About

The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) brings together industry and the UK Government to realise the UK’s offshore wind ambitions for 2030 and beyond.

How we work

The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) is structured through the OWIC Executive Council and OWIC Delivery Board, supported by an industry-funded work programme.

Executive Council

The OWIC Executive Council is the senior forum for ministerial and industry engagement to secure, enable and accelerate the future deployment of offshore wind in the UK. It is Co-Chaired by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero with the Energy Minister as Vice-Chair and a government-appointed industry Co-Chair. Government also approves two industry Vice-Chairs (one from an offshore wind developer and one from a supplier). The current Co-Chairs and Industry Vice-Chairs are:

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Ed Miliband

Government Co-Chair

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Ed Miliband is the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and OWIC Co-Chair

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Michael Shanks

Government Vice-Chair

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Michael Shanks is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and the OWIC Government Vice-Chair

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Adam Morrison

Industry Co-Chair

Ocean Winds

Adam Morrison is the Industry Chair of OWIC. He is the Country Manager UK of Ocean Winds.

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Melissa Read

Industry Vice-Chair

Equinor

Melissa Read is Offshore Wind Manager at Equinor and serves as the Industry Vice-Chair for the Offshore Wind Industry Council,

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Andrew Elmes

Supply Chain Vice-Chair

Siemens Energy

Andrew Elmes is the Head of Government Affairs - UK&I and serves as the industry Supply Chain Vice-Chair for the Offshore Wind Industry Council.

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Ed Miliband

Government Co-Chair

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Ed Miliband is the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and OWIC Co-Chair

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Michael Shanks

Government Vice-Chair

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Michael Shanks is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and the OWIC Government Vice-Chair

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Adam Morrison

Industry Co-Chair

Ocean Winds

Adam Morrison is the Industry Chair of OWIC. He is the Country Manager UK of Ocean Winds.

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Melissa Read

Industry Vice-Chair

Equinor

Melissa Read is Offshore Wind Manager at Equinor and serves as the Industry Vice-Chair for the Offshore Wind Industry Council,

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Andrew Elmes

Supply Chain Vice-Chair

Siemens Energy

Andrew Elmes is the Head of Government Affairs - UK&I and serves as the industry Supply Chain Vice-Chair for the Offshore Wind Industry Council.

Delivery Board

The OWIC Delivery Board develops and delivers the OWIC Executive Council’s strategic priorities by ensuring the joint government and industry work programme is regularly reviewed and progressed.

Work programme

The OWIC work programme is delivered through the OWIC workstreams and projects supported by the Offshore Wind Delivery Team at RenewableUK. The OWIC work programme is funded by OWIC industry members and delivered in collaboration with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and wider government. The Delivery Board includes senior representatives from all OWIC organisations and meets quarterly.

 


 

Delivery Team 

The Offshore Wind Delivery Team at RenewableUK are responsible for the delivery of the OWIC work programme. To get in touch, email owic@renewableuk.com 

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Celestia Godbehere

Head of Offshore Wind

Celestia leads the Offshore Wind Industry Council's and RenewableUK's work to enable offshore wind project delivery, and sets priorities and strategy for offshore wind with input from industry leaders, specialists and the offshore wind delivery team. Before becoming Head of Offshore Wind, Celestia led the environment, consents, aviation and security team within RUK, and previously worked in Orsted's consenting team.

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Scott Young

Director of Renewable Delivery

Scott leads RenewableUK's delivery team, operating across fixed bottom offshore wind, floating wind, onshore wind and flex and storage. He is also responsible for leading the team across skills, supply chain, environment and consenting and cluster workstreams. Prior to becoming Director of Renewable Delivery Scott led worked on skills in OWIC and retains responsibility for the sector's engagement with trades unions and on the Energy Skills Passport. Prior to joining RenewableUK Scott spend over a decade working on major infrastructure projects.

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Jane Cooper

Deputy CEO, RenewableUK

Jane champions RenewableUK’s members to drive awareness of policy challenges, galvanise support and delivery of renewables, and publicly highlight the sector’s benefits. As a leader in the renewable energy industry, she works closely with the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and the Onshore Wind Industry Council (ONWIC) to align the Government’s ambitions with industry deliverables. Over the last decade, Jane has built a deep, sector-wide expertise, contributing significantly to landmark collaborative initiatives such as the Offshore Wind Sector Deal and the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership. A Chartered Mechanical engineer, Jane previously served as the Director of Regulatory and External Affairs at Ørsted, where she played a pivotal role in shaping industry regulations and fostering strategic partnerships between the Government and the private sector. Jane is Chair of the Aura CDT Strategic Advisory Board and co-Chair of the Floating Offshore Wind Executive.

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Alexandre Davies

Head of Aviation

Alex leads on aviation and radar challenges in the Offshore Wind Delivery Team. Alex has a pilot’s licence and has worked in a number of roles in the Civil Service, including Programme Manager for the St Helena Airport Project.

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Ajai Ahluwaila

Head of Supply Chain

Ajai leads on assessing and maximising opportunities for the UK offshore wind supply chain. Ajai has a background in electrical engineering and has worked in the offshore wind sector for many years – most recently at Equinor on the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm.

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Kat Route-Stephens

Head of Environment and Consents

Kat leads the Environment & Consents workstream which includes the Pathways to Growth focus areas and developing environmental strategic compensation solutions. Kat is passionate about sustainable development and is a Chartered environmentalist with over 12 years’ professional experience in environment and consenting of offshore renewable energy.

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Ophelia Maxwell

Head of Renewable Programme Delivery & Regional Development

Ophelia leads the delivery of the offshore wind programmes, working closely with the delivery leads and DESNZ counterparts. Ophelia has been working at RenewableUK for over two years, previously working closely with stakeholders for their engagement in membership and across conferences & events.

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Juliet Shrimpton

Environment and Consents Manager

Juliet is part of the OWIC Environment and Consents team, helping to resolve environmental and consenting challenges enabling the sector to meet its 2030 targets – with a particular focus on underwater noise. Juliet has a background in offshore renewables and oil and gas with a particular focus on EIA process and marine mammals.

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Oscar Wilkie

Environment and Consents Assistant Manager

Oscar is part OWIC Environment and Consents team, helping to resolve environmental and consenting challenges in offshore wind – with a particular focus on Cumulative Impact Assessment in Seabirds, and Strategic Planning. Oscar joined in September 2023 after spending five years at Seafish.

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Anna Tarbet

Strategic Compensation Project Manager

Anna joined OWIC's Environment and Consents team in June 2024. Anna has a background in delivering landscape-scale restoration projects, working on compensation packages within, or near, designated sites and wide-ranging biodiversity conservation initiatives.

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Emily Goodman

Strategic Compensation Assistant Project Manager

Emily joined OWIC's Environment and Consents team in June 2024 as the Assistant Project Manager on the Strategic Compensation Studies Project. Emily has previously worked as a Consultant on offshore renewable projects in UK and Irish waters and has a background in marine ecology and HRA.

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Celestia Godbehere

Head of Offshore Wind

Celestia leads the Offshore Wind Industry Council's and RenewableUK's work to enable offshore wind project delivery, and sets priorities and strategy for offshore wind with input from industry leaders, specialists and the offshore wind delivery team. Before becoming Head of Offshore Wind, Celestia led the environment, consents, aviation and security team within RUK, and previously worked in Orsted's consenting team.

image

Scott Young

Director of Renewable Delivery

Scott leads RenewableUK's delivery team, operating across fixed bottom offshore wind, floating wind, onshore wind and flex and storage. He is also responsible for leading the team across skills, supply chain, environment and consenting and cluster workstreams. Prior to becoming Director of Renewable Delivery Scott led worked on skills in OWIC and retains responsibility for the sector's engagement with trades unions and on the Energy Skills Passport. Prior to joining RenewableUK Scott spend over a decade working on major infrastructure projects.

image

Jane Cooper

Deputy CEO, RenewableUK

Jane champions RenewableUK’s members to drive awareness of policy challenges, galvanise support and delivery of renewables, and publicly highlight the sector’s benefits. As a leader in the renewable energy industry, she works closely with the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and the Onshore Wind Industry Council (ONWIC) to align the Government’s ambitions with industry deliverables. Over the last decade, Jane has built a deep, sector-wide expertise, contributing significantly to landmark collaborative initiatives such as the Offshore Wind Sector Deal and the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership. A Chartered Mechanical engineer, Jane previously served as the Director of Regulatory and External Affairs at Ørsted, where she played a pivotal role in shaping industry regulations and fostering strategic partnerships between the Government and the private sector. Jane is Chair of the Aura CDT Strategic Advisory Board and co-Chair of the Floating Offshore Wind Executive.

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Alexandre Davies

Head of Aviation

Alex leads on aviation and radar challenges in the Offshore Wind Delivery Team. Alex has a pilot’s licence and has worked in a number of roles in the Civil Service, including Programme Manager for the St Helena Airport Project.

image

Ajai Ahluwaila

Head of Supply Chain

Ajai leads on assessing and maximising opportunities for the UK offshore wind supply chain. Ajai has a background in electrical engineering and has worked in the offshore wind sector for many years – most recently at Equinor on the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm.

image

Kat Route-Stephens

Head of Environment and Consents

Kat leads the Environment & Consents workstream which includes the Pathways to Growth focus areas and developing environmental strategic compensation solutions. Kat is passionate about sustainable development and is a Chartered environmentalist with over 12 years’ professional experience in environment and consenting of offshore renewable energy.

image

Ophelia Maxwell

Head of Renewable Programme Delivery & Regional Development

Ophelia leads the delivery of the offshore wind programmes, working closely with the delivery leads and DESNZ counterparts. Ophelia has been working at RenewableUK for over two years, previously working closely with stakeholders for their engagement in membership and across conferences & events.

image

Juliet Shrimpton

Environment and Consents Manager

Juliet is part of the OWIC Environment and Consents team, helping to resolve environmental and consenting challenges enabling the sector to meet its 2030 targets – with a particular focus on underwater noise. Juliet has a background in offshore renewables and oil and gas with a particular focus on EIA process and marine mammals.

image

Oscar Wilkie

Environment and Consents Assistant Manager

Oscar is part OWIC Environment and Consents team, helping to resolve environmental and consenting challenges in offshore wind – with a particular focus on Cumulative Impact Assessment in Seabirds, and Strategic Planning. Oscar joined in September 2023 after spending five years at Seafish.

image

Anna Tarbet

Strategic Compensation Project Manager

Anna joined OWIC's Environment and Consents team in June 2024. Anna has a background in delivering landscape-scale restoration projects, working on compensation packages within, or near, designated sites and wide-ranging biodiversity conservation initiatives.

image

Emily Goodman

Strategic Compensation Assistant Project Manager

Emily joined OWIC's Environment and Consents team in June 2024 as the Assistant Project Manager on the Strategic Compensation Studies Project. Emily has previously worked as a Consultant on offshore renewable projects in UK and Irish waters and has a background in marine ecology and HRA.

(Header image: Teesside offshore wind farm)