This question was supplied by the ‘Ask the Experts’ database managers.

Reviewed by: John O’Keeffe

Last Update: October 7th, 2020

The Ask the Experts database managers adapted an interview with John O’Keeffe (Head of Marine Affairs for North America at Ørsted) that was conducted by URI students’— Eileen Dillon, Jack Gilmour, Jake McNamara and JP Monteverdi for their Marine Affairs capstone course instructed by Dr. Austin Becker, Associate Professor. The interview takes a deep dive into Navigational Risk at the Block Island Wind Farm.

O’Keeffe explains that, when approaching a new offshore wind development, a navigational risk assessment must be conducted. The first step in creating such an assessment is to organize a team led by subject-matter experts. After doing so, the developer then works to identify appropriate contractors who will generate a third-party report consisting of either qualitative or quantitative assessments.

Another very important step noted by O’keefe is to identify all of the various stakeholders for the wind farm. This includes everyone who will be involved in either the operation or construction of the wind farm.