Meet James Wiley

Q: Tell us about yourself.

JW: I am a civil engineer with over fourteen years of experience working on multi-disciplinary projects across Australia, Africa, United States and the Middle East. I have worked on numerous infrastructure and planning projects ranging from port and coastal development masterplanning, strategic transport planning, city and precinct masterplanning, corridor assessments and siting studies.

Having grown up in Cape Town, South Africa, my appreciation and interest in the ocean and marine environment took hold from an early age which led me to pursuing opportunities in the ports and marine sector. Currently, I lead our Smart Mobility team in Australia where we focus on future mobility innovations, sustainable transport and green mobility initiatives to support healthy communities and improve liveability within precincts and cities.

Additionally, I’m leveraging my ports background to bring across Ramboll’s extensive port planning and design expertise in the offshore wind sector to our local shores.

Q: What are the challenges and opportunities you see for the offshore wind industry?

JW: As Australia looks to progress our transition to a more sustainable energy future, offshore wind provides an opportunity to further diversify our energy generation and supply options, playing a pivotal role in meeting future energy demand. From an infrastructure perspective, we are fortunate to have well-established and world-class port facilities which can provide the backbone to support the offshore wind industry. Supporting the offshore wind market will also allow ports to add to their traditional operations and existing clients, therefore diversifying their services and bring in a new revenue stream.

However, for our ports to effectively support the offshore wind industry, port authorities will need to invest time and resources into planning and infrastructure to accommodate the technical and operational requirements associated with the construction and ongoing operations and maintenance of offshore wind farms. The scale of the infrastructure required, i.e. the area required for storage and laydown areas, or the high design loads which quay aprons, pavements and hardstand areas need to accommodate are planning and engineering aspects which ports will need to carefully consider.

Another challenge which the industry needs to overcome is that of logistics and supply chain. Majority of the components required for offshore wind farms will be imported. Ensuring that the efficient and timely delivery of equipment and components is maintained whilst having sufficient availability at the receiving ports will be critical to supporting the development of wind farms. As a result, developers and port authorities will need to work collaboratively to ensure success.

Q: Can you tell us more about the work you are doing in the offshore wind space?

JW: Presently, we are engaging ports and port authorities with the intention of providing technical advice and assistance in relation to their initial strategic planning and ensuring that they are fully aware of the market and technical engineering requirements. Taking lessons learned from our involvement on numerous offshore wind port planning projects in geographies where the offshore wind industry is more mature, we want to share this knowledge with ports in Australia and provide valuable insights so as to avoid mistakes and delays previously experienced on projects elsewhere.

By leveraging our global expertise and capabilities, developed through actual project delivery of offshore wind port terminals, we hope to support and enable port authorities to make informed and well considered decisions in their plans to service the offshore wind industry.

Q: What attracted you to join Ramboll?

JW: When considering the opportunity to join Ramboll, there were a number of factors which caught my eye and attracted me to the company. Firstly, the opportunity to work within a global smart mobility team which embraces approaching the way we view and plan the transport ecosystem in a holistic and sustainable manner and not just adopting the same old way of doing things because it’s the easy way. Secondly, working with like mind colleagues from various industries, geographies and backgrounds who all have a passion for making a difference and bringing the expertise to promote a sustainable future.

I believe that we, as Ramboll, have the people, capabilities and desire to leave a positive, impactful and bright green future.