Mayflower Wind, a joint venture of Shell New Energies US LLC (Shell) and Ocean Winds North America (Ocean Winds), announced Francis Slingsby has assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Mayflower Wind. Slingsby brings over a decade of experience in commercial and business development in the US offshore wind energy sector. He succeeds Michael Brown who will bring his extensive experience and relationships to the Mayflower Wind Board of Directors.
“I am delighted to join Mayflower Wind as we continue to accelerate the transformation to a cleaner energy future,” said Francis Slingsby. “Mayflower Wind has successfully built a leadership position in the offshore wind market, and we will continue to develop projects and build new opportunities for our communities.”
Mayflower Wind has grown significantly since its inception in 2019, bringing together its parent companies’ extensive experience developing offshore wind projects across the globe. The joint venture is comprised of a diverse workforce of more than 70 employees dedicated to delivering a robust 2.4 GW portfolio of offshore wind energy to New England.
“This is an exciting time for Mayflower Wind and the offshore wind industry,” said Michael Brown, US Country Manager, OW Ocean Winds NA, “Francis brings deep knowledge about how to bring an offshore wind development to life, and just as important, he has a vision for how valuable it is to work with our communities to bring benefits locally, regionally, and nationally. He’s the kind of skilled and thoughtful person you want leading a project.”
Mayflower Wind’s full offshore wind lease area has a capacity of 2400 MW – enough electricity to power more than 1 million homes and businesses and will create some 27,000 jobs over its lifetime. Pending Final Investment Decision (FID) Mayflower expects to deliver the first 1200 MW of power by the end of the 2020s and has committed that power to several of Massachusetts’ largest public utilities. That project, known as the SouthCoast project, will connect to the electric grid at Brayton Point in Somerset, MA, the once-home of the region’s largest coal plant.
