Orsted’s former onshore wind CEO Neil O’Donovan has joined international renewable vitality funding firm Bluestar Vitality Capital as president and chief working officer to push development throughout key markets within the US, Australia and Europe.
The transfer sees O’Donovan reuniting with former colleague Declan Flanagan, Bluestar’s founder and CEO. Each executives have been concerned in rising Lincoln Clear Vitality (LCE) into one of many US’ largest wind and photo voltaic builders earlier than its acquisition by Orsted in 2018.
Each O’Donovan and Flanagan stayed on with Orsted after its acquisition to shepherd the transition, with the latter leaving in 2021 and founding Bluestar a yr later. O’Donovan introduced his departure from the Danish group two months in the past.
“I’m delighted to crew up once more with Neil, who I had the honour to accomplice with on the success of LCE and later as we constructed the Orsted Onshore enterprise round that platform within the US and Europe,” stated Flanagan.
“Few executives within the international renewables area can match the breadth and depth of Neil’s expertise in each aspect of the wind, photo voltaic and storage worth chains.”
Bluestar develops tasks by means of its Nova Clear Vitality agency in North America, and BEA Renewables in Australia.
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O’Donovan’s transfer comes as international renewable vitality sectors are dealing with each unprecedented demand and mounting headwinds of excessive inflation and rates of interest, and ongoing provide chain turmoil.
“I do not suppose there’s ever been a greater time to be a supplier of inexperienced electrons by way of market demand,” O’Donovan advised Recharge.
“The flip facet of that’s it is changing into difficult,” he stated, including grid interconnection points and allowing to the record of hurdles builders should leap.
Headquartered in Chicago, Bluestar is specializing in “big momentum within the US market”, in response to O’Donovan, as trillions of {dollars} in incentives included within the landmark Inflation Discount Act (IRA) turbocharge development.
Regardless of the incentives, onshore wind improvement within the US has slowed this yr to its lowest capability additions since 2019 as grid interconnection and allowing queues weigh on the sector.
“Ten years in the past, you’d search for locations of excessive useful resource, whether or not it is excessive wind useful resource or excessive photo voltaic useful resource, after which want to determine a method to get the facility to the place it’s wanted,” O’Donovan stated.
“Now it is type of shifted to the place you are searching for the place you will get good transmission or viable transmission and also you’re determining if it is windy.”
O’Donovan is assured Bluestar will have the ability to generate a pipeline of investable wind tasks primarily based on the expertise of his crew whereas conceding improvement is “probably more difficult than the photo voltaic facet”.
“The market wants all of those options, and so we see alternatives throughout all three important applied sciences of wind, photo voltaic and storage,” he advised Recharge.
Bluestar is likewise seeking to ramp in booming markets of Australia and Europe.
Australia has wealthy photo voltaic and wind belongings and is investing closely in renewable vitality to cut back emissions 43% by 2030 off 2005 ranges and attain net-zero by 2050.
“They’ve made good progress over time, however there’s nonetheless extra alternative to go for extra developments in renewables,” stated O’Donovan.
“We positively see alternative there for improvement and a pipeline of investable tasks,” he added.
The European market provides comparable alternative because the US but in addition comparable complexity.
“Europe has big ambitions they usually’ve solely elevated within the final two or three years. So, the pie is fairly massive,” he advised Recharge.
That stated “there’s quite a lot of completely different markets inside Europe and quite a lot of completely different nations, and so you need to be very particular about the place you need to play and why.”
Throughout these wide-ranging geographies, improvement experience in figuring out and pushing good tasks stays key whether or not “you are in Alabama, Italy or Australia,” he stated.
“On the finish of the day improvement is an area sport, and also you want native experience, whether or not that is allowing, interconnection, landowners, all these kind of dynamics that convey a challenge ahead,” he added.
