SMP 164 : Utility Scale Solar and Storage Development Discussion

Episode Summary

In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, Benoy speaks with Garrett Peterson who is the Co-Founder of Sigma Renewables.  Sigma offers land and building owners multiple ways to monetize their property value without giving up ownership and keeps owner priorities at the forefront when developing projects.  Garrett speaks about solar and storage development, why to get early in different markets, and what he learned from being an entrepreneur.

Benoy Thanjan

Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and he is also an advisor for several solar startup companies.  He has extensive project origination, development, and financial experience in the renewable energy industry and in the environmental commodities market.  

This includes initial site evaluation, permitting, financing, sourcing equipment, and negotiating the long-term energy and environmental commodities off-take agreements. He manages due diligence processes on land, permitting, and utility interconnection and is in charge of financing
and structuring through Note to Proceed (“NTP”) to Commercial Operation Date (“COD”). Benoy composes teams suitable for all project development and construction tasks. He is also involved in project planning and pipeline financial modeling. He has been part of all sides of the
transaction and this allows him to provide unique perspectives and value. Benoy has extensive experience in financial engineering to make solar projects profitable.

Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity which merged with Tesla in 2016.  He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity to move into the east coast markets. 

Benoy was the Vice President at Vanguard Energy Partners which is a national solar installer where he focused on project finance solutions for commercial scale solar projects.  He also worked for Ridgewood Renewable Power, a private equity fund, where he analyzed potential investments in renewable energy projects and worked on maximizing the financial return of the projects in the portfolio.  Benoy also worked on the sale of all of the renewable energy projects in Ridgewood’s portfolio.  

He was in the Energy Structured Finance practice for Deloitte & Touche and in Financial Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young.  Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. He has a MBA in Finance from Rutgers University and a BS in Finance and Economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University.  Benoy was an Alumni Scholar at the Stern School of Business.  

 

Garrett Peterson

Garrett is the co-founder of Sigma Renewables.  Sigma Renewables is an independently owned solar and storage development firm focused on markets with emerging or existing community solar and energy storage programs. Sigma offers land and building owners multiple ways to monetize their property value without giving up ownership and keeps owner priorities at the forefront when developing projects.  Previously, Garrett worked as Senior Vice President of Project Development at Pivot Energy.  He has over 16 years of energy experience at Pivot Energy, Sunshare, Namaste Solar, SunEdison, and REC Solar.

A dynamic leader with sixteen years of energy industry experience, with the past fourteen focused on the solar and energy storage sector. Possesses a unique skill set gained by working from the ground up within a broad range of established solar companies and startups, combined with post graduate level education, and focus on executive leadership, project development, financial, and technical aspects of the energy industry.

 

Stay Connected:

Benoy Thanjan

Email: info@reneuenergy.com 

LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan

Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com

 

Garrett Peterson

Website:  https://sigmarenewables.com/

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-peterson-29062879/