Chris Veal
He currently manages offshore development for Airtricity.
Biography
Chris currently manages offshore development for Airtricity, including responsibility for the 500MW Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind energy project Airtricity is developing in the UK in partnership with Fluor Corporation and the development of a 10GW offshore wind energy and transmission project as the first step along the road to the creation a European Offshore Supergrid.
Following completion of a PhD in Electrical Engineering at Imperial College, Chris spent 14 years with National Grid in various roles, with responsibilities which included the planning of the high voltage transmission system in the north of the England, and managing the process of making offers for connection to the grid in England & Wales. More recently, Chris led National Grid’s development of several interconnector projects, including the North Sea and BritNed interconnectors, all structured on a project-financed basis. During this period he also completed an MBA at Warwick University.
Chris is particularly interested in the establishment of the electrical grid infrastructure required to support the development of the offshore wind potential in the seas that surround western and northern Europe, and to promote the benefits that such interconnection would bring.