Gabriel Guichet

Project Manager

Gabriel joined Velocita France as project manager in February 2015 to drive Velocita on-shore wind projects from engineering phase to completion. Gabriel has previously worked with Senvion (Former Repower System), one of the top 5 worldwide wind turbine manufacturers, where he was overseeing the built of over 75 turbines (150 MW). Prior to that, he spent 1 year in the technical support as Engineered where he managed all the electrical and SCADA studies for the windfarms.

Gabriel completed a Master of Innovation degree in Engineering at ISTIA University of Angers (France) and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nantes (France).

Christine Sirven

Personal Assistant / Office Assistant

Christine joined Velocita in May 2014 and supports the UK team. Previously Christine worked as PA to the Director of Laven Partners.

From 2003 to 2010 she worked for a French hydraulic company based in Toulouse where she was in charge of the administration and finances. She also possesses 7 years’ experience in real estate management and administration for both private and commercial use.

Christine has a degree in Art and Design from both the Beaux-Arts of Toulouse (France) and the Superieur Art School of Perpignan (France). She speaks French and English.

Abby Death

Management Accountant

Abby joined Velocita in October 2013 as a Management Accountant, focusing particularly on the reporting of Velocita’s projects’ performance, including the accounting and fiscal aspects.

Previously, Abby spent three years at Staples Rodway as an Audit Senior conducting audits of SME’s, charitable and government funded organisations, and large multinationals within oil and gas, manufacturing, real estate and education sectors.

Abby is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA). She holds a Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) in Accountancy and Finance, and a Graduate Diploma in Taxation Consultancy from Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

 

Jean Lemaire

Director France

Jean currently leads Velocita’s business and development in France as Managing Director for Velocita France. He has close to 15 years of international experience in the energy and renewable energy industries and has lived all phases of the energy project lifecycle. Over his career he has contributed to the development of close to 2,000 MW of on and offshore wind and renewable energy projects across Europe and North America and has also provided expert advisory services on some 5,000 MW of renewable energy projects.

Prior to his current role with Velocita Jean was the global head of Asset Management for Akuo Energy, a leading Paris-based Renewable IPP. He had responsibility for managing the team overseeing some 40 wind and solar power plants worldwide and led the transformation of the Akuo Energy group into an industrial renewable energy asset management company. Previously Jean also helped establish Akuo Energy’s North American subsidiary in Chicago and led as COO the creation and development of the US team and project portfolio. In the early 2000s Jean worked for the oil & gas major Total where he pioneered offshore wind energy development in Europe. He also successfully founded and managed a consultancy business providing advanced analytical and decision support services to the energy industry and designed and developed a windfarm maintenance cost modeling and optimisation software. Jean holds Msc. in mechanical-industrial engineering and Msc. in energy economics and management from Ecole des Mines de Douai and Ecole des Mines de Paris in France and is also a former student of McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Eric Caradec

Director of Operations

Eric joined Velocita in November 2013 as Director of Operations, responsible for the engineering, construction and operation of Velocita’s onshore wind projects in France.

Eric has more than 20 years broad international experience in large size project management, supply chain management and contract management in Oil & Gas and wind power.

From 2008 to 2013, Eric was Director of Construction and Project Management for South West Europe for Senvion (Former Repower System), one of the top 5 worldwide wind turbine manufacturers, where he was overseeing the built of over 700 turbines.

Prior to that, he spent 15 years in the Oil & Gas sector covering offshore and onshore exploration and production with CGG Veritas, Woodside Energy and Total, where he headed quite a few international senior positions as Operation Manager, Country Manager and Supply Chain Deputy Director around the world.

Eric completed a Master of Science degree in Engineering at Besancon University and gained an MBA in International Business Management in ESCP Europe.

Gearóid Maher

Associate

Gearóid has been an investment professional with Velocita since October 2014, focusing predominantly on financing and M&A for the UK & French portfolios.

Previously, Gearóid worked for EDF Energy, a UK based subsidiary of EDF Group, in both the M&A and Investments and Corporate Strategy departments. During his time in M&A and Investments, Gearóid worked primarily on the financing and investment case for Hinkley Point C, EDF’s first new nuclear build project in the UK. While in Corporate Strategy, Gearóid worked on long term price forecasting and analysis of the UK government’s Electricity Market Reform proposals. Prior to this, Gearóid has completed internships within banking and engineering companies.

Gearóid has a M.Sc. in Sustainable Energy Futures from Imperial College London and a B.Sc from University College Cork in Ireland, and has also studied at the École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État in France. He is currently a candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program. Gearóid speaks English and French.

Alexis Courtillon

Associate

Alexis has been an investment professional with Velocita since July 2013, focusing predominantly on financing and M&A for the French portfolio and on investment opportunities in the wider European region.

Alexis joined from Macquarie Capital where he was part of the London Infrastructure team. In this role, Alexis focused on financial analysis and structuring of Public-Private Partnership and other project finance transactions in the UK and continental Europe. Previously Alexis was part of Deutsche Bank’s project finance team in Frankfurt and Paris.

Alexis holds a double Master’s degree from the Ecole Centrale Paris (France) and the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid – Industriales (Spain). He also obtained a Licence in Fundamental Physic from the Université of Paris X (France). Alexis speaks French, English and Spanish.

 

Alan Baker

Managing Director

Alan formed 2020 Renewables in 2010, and is the Managing Director, with a focus on the development, construction and operation of onshore wind projects in the UK.

Alan has worked in the power sector for over 25 years. Prior to his work with 2020, he was the Chief Executive of Airtricity (Scotland). Alan also spent nine years with Scottish Power, where he played a key role in the development and construction of major power infrastructure, ranging from gas fired generating power stations to gas storage installations, and latterly wind farm projects. His early career included a period with W.S. Atkins and Morrison Construction developing major defence, rail and water projects.

Alan graduated as a Civil Engineer from the University of Glasgow and has been a Chartered Engineer for 20 years.

Phoebe Davidson

Project Developer

Phoebe has been a Project Developer at 2020 since May 2013.

Her key areas of responsibility within the company include assisting both Alasdair MacLeod and Jillian Adams on project development and research. Phoebe will also be utilising Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Windfarm software for 2020 Renewables.

Previously, Phoebe has had six months full time work experience as an assistant project developer at ScottishPower Renewables where she was part of the Onshore Wales development team. Phoebe has also worked overseas in Syracuse, New York with Colden Corporation which involved working in the Occupational Health, Safety & Environmental Consultancy field. In this position she was able to build upon her Charted Institution of Water and Environmental Management accreditation.

Phoebe is a recent graduate from Glasgow Caledonian University were she has graduated with a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Environmental Management and Planning.

Eilidh Smith

Asset Manager

Eilidh joined 2020 Renewables in October 2013 as Asset Manager. She will provide operations, technical, contractual and performance management expertise to support the operation and maintenance of onshore wind farm assets.

Eilidh has considerable experience within the wind industry with both an international OEM (Vestas) and a more focused O&M role with a UK third party service provider (RTS). Her experience covers major component replacement and management, wind turbine installation, statutory inspection project management and blade repair management.

RTS is a specialist blade repair and maintenance company with complementary skills in general wind turbine maintenance and safety systems. Initially focusing on the blade repair and management systems, Eilidh assisted RTS to become one of the UK’s leading third party maintenance companies.

Eilidh was Project Manager for five RTS wind farm installation projects and managed and planned these projects from inception to customer handover. Eilidh was involved with the pre site preparation works to ensure correct team, tools, PPE, third party suppliers and documentation were in place before site works commenced and managed each project to successful completion.

At Vestas Celtic Wind Technology Ltd. Eilidh was the main components planner and orchestrated all main components changes in wind turbines for the UK and Ireland, this included customer liaison, technician resource allocation, ordering of relevant tools and materials together with co-ordination of crane hire. 

Jillian Adams

Senior Development Manager

Jillian joined 2020 in May 2013.  Working in the Development Team Jillian supports the Development Director to develop the company’s UK wind portfolio.  This role includes site identification, land security, planning and EIA, community consultation, project development, consenting and compliance. 

Since graduating with a BSc in Plant and Environmental Biology and a Masters in Environmental Studies Jillian worked for over eleven years in environmental consulting and regulation specialising in EIA and pollution prevention latterly with a particular focus on the renewables sector.  In 2007 Jillian joined the Australian renewable energy company Pacific Hydro as Planning and Environment Manager with responsibility for the development and delivery of a number of large scale wind and solar projects throughout Australia.     

Jillian has an in depth knowledge of the renewables industry, planning and EIA legislation and best practice as well as hands on experience of community consultation and engagement and a good understanding of how these relate to the commercial aspects of development.  

Christopher B. Hunt

Director

Christopher is a Managing Director of Riverstone. He is based in London.

Christopher has nearly 20 years experience in renewable/alternative energy, gas and power. Throughout the course of his career, he has developed, constructed, financed and/or operated renewable and conventional energy businesses in over 25 countries involving more than 30 GWs of power capacity. Prior to joining Riverstone, Mr. Hunt was one of the principals leading the creation and growth of BP Alternative Energy. Whilst there, he was a principal architect in several strategic acquisitions and developments that positioned the renewable portfolio for significant profitability and future growth. He was also responsible for the development and operations of existing assets and served as Chief Executive, President or board member of several subsidiary companies.

Before working with BP, he worked extensively in the energy sector. He worked with Enron, where he was responsible for the acquisition, development, operations and/or financing of a multi-billion dollar portfolio of 16 coal, gas, wind and distribution businesses spread across Asia, as well as some businesses in Latin America. Prior to Enron, he was a founding member of a privately held international private power company that developed multiple wind and gas-fired power assets across Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Christopher currently serves on the Boards of Directors of AES Solar, Pattern Energy Group and Velocita Energy Developments. He received his BA, with high departmental honors from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and his MBA, beta gamma sigma, from Columbia University. He has also completed various post-graduate training at Harvard, Stanford, MIT and Oxford Universities.

Andrew Lee

Managing Director and CEO

Andrew has been the Chief Executive of Velocita since its incorporation in 2011.

From 2007 to 2010, Andrew was Managing Director of Good Energies’ London office and head of its European wind, solar and biomass projects business. Good Energies was a leading global investor in renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. Prior to that he was a partner and founder of the Englefield Renewable Energy Fund. This was London’s first dedicated wind energy equity fund; it was formed in 2004 and merged into Good Energies in 2007.

Previously, Andrew spent 15 years in investment banking where he advised on and led a wide range of transactions in a number of industries including power. He has also been involved with growing companies and venture capital investment in a private capacity. He helped found Augusta Finance, a boutique investment firm, where he advised equity investors on RWE’s Zephyr-Beaufort wind farm transaction, a landmark deal in the renewables sector.

Andrew completed a Masters degree in Engineering at Cambridge University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant before entering investment banking. He has a strong interest in sustainability and environmental affairs, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

Robin Duggan

Director

Robin is a Principal of Riverstone, based in London.

Prior to joining Riverstone, Robin was the founder of Commodity Optimisation Ventures Ltd, a business providing advice to clients in the private equity industry, including Texas Pacific Group. Before the founding of his business, he served in various positions with subsidiaries and affiliates of BP plc, one of the world’s largest energy firms. From 2004 to 2005 Robin was the Vice President of European Business Optimization at Innovene, BP’s olefins and derivatives subsidiary, where he was responsible for commercial activity for olefins and refining in Europe, and also oversaw Innovene’s successful separation from BP in Europe.

Before joining Innovene, Robin held a number of senior level positions in BP's Petrochemicals segment, including serving as the Performance Unit Leader of the Aromatics and Olefins division, Global Business Manager of the Styrene business unit, and the Planning, Performance and Strategy Manager of the Acetyls business unit. Prior to working in the Petrochemicals segment, he held various positions in the Upstream segment in the United Kingdom, Australia and Venezuela.

Robin currently serves on the Board of Directors of Velocita Energy Developments and Enviva. He holds a degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University and a Sloan Masters of Science in Management from Stanford University.

Natasha C. Fowlie

Director

Natasha is a Vice President of Riverstone. She is based in London.

Prior to joining Riverstone in 2012. Natasha worked in the Principal Investment Area (PIA) of Goldman Sachs.

While in PIA she worked across Goldman Sach's private equity and principal debt funds, working with existing portfolio companies, and evaluating and executing new investments, primarily focused on the energy sector.

Natasha graduated with a Masters in Engineering from Cambridge University.

 

Stephen K. Schaefer

Director

Stephen is a Partner of Riverstone and serves on the Investment Committees for the Carlyle/Riverstone Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund I and Riverstone/Carlyle Renewable and Alternative Energy Fund II. He is based in Houston.

Prior to joining Riverstone in 2004, Stephen was a Managing Director with Huron Consulting Group, where he founded and headed its Energy Practice. While at Huron, he served as interim CEO for Boston Generating Company. He also advised acquirers, bank groups and creditors committees regarding energy assets, including the Mirant and National Energy Group bankruptcies. Prior to joining Huron, Stephen was Vice President of Duke Energy. His responsibilities included all aspects regarding the acquisition, management and divestiture of power generation activities, including production facilities, trading books and trading companies. He served on the Board of Directors of the Management Committees for its subsidiaries. Before joining Duke Energy, he served as Vice President with LG&E Energy Corporation, where he was responsible for domestic and international mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining LG&E, Stephen worked in the Financial Advisory Group for Ernst & Young in New York.

Stephen serves on the Boards of Directors for Velocita Energy Developments, Amaizeingly Green, Coastal Carolina Clean Power, Emerald, Ensus Ethanol, Green Earth Fuels, Patagonia Bioenergia, Pattern Energy Group, Raven Power Holdings, ReEnergy, Sapphire Power Holdings, ThermaSource and Topaz Power.

Stephen received his BS, magna cum laude, in finance and accounting from Northeastern University in 1987 and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Pierre-Antoine Tetard

Vice President and President for France

Pierre-Antoine joined Andrew at Velocita shortly after the company was formed and is responsible for the management of the French business and corporate development activities.

Prior to joining Velocita, Pierre-Antoine was an Associate with Riverstone Holdings, based in London. In this role, Pierre-Antoine focused on the sourcing, analysis, negotiation, structuring and closing of investments, both in renewables and conventional energy in Europe. He was also involved in the management of several Riverstone portfolio companies.

Previously, Pierre-Antoine spent three years at the Investment Banking department of Morgan Stanley (London and New York), where he advised clients in the Energy and Utilities industries on M&A transactions, IPOs, equity and debt financing, valuation and strategic reviews.

Pierre-Antoine received a Master’s degree in Finance at Sciences-Po (Paris) and a B.A. in Economics at Dauphine University (Paris IX).

Dorothée Privat

Group Finance Director

Dorothée joined Velocita in September 2012 and has responsibility for Finance, including accounting, tax, financial reporting and compliance.

From 2006 to 2012, Dorothée worked as a Senior Financial Controller for Platina Partners LLP, a European private equity Investment Manager focusing on renewable energy projects.

Prior to this, she built her financial experience in different sectors, spending a year with Pacodis/ACS, a perfume and cosmetics distributor focusing on the Italian market, and several years with L'OREAL in an international context. She had previously worked with ICI, a UK-based speciality chemicals company, working first in their UK offices before moving to Singapore. She began her career working for Shell Chemicals.

Dorothée is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and has a BSc in Finance with Economics from the Institut Commercial de Nancy (ICN). She is currently completing the Advance Diploma on International taxation (ADIT).

Joris Rademakers

Vice President

Joris has been an investment professional with Velocita since early 2012, focusing predominantly on financing and M&A for the UK portfolio and on investment opportunities in the wider European region.

Previously, Joris gained finance and M&A experience within the investment banking division of Barclays Capital based in the UK, focusing on the clean technology sector, including wind, and the broader industrials space. Prior to this, Joris worked for Chevron Exploration and Production in the Netherlands and has completed internships within banking and technical engineering businesses.

Joris has a B.Sc. in Sustainable Molecular Science and Technology, with a minor in Management of Technology, from the Technical University of Delft and Leiden University in the Netherlands. During his B.Sc. Joris has also studied at the London School of Economics. After working at Chevron he obtained a M.Sc. with distinction in Energy, Trade and Finance, from the Cass Business School of the UK.

Robert Strachan

Management Accountant

Robert joined Velocita in March 2013 as a Management Accountant, focusing particularly on the reporting of Velocita’s projects’ performance, including the accounting and fiscal aspects.

Previously, Robert spent three years at Platina Partners LLP as a junior accountant where he was instrumental to the set-up of accounting and tax procedures, audit management and the implementation of the shareholder reporting. Prior to this, Robert worked for the MCC at Lord’s Cricket Ground for six years in various accounting and administrative roles.

Robert has a degree in business management from the University of Southampton.

Farida Ahkim

Executive Assistant & Office Manager

Farida joined Velocita in November 2011 from Good Energies (UK) LLP, where she was Executive Assistant to the Managing Directors and Office Manager.

Before this, Farida was supporting the Partners leading the Renewable Energy Fund at Englefield Capital until it merged with Good Energies in 2007.

Farida holds a degree in German language and literature from the RWTH Aachen in Germany.

Alasdair Macleod

Development Director

Alasdair has been the Development Director at 2020 since March 2010.

His key areas of responsibility within the company include site identification, project development, planning advice and acquisitions, and the management of the company’s UK wind portfolio.

Previously Alasdair has worked as the Planning Director with RPS Consultants, as Head of Wind Development at Infinis and as Development Manager for Scotland at Airtricity. He has worked in the renewables sector since 2000 and has successfully developed wind projects across the UK.

Alasdair is a Chartered Town Planner with industry knowledge, experience of Planning and EIA law, project management skills and strengths in community engagement and public affairs. He is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and currently sits on Scottish Renewables’ Planning Advisory Group and Renewables-UK’s Aviation Stakeholder Group.

Renaud Vallier

Project Manager

Renaud joined Velocita France as project manager in January 2015 to drive Velocita on-shore wind projects from engineering phase to completion . Renaud has previously worked with Naskeo Environment, where he was Construction Manager and in charge of the conception and execution of significant and complex biogas plants from start to finish. He gained his experience in wind energy at CEGELEC where he managed the infrastructures of wind farm projects. Prior to this he worked for VOL-V Solar where he was Solar PV Project Engineer responsible for the evaluation, planning and development of potential PV projects.

Renaud has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Rennes (France) and a bachelor in Engineering Environmental and Technology Management from the Avans University of Applied Sciences, Breda (Netherlands).

Louisa Seddik

Team Assistant

Louisa joined Velocita in January 2015 and supports the Velocita team in the UK and France. Prior to that she worked as team assistant at Barclays Design Lab in London and LexisNexis in Paris.

Louisa has a Secretary degree from the Cer Forma in Paris and is fluent in French, English and Italian.

Julie Coyle

Group Legal Counsel

Julie joined 2020 Renewables in 2010 as in-house legal advisor. She is involved at all stages in the development process of the windfarm projects, particularly in relation to land agreements. Julie also provides advice to Velocita on company secretarial matters, joint ventures, investments and corporate structure as well as overseeing all of the external legal advice that is instructed by the group.

Prior to joining 2020 Renewables Julie was at Dundas & Wilson, where she was involved in a variety of wind farm projects involving land agreements, acquisitions and project financing, acting for developers, lenders and landowners. Julie completed her legal traineeship with Dickson Minto.

Julie has an LLB (Hons) from the University of Glasgow and a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Glasgow Graduate School of Law. Julie qualified as a solicitor in 2006 and has previously tutored Conveyancing on the University of Glasgow Professional Practice (Diploma) course.

Alasdair Campbell

Project Developer

Alasdair joined 2020 Renewables in 2010 as a Project Developer.

He is involved at all stages in the development process of the wind farm projects, particularly in relation to EIAs and planning applications.

Prior to joining 2020 Renewables Alasdair worked for Chillwind and Community Windpower, where he dealt with wind monitoring and assessment as well as EIAs and planning applications.

Alasdair has a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science and an MSc in Sustainable Development, both from the University of Stirling.

Jean-Pierre Laurent

President

Jean-Pierre set up Opale Energies Naturelles 2008 after over fifteen years of experience in the wind energy sector. He created the company by integrating a strong social model and a unique approach to town and country planning. Under his responsibility, more than 500 MW of wind projects were taken up to the point of the building permit, and more than 1,500 MW have been managed in a diverse range of situations.

Jean-Pierre has been responsible for wind development in French overseas departments and territories, and abroad and in France as a branch manager; he has been involved in the development of the French wind sector since 1996.

As a basis for this, Jean-Pierre studied at the ESC Grenoble and has an MSC in Technological Management from the University of Manchester’s Institute of Science and Technology. He is dedicated to leading his team in a constant spirit of innovation, particularly when it comes to the development of projects, and with a deep respect for rural territories and strong conviction in the value of human partnerships.

Sébastien Jeangirard

Head of Development – North of France

Sebastien was one of the three founders of Opale Energies Naturelles in 2008. He is responsible for the management and development of wind projects in the North East of France.

Prior to this, Sebastien worked as a Project Manager in the North East of France, where he developed more than 200 MW of wind projects between 2002 and 2008. He had previously spent four years as a Project Manager in the field of transport, before turning his attentions towards the wind energy sector.

Sebastien studied at the Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs (ENI) de Belfort in Franche Comté and received his degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1996.

Arnaud Grand

Head of Development – South of France

Since 2002, Arnaud has led the development of wind projects in the South of France. He has carried more than 100 MW of projects through to the level of receiving a building permit. Before this, he dedicated himself to working on the analysis of wind resources and to the development of projects in island and cyclonic environments.

Arnaud began his career in renewable energies in 1998, using his expertise in solar systems for the ADEME (Agency of the Environment and the Control of Energy). He studied engineering at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers of Bordeaux and Paris, the leading French school in the fields of mechanics and industrialisation.

Frédéric Beltran

Wind Project Manager

Frédéric works within Opale as a wind project manager, working on projects from the development and prospecting stage, through to the receipt of building permits and the meeting of authorisation requests.

Since 2001, he has specialised in the development of renewable energies, including wind and biogas. Before this he spent ten years as a member of the team working on the development and rehabilitation of gas turbines within first Alstom and then General Electric of Belfort. He has participated in the development of more than 500 MW of wind projects and supported the development of in the region of over 10 MW of projects from biogas.

Frédéric trained as an Engineer at the Technological University of Compiègne.