A group of former Ørsted executives has launched an early-stage development capital firm with an initial pool of $100 million.
Declan Flanagan, the former CEO of Ørsted's onshore wind business, founded Bluestar Energy Capital to target early-stage development and provide a capital stream for new development platforms and projects.
Flanagan is Bluestar's controlling shareholder and will serve as CEO. He was joined by S2G Ventures and Great Bay Renewables in establishing the fund.
“A huge amount of capital is seeking a role in the energy transition, but a scarcity remains of the right kind of capital for new development platforms and new projects," Flanagan said.
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Bluestar launched with two regional platforms.
Nova Clean Energy will focus on the North American market and pursue greenfield project development, as well as M&A opportunities across wind, solar, and energy storage.
Bluestar Energy Australia is already building a pipeline of primarily wind power assets with plans to expand into solar and energy storage.
Dennis Meany, the former president of Lincoln Clean Energy, which sold to Ørsted, was named Bluestar's president and appointed to the company's board. Courtney Zaret will lead Bluestar's accounting and administration operations after previously working as the financial controller at Ørsted Onshore. Joe Condo, the former general council at Ørsted Onshore and Lincoln Clean Energy, will take on a similar role. And Dylan Reeves, formerly chief commercial & product officer of Onshore Wind Services at GE Renewable Energy, was named head of project delivery.
Prior to joining Ørsted, Flanagan was founder and CEO of Lincoln Clean Energy (LCE), from 2009 until its sale to Ørsted in 2018. By the time of its acquisition by Ørsted, LCE had developed and financed wind and solar power projects representing more than $3 billion in capital investment and 2 GW of capacity. He also was CEO of the North American business of German utility E.ON and earlier as CEO of Airtricity North America.
