CES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Operations
Aaron has 20+ years of experience in traditional and clean energy sectors covering a variety of roles, including CEO and senior operating positions. He oversaw all aspects of large-scale infra projects, including operations, compliance, and finance.
Adam is a seasoned operations manager with a wealth of experience in crane operations. His "can do" attitude and collaborative approach make him a valuable member of CES. With a deep understanding of safety protocols and a keen eye for detail, Adam ensures that every job is completed safely and efficiently. He takes pride in his ability to work closely with his team, providing guidance and support where necessary to achieve the best possible results. Throughout his career, Adam has proven himself to be a reliable and skilled leader, capable of managing complex operations and delivering exceptional results.
Job Titles:
- CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
- Co - Founder
- CEO, Clean Energy Services
Ahmad brings 20+ years of experience founding, building, and investing in energy companies, including renewables, energy infrastructure, and energy services firms. Ahmad spent over a decade leading energy private equity investing at BlackRock and energy infrastructure investing at Morgan Stanley. At BlackRock and Morgan Stanley, Ahmad deployed over $5 B of investments into private energy companies, which led to several successful exits for investors. At BlackRock, Ahmad was also instrumental in founding the renewables investment team, which is now an industry leader. Prior to his private equity career, Ahmad was an entrepreneur who founded an energy software company as well as a renewables company and sold them both at a significant profit. Ahmad received a Bachelors Degree in Economics from Harvard University with the highest distinction and was among 32 Americans selected as a Rhodes Scholar, through which he earned a Masters in International Relations at Oxford University in England.
Job Titles:
- VP of Storage Services and Customer Success
Alicia is an energy professional with a rich, diverse background in the energy industry. She joins the CES Management Team having successfully transitioned to the renewable field from the oil and gas and utility industries. She has over 13 years of engineering, project management, and construction experience, three of those years being at Key Capture Energy (KCE). During her tenure at KCE, Texas-New Mexico Power, and SLB she led the execution of all aspects of projects including engineering design, procurement, construction, including commissioning and startup activities. Her most recent achievements include the completion of construction and energization of 300 MW of stand-alone battery storage facilities, in addition to those facility substations & interconnecting transmission lines.
Job Titles:
- Chief Product Officer
- Engineer
- Executive
Brandon Zschokke is a highly accomplished executive and engineer, specializing in battery energy storage systems. During his tenure at FlexGen, a top 3 US-based battery energy storage integrator, he demonstrated exceptional leadership by establishing and leading the Lifecycle Services team. While building this multidisciplinary team, he also spearheaded the development of a cutting-edge 24/7 remote operations center and analytics platform. Prior to FlexGen, Brandon accumulated valuable engineering experience at OEMs and startups such as Delta Electronics, TMEIC, and ProAxion. Brandon holds a bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and North Carolina State University, a program where he serves on the Alumni Advisory Board.
Job Titles:
- EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of CARBON MANAGEMENT at the UNIVERSITY of HOUSTON
Charles has held senior executive and leadership roles in the private and public sector including with the Department of Energy, Praxair, and Battelle. He has served as a Presidential appointee as Assistant Secretary of Energy - Office of Fossil Fuels under President Obama. He has achieved worldwide recognition in the development and advocacy of climate change and carbon policies, e.g., Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS), 45Q CCUS/EOR policy, etc.
Constantine has extensive energy services field project management and investment banking experience. As a field Project Manager, he managed $60M annual site P&L and 20+ different contracted services daily along with drilling operations, supply chain logistics, and procurement activities in the Permian Basin in West Texas.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER WITH PARTNERS in PERFORMANCE
Dimitri has 10 years with Partners in Performance leading operational improvement engagements with measurable impact for clients in the mining & metals, construction, and pulp & paper industries, among others. He has made improvements in the areas of production throughput, cost reduction, organizational design, and capital project optimization and delivery. He has served in various functional leadership roles including head of strategy, procurement, logistics, and marketing for Lafarge Gypsum business units.
Job Titles:
- CEO, BLENDED POWER
- Solar Project Development Expert
Drew is a solar project development expert with a successful track record in project finance, development, real estate acquisition, M&A, due diligence, and energy storage development. He has 6+ years of experience leading First Solar's project development growth and execution in the Southeast US. Managing 2.5 GW utility-scale solar development portfolio in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia Drew developed 1 GW of contracted projects and transacted 1.5 GW of M&A deals under MIPSAs or APAs.
Gerrit was born and raised in the Netherlands where he developed a love for wind energy, naval architecture, and engineering. Years later, he has made a name for himself internationally as a crane services expert who is dedicated to supporting the international energy transition through the provision of quality services for renewable assets. Formerly, he served as Vice President of the Gulf Coast and Mexico for Mammoet (the largest crane services company in the world) where, given his interest in renewable asset maintenance, successfully launched the company's Crane Services for Wind Assets. As Vice President, he also grew the Gulf Coast and Mexico region earnings from $40 M to $60 M annual revenue in <2 years. Gerrit's expertise has been founded in respect of people, consciousness of safety, and foundational project and quality management principles. Gerrit's tenure includes many heavy lifting and transport projects and the direct management of up to 100 people, 30 cranes, 450 lines of SPMT, 15 trucks, and 7 barges in each project. The most prized statistic is that he directly oversaw close to 400,000 work hours without any lost time incident on one of his projects. Gerrit also previously worked for BP for 4+ years as a Naval Architect supporting execution of engineering, construction, transport & installation for various multi-billion dollar projects.
Job Titles:
- CO - FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN, and PRESIDENT of HARDEE FRESH
Halton leads Hardee Fresh, an indoor vertical farming business that grows and sells organic leafy greens produce. He was previously a founding investor and COO of a microgrid development and technology company that was sold to Shell. He is also the Chairman and President of FRII Technology Solutions, a diversified IT managed services, networking, and automation controls company.
Job Titles:
- PRESIDENT, ENERGY STORAGE SERVICES
Harper is one of the most experienced energy storage professionals in the O&M field. Harper's leadership and work ethic were honed during his time in the U.S. Navy. He has extensive field service experience with AES prior to and following the creation of Fluence with Siemens. His leadership experience across the spectrum of asset operations and maintenance in standalone energy storage comes from his most recent role managing all O&M activities for Key Capture Energy.
Job Titles:
- FOUNDER & MANAGING MEMBER JCP INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Throughout James' career, he has concentrated much of his efforts in the restaurant, food, and retail business sectors and possesses a thorough understanding of restaurant and food businesses in addition to his expertise in corporate finance. He served as a director of US Geothermal, Inc., a leading and profitable geothermal energy company focused on the development, production, and sale of electricity from geothermal energy. He currently also serves as Secretary for the Endowment Advisory Board of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Houston and on the Methodist Hospital Gastro Division's Advisory Board in Houston. He received a BBA in Information Technology and a Master of Finance from Texas A&M University.
Job Titles:
- Energy Executive at Jay Bee and Former Google Leadership
Prior to establishing his consultancy business in 2019, Mr Walsh was Managing Director and Head of U.S. Renewable Energy at GE Energy Financial Services (GE-EFS) from 2006-2019 where he led the team that invested $1 -2 billion annually in renewable energy projects. Under Mr Walsh's leadership, GE EFS successfully invested $16 billion in renewable energy projects globally with the capacity to generate 16+ gigawatts of power, primarily from wind (onshore and offshore) and solar power but also hydro, geothermal and biomass. Investments vehicles included cash equity, tax equity, development capital, structured equity, construction loans, term loans, JVs, etc. Notable transactions that Mr Walsh and his team led include: 550MW Desert Sunlight solar, 845MW Shepherds Flat wind, 760MW Enel JV, 231MW Kuni Umi Japan Solar, 30MW Block Island Offshore wind, 196MW Toba Montrose hydro in Canada and over 2GW of wind repowerings with various parties including Nextera and Leeward. Mr Walsh has also been active on various policy matters supporting the renewable energy industry including US tax reform, PTC/ITC renewal and US Treasury/IRS Guidance for new and repowered wind. Mr. Walsh was a member of the Board Directors of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) from 2016-2019 and it's Board Treasurer during 2018. He is currently a Board member emeritus of ACORE. He has been a member of the Policy Committee of the American Wind Energy Association, and served on the Board of Directors of the Solar Energy Industries Association. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Greenbank from 2017-2021. In prior roles Mr. Walsh led Power and Renewable Energy investing at GE-EFS and was responsible for the management of its $20 billion global portfolio of energy investments, as well as related portfolio sales and reinvestment. He also led energy venture investing for GE-EFS from 2007-2011. Since joining the predecessor of GE-EFS Financial Services, GE Structured Finance, in 1990, Mr. Walsh held various GE leadership positions in GE Capital Markets, GE Trading, GE Corp and GE Aviation. Mr. Walsh graduated cum laude from Fairfield University, where he received a bachelor's degree in business management and where he currently serves on the Advisory Council at the Dolan School of Business. He is a graduate of General Electric's Financial Management Program. Mr Walsh was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Kennedy Center in Trumbull CT from 2014-2020. Mr Walsh lives in Fairfield CT and Juno Beach FL with his wife Sandy. They have two married sons. Mr Walsh enjoys golf, skiing and is a 20+ year participant in the PanMass Challenge, an annual two-day, 192 mile bike ride in support of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Marcos is a process-driven leader with a decade of project management experience across various industrial segments. He brings a great attitude and desire to learn into the CES team.
Job Titles:
- PRESIDENT, SOLAR SERVICES
Mike joined the CES leadership team following an 8.5-year tenure at Strata Clean Energy. As VP of Asset Management, he helped the company build technical O&M and financial Asset Management functions for its $1.5B portfolio of solar assets as well as $3.0B of assets owned by other companies. During his time at Strata, Mike managed assets ranging from 100kW to 250MW, oversaw the development of the company's 24x7 NERC/CIP Medium Impact-compliant control room, and spent years in the field to strengthen safety culture and connectivity between client needs and technical resources. O&M customers ranged from smaller regional DG portfolio owners to large electric utilities for a total of 3,000 MW under management.
Nancy Zakhour - Chief Commercial Officer
As Chief Commercial Officer, Nancy Zakhour brings extensive experience in strategy and business development in the energy industry. She previously worked as an Investment Banker at Piper Sandler in the Energy & Power group and as the Business Development Manager for Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, where she supported developing low-carbon technologies. Zakhour's completion engineering expertise earned her industry recognition including the SPE Regional Completions Optimization and Technology Award and Hart's Energy 40 under Forty Award. Zakhour's career also includes engineering and advisory roles with Callon Petroleum and Schlumberger in North America and international locations. She holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, an MBA, and is a certified Project Management Professional. Zakhour is an active member of industry organizations, including the Rice Alliance Advisory Board. She also teaches MBA courses as a Corporate Fellow at UHD.
Niel has been ivolved with international business development for four decades operating through Neil Bush Global Advisers. He has a deep network with institutional investors across Asia Currently serves as Chairman of Singhaiyi, a Singapore listed real estate company investing in the United States. He also acts as Co-Chairman of CIIC, a Beijing- based real estate development company.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Field Services
Stephen Coggin, Vice President of Field Services, has served as a leader in the battery services industry since the industry's early days. Most recently, Stephen was with FlexGen Power Systems, a pioneering battery storage company. He initially led the Service and Commissioning division, and subsequently oversaw the Construction business. His tenure at FlexGen began when the Energy Storage Industry was in its infancy. Stephen was therefore one of the first people to service and commission battery storage projects in the US and globally. Over a ten-year period at Flexgen, Stephen played an instrumental role in developing and servicing numerous Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects, with capacities varying from 1.5 to 200 megawatts. His extensive experience and leadership have been vital in shaping the landscape of energy storage and electrical service industries. Prior to Flexgen, Stephen spent eight years in the Power Generation Industry as a controls electrician. During this period, he specialized in servicing and programming generator sets ranging from 1mW to 3.5mW, along with various electrical gear in both onshore and offshore settings. Overall, Stephen has over three decades of energy storage commissioning and services, construction management, and industrial / electrical construction experience. Stephen is also a Master Electrician and earned a Certificate in Construction Management from the University of Houston.
Todd Engelbrecht our Director of Safety has a long history of excellence. It all started with over 20 years as a distinguished combat veteran in the United States Marine Corps. From there, Todd has held several industrial maintenance management positions in various industries including food processing, plastics recycling, and heavy machinery component manufacturing. Todd held a role as Maintenance Director for StemCo where Todd oversaw a $12+million dollar operating budget as well as all plant-related capital projects. Todd was then appointed the role of Global Reliability Director for EnPro Industries (a 1+ Billion dollar global diversified manufacturer with 5,000+ employees). The latest role for Todd, prior to working for CES, was Regional O&M Director for the Midwest Region for Invenergy (the largest privately held renewable energy company in the US). There, Todd led all Operations and Maintenance activities across multiple sites producing over 500 MW of power using Wind, Solar, and Battery Storage Assets.