Meet Kathy Wood, Divisional Director for Marine and Consents. With 22 years as an offshore wind consultant and developer under her belt, Kathy has seen the UK wind sector grow from small scale industry to booming business.
Most recently, Kathy worked for Swedish developer Vattenfall, building a team of 40 consenting and stakeholder engagement specialists across Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, France and the UK where she enjoyed navigating varying consent regimes and learning about cultural differences.
Kathy enjoys the scope and scale of her work in offshore wind:
My work involves the whole life cycle of a wind farm, from site selection and development consent, to consent compliance during construction and operation. We’re also looking at how to get projects ready for decommissioning and repowering, an area of work which we see increasing in the coming years.
Kathy led the Consenting and Stakeholder Engagement team which delivered the successful consent of the 4.2GW Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone, comprising the Vanguard and Boreas windfarms. A career highlight and a first for the industry came when the team won Best Project at the 2022 National Infrastructure Planning Awards.
Kathy said:
We were the first offshore wind project to win this particular award. It was an incredibly proud moment for the team to be praised for persistence and stakeholder and community engagement, and to gain recognition for our efforts in tackling the really big challenges, particularly around protecting the environment.
Kathy Wood, Divisional Director for Marine and Consents
Kathy’s remit as a divisional director is broad. Bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience as well as an obvious affection for the offshore wind industry, Kathy will be providing strategic input to support and promote GoBe’s success:
Having worked with GoBe and APEM in the past, I’m delighted to be joining the team. As the UK’s leading offshore wind EIA and consenting consultancy, GoBe are a trusted and respected presence in the market, and I’m looking forward to heading up the delivery of further successful projects and developing the team. The team are skilled in interpreting and winning difficult projects, but it’s their open and honest client relationships that make them such a trusted presence in the UK wind industry.
Alistair Davison, Managing Director for Marine and Consents for the APEM Group said:
Kathy is an extremely well-respected figure in the offshore wind industry and brings a wealth of experience to the team – I am delighted she has chosen to join us. As Divisional Director for GoBe, Kathy will also work with the wider APEM group drawing together services from over 500 staff.
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