Liz McMaster

Associate

Liz McMaster is RCG’s first employee to join the Sydney, Australia ERM office. Liz has experience working with offshore wind energy open-source simulation tools and has completed a technoeconomic analysis of offshore cable costs for marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) applications. As an Associate, she has responsibility for supporting the joint ERM and RCG projects covering site identification and early development phase works for clients.

Liz brings experience in offshore wind farm design and planning from the dual-master’s program in Wind Energy Technology and Offshore Engineering from world-leading universities in wind energy (TU Delft, NTNU, and DTU). Her thesis, conducted in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, experimentally examined offshore loadings on wind turbines due to thermal ice actions. Prior to her graduate program. Liz completed a research appointment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Lab where she compared hydro-servo-elastic tools to model fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines. She also researched offshore cable costs to develop an open-source LCoE calculator for marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) applications. Prior to joining the wind industry, Liz gained some work experience in a successful US HVAC start-up (Delta-T) that focused on demand-side response in partnership with U.S. electric utilities.

Liz trained as a Mechanical Engineer. She holds two Master’s degrees in Offshore Engineering and Wind Energy Technology, which included training in offshore wind farm planning and development, LCoE analysis, and subsystem technical design, modelling and optimization. She is a Professional Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Representative Assignments

Offshore Wind Turbine Ice Loading
Conducted a year-long master thesis project experimentally comparing thermal-mechanical properties of freshwater and saline ice in Arctic environments to evaluate potential loadings on offshore wind turbines.
Offshore Wind Model Verification
Validated an international client’s finite-element program with a Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structure and Turbulence (FAST) code for a 5MW fixed-bottom offshore wind turbine with jacket and monopile substructures under various load cases.
Offshore Wind Cable Cost Analysis
Completed a technoeconomic analysis on offshore wind cable costs to develop an open-source LCoE modelling tool for marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) applications.