Meet the Team: Johnathan Love | OWC London
At OWC, our teams are constantly expanding into more locations, in expertise, and in sectors of influence. Our people are at the heart of what we do, and we invite you to get to know our team members so you can meet the energy behind change.
This week, we chat with Johnathan Love, a Principal Consultant based in our London office!
Position: Principal Consultant, O&M Lead
Office: London, UK
Favourite Movie: I’m a big Star Wars fan, I also love Lord of the Rings (books and films)!
Favourite Book: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels.
Hobbies Outside of Work: Anything that my kids are enjoying and DIY as we’re renovating our house room by room. I like to volunteer in the community and each month support the activities of my local church in the community.
Can you give us a glimpse into your day-to-day life at OWC?
My role as a Principal Consultant and OWC’s O&M Lead for Offshore Wind is multifaceted and what each day looks like really depends on whether or not I’m seconded into a project at that time. When seconded into project teams, this is usually for an offshore wind farm developer, and so for an extended period I become one of their team members using my skills and experience to help advance a wind farm through its development phase.
Outside of secondments, I take on a varierty of responsibilities, often as project manager for all different scales of OWC projects, delivering, reviewing and approving work related to Operations and Maintenance (O&M) as well as undertaking business development activities, preparing bids and tenders for prospective clients.
Occasionally, I’ll get out of the office to a client site or to speak at or attend a conference, which are always exciting opportunities. Some of the most memorable ones have been the trips up to the very north of mainland Scotland (I ticked a visit to John O’Groats of my list a while back) and being selected to close RenewableUK’s Global Offshore Wind conference with some of my fellow RUK Shadow Board members.
What inspired you to join your profession?
I studied Physical Geography at university and knew from then that I wanted to work in an area to do with the environment or renewables. I’m from East Yorkshire and at the time the region was becoming known as the ‘Energy Estuary’, in part due to the rapid rise of the offshore wind industry in the area.
Later, Siemens set up their wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in Hull and they showcased the first blade they produced from there in the city centre. I went to see it and was so impressed by the scale of it (it took up the whole square, angled so the busses could drive under it!).
I was working in renewables by then (solar PV and renewable heating) but that’s the moment I knew I wanted to get into offshore wind.
Can you share with us something exciting you are currently working on?
I am currently Project Manager for OWC’s support to the Green Volt wind farm. We have a great team of 10 or so people deeply imbedded in Green Volt – it’s a key project for OWC and also for the industry as a whole as it is the leading commercial scale floating wind farm. It’s already secured consent and a Contract for Difference (CfD) and is now working towards the Final Investment Decision so it’s an exciting and groundbreaking project to be involved with.
In O&M, I have just completed a comprehensive preliminary O&M Strategy for an offshore wind farm in Scotland. This project is in early development but it’s great that the developer is considering how to operate and maintain their wind farm well so far in advance.
This will gives them time to really optimise the strategy, to prepare well and to take advantage of emerging technology innovations to increase efficiency and safety.
Looking ahead, what do you think is key to driving sustainability in your region?
I think this is a really complex topic but fundamentally wind energy is cheap, clean and secure in comparison to other types of generation, so working to deploy more of it should be a ‘no-brainer’. However, the recent combination of higher interest rates, increased commodity prices and failed wind auctions from various governments have caused a lot of issues in the industry.
I think governments learning lessons adjusting to account for these issues in the design of their auctions and their budget setting for CfDs should go a long way to improving certainty and give the developers and lenders the confidence they need to keep the pipeline of wind projects flowing.
Besides work, what do you enjoy most working within the ABL Group?
It’s definitely the people. My colleagues are some of the most expert and passionate people I’ve met, it’s inspiring to be around and work with them. Not only that but they are very professional, friendly and an incredibly diverse bunch too with so many backgrounds and interests represented. I also enjoy the company’s stance when it comes to people and their personal development. In my experience, growth and development is hugely encouraged and supported, something I’ve felt and benefitted from since joining OWC 3 years ago.