Private-Equity Firms With Clean Energy Focus Tap Ex-CEOs in Talent Quest

ArcLight Capital Partners, EQT AB and Sandbrook Capital are among energy-infrastructure investment firms that have recently hired former chief executives of large power companies as advisers or operating partners.

Industry veterans can help private-equity firms find deals and manage companies. The experience they provide is even more critical in the energy industry, where investment firms deploy huge sums to finance large and often complex projects that involve developing sectors such as energy storage, carbon capture and hydrogen fuels, industry consultants said.

Private-equity firms invested $26.2 billion in clean-energy technologies across the U.S. last year, 63% more than the $16.1 billion invested in 2021, according to research provider PitchBook Data.

“Because the energy transition is relatively new and is accelerating rapidly, there are lots of uncertainties," said Dan Pickering, chief investment officer at Pickering Energy Partners, an energy-focused financial-services provider in Houston. “If you have so many dollars at stake, you really want those experts that can help you understand things and minimize your risk."

A young clean-energy industry also means a limited number of knowledgeable executives are available, he added. “There aren’t nearly as many people that are smart and experienced in energy transition," Pickering said. “The ones that have that experience are in demand."

Andreas Nauen, a former CEO of wind-turbine company Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energywho joined Sandbrook Capital as an operating partner last year, helpedportfolio companyHavfram make decisions related to building a fleet of vessels to develop offshore wind-energy installations, said Havfram CEO Ingrid Due-Gundersen. Sandbrook and Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board last year committed a total of $500 million to Norway-based Havfram.

Nauen drew on his experience dealing with wind power-equipment suppliers to help Havfram estimate how turbine dimensions will evolve, Due-Gundersen said. Nauen also has valuable knowledge of wind-services contracts and customer needs, she said.

“I think his understanding of the business has been very helpful when you’re making a large investment in these wind-turbine-installation vessels," she said.

More recently Stamford, Conn.-based Sandbrook also hired Judith Hartmann, a former chief financial officer and deputy CEO at French utility Engie, and Dennis Arriola, a former CEO of Avangrid, a U.S. subsidiary of Spanish utility Iberdrola. Both were named operating partners.

Meanwhile, MaryAnne Brelinsky was tapped by ArcLight last month after serving as North American president of French utility EDF. She is now a senior executive helping manage ArcLight’s power-infrastructure assets, ArcLight said. The Boston-based firm recently also named Anthony Haines and Leo Denault as senior advisers. Haines and Denault both previously led power companies, Haines as president and CEO of Toronto Hydro in Ontario and Denault as chairman and CEO of New Orleans-based Entergy.

Francesco Starace, former CEO of Italian energy company Enel, has joined EQT as a partner at its infrastructure-advisory group, the Sweden-based firm said last week.

For energy executives, joining a private-equity firm can mean attractive compensation and an opportunity to continue to work in the industry without the burdens of leading a company, Pickering said.

“It can be a way for someone who is ready to retire from a full-time role to stay active and engaged," he said of advisers and operating partners. “It keeps them in the game."

Perhaps the main challenge facing energy CEOs turned private-equity advisers or operating partners is getting used to the idea that they aren’t the ones making the decisions anymore.

“They go from being the boss to being an adviser," Pickering said. “A boss can make things happen and an adviser helps things happen."

Some energy executives do continue running the show as they shift to private-equity firms. Brelinsky, the former EDF North America president, said it was mostly the opportunity to help oversee ArcLight’s portfolio of nearly 30 power plants that attracted her to the private-equity firm.

“I’m an operator," she said. “I like to be in there, roll up my sleeves and work with the plants, work with the commercial teams."