Leading renewable energy and infrastructure consultancy Natural Power, has appointed Andre Louis Ferdinand as a Senior Engineer in the inspections service team, based in North America.
Andre joins from Ascent Technologies, a Texas-based firm specialising in developing software for commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Ascent Technologies was acquired by Natural Power earlier this month.
Craig Gordon, Global Head of Inspections at Natural Power, said: “Andre is a very welcome addition to the team at Natural Power. His expertise, knowledge of the market and experience of working throughout the Americas will be invaluable to our business as we continue to grow and expand our global inspections service.”
Andre has a degree in Aeronautics and a strong background in advanced aerodynamics. He is also is a commercial helicopter and unmanned aircraft pilot with more than nine years of experience flying in severe weather conditions. He has a strong understanding of unmanned aircraft systems principles, and has indeed developed specialist UAS relevant software.
At Natural Power, Andre will be leading the development, evaluation and distribution of unmanned aerial system software used in the commercial UAS operations.
Jim Adams, President of Natural Power in North America, added: “We are beyond thrilled to bring Andre on to our growing US team to help service our clients in North America. As we approach 100GW of installed capacity in the US market the need for efficient and safe blade inspections is ever increasing. We are delighted to be able to provide a cost effective and efficient solution via Andre and Ascent Technologies”.
Natural Power will be exhibiting at the forthcoming AWEA Operations, Maintenance and Safety Conference which takes place on February 27 – 28 at the Hotel Del Coronado, Coronado, California. Andre will represent the business along with Jim Adams, President; Holly Burnett, Senior Vice President; and Euan Fenelon, Operations and Asset Management Director.
Natural Power is recognised across the renewables sector for its proven track record in inspection services and has worked across various turbine types including, but not limited to, Siemens, Vestas, Senvion and Nordex. The team uniquely understands the need for efficiency in order to maximise the uptime of turbine fleets – find out more here https://www.naturalpower.com/our-services/inspections/