply Blue named a new chief for the giant Irish floating wind projects that suffered a setback when oil supermajor Shell pulled out.
Jeremy Gault will take the project manager role for the Emerald and Western Star developments, which are slated to between them deliver 2.65GW off the coasts of Cork and Clare counties.
Simply Blue and Shell announced last week that the oil giant would no longer pursue an earlier agreement that would have seen it take a majority stake in the wind farms.
Simply Blue said after Shell’s withdrawal that it is “progressing towards a new strategic partnership, building on the momentum of both projects to deliver government targets for Phase 2 of Ireland’s offshore wind development,” adding that it remains “fully focused on delivering the exemplary Emerald and Western Star projects”.
Simply Blue said Gault, who previously worked for MaREI, the Irish National Centre of Excellence in Climate, Energy and the Marine, “has over 25 years’ experience working in the marine and coastal domain, with a long track-record in project management in the sustainable Blue Economy arena”.
The developer also named former Irish naval officer Marie Gleeson as external affairs & stakeholder liaison lead for Western Star.
