CleanCapital Announces Leadership Appointments
CleanCapital, an independent power producer focused on distributed solar and energy storage, has announced a series of executive leadership appointments designed to support the continued development of its platform and strengthen its approach to investment, project development, strategy, legal operations, and business growth.
The leadership changes are intended to align responsibilities across the company with several capabilities that CleanCapital identifies as central to its platform. These include repeatable project origination, consistent development processes, disciplined capital allocation, and operational rigor across a national portfolio of operating and development-stage renewable energy and storage assets.
As part of the changes, Winston Chen has been appointed Chief Investment Officer. In his new role, Chen will oversee CleanCapital’s investment strategy, underwriting, capital markets activities, and portfolio finance. His responsibilities will include helping establish how capital is allocated across the company’s investment opportunities while maintaining alignment with defined investment criteria and longer-term portfolio objectives.
The appointment places investment and financing functions under a dedicated executive role as CleanCapital continues to manage a portfolio spanning distributed solar and energy storage projects. Chen will work across investment decisions and financing activities, with a focus on maintaining consistency in the company’s approach to evaluating and funding assets.
Brendan Canavan has also been appointed Chief Development Officer, succeeding Paul Curran, who retired in May. Canavan will lead CleanCapital’s development organization and oversee projects from acceptance through commercial operation.
His responsibilities will cover key stages of project execution, including interconnection, engineering, and construction. The company said the role carries a mandate to establish consistent and repeatable processes for delivering projects, connecting development activities with the broader requirements of its operating platform.
The appointment follows Curran’s retirement and establishes Canavan as the executive responsible for leading the development organization through the various stages required to bring projects into commercial operation. Interconnection, engineering, and construction represent important components of this process, particularly for distributed energy projects that must progress through multiple technical and regulatory requirements before becoming operational assets.
Carly Battin has been appointed Chief Strategy Officer. Battin will oversee corporate strategy, communications, and CleanCapital’s data and technology roadmap. Her responsibilities bring strategic planning together with the company’s communications activities and its ongoing approach to data and technology.
The combination of these functions is intended to support coordination across CleanCapital’s business as the company develops its platform and manages its growing portfolio. Data and technology can also support investment, development, and operational processes by providing information used across different areas of the organization.
CleanCapital has also appointed Melinda Baglio as Chief Legal Officer. Baglio will oversee the company’s legal and governance functions, adding dedicated executive leadership for matters related to the company’s legal framework and corporate governance.
Julia Bell has been named Chief Growth Officer. She will be responsible for origination, acquisitions, offtake, policy, and portfolio optimization. These functions encompass several areas associated with expanding and managing CleanCapital’s business, from identifying new opportunities and acquiring assets to developing commercial relationships and optimizing existing portfolio holdings.
Origination and acquisitions provide pathways for CleanCapital to identify additional projects and assets, while offtake activities address commercial arrangements associated with energy produced by projects. Policy responsibilities give the company a dedicated leadership focus on the regulatory and policy environment affecting its activities. Portfolio optimization, meanwhile, focuses on managing assets and opportunities across the company’s broader portfolio.
Zoe Berkery will continue serving as Chief Operating Officer. Thomas Byrne will continue as Chief Executive Officer, while Jon Powers will remain President. Together with the newly appointed executives, the continuing leadership team provides distinct responsibility across investment, development, strategy, legal, growth, and operations.
The appointments reflect CleanCapital’s effort to establish clear executive ownership across the functions supporting its distributed energy platform. Rather than representing a change to a single area of the business, the leadership structure brings several core capabilities under dedicated executive roles.
CleanCapital operates as an independent power producer with a focus on distributed solar and energy storage. Its portfolio includes both operating assets and projects that remain in development. The company’s platform approach brings together project origination and development, financing, construction, and ongoing operations.
For distributed solar and storage projects, these activities can involve multiple stages and participants. Projects must progress through development and interconnection processes, reach construction, secure appropriate commercial arrangements, and ultimately transition into operations. Financial and portfolio management activities continue after projects become operational, making coordination among development, investment, growth, and operating teams an important component of the platform.
The company said the newly established leadership structure is intended to align its organizational capabilities with the expectations of institutional investors. The structure also provides specific executive responsibility for areas including capital markets, development execution, corporate strategy, legal and governance, growth, and operations.
Commenting on the appointments, Thomas Byrne, Chief Executive Officer of CleanCapital, said the company has spent the past decade developing relationships, development capabilities, capital partnerships, and operating discipline. He said the new leadership structure provides clear ownership for those capabilities and supports the company’s strategy for its partners and investors.
The appointments come as the distributed energy sector continues to develop around solar generation and energy storage. Companies operating in this market must manage project development, capital requirements, commercial arrangements, construction, and long-term asset operations across multiple projects and locations.
For CleanCapital, the new executive structure places these functions within a framework designed around distinct areas of responsibility. Chen will oversee investment and finance, Canavan will lead development, Battin will focus on strategy and technology, Baglio will manage legal and governance, and Bell will lead growth-related activities. Berkery will continue overseeing operations, while Byrne and Powers remain in their existing senior leadership positions.
CleanCapital said the changes are intended to support continued execution of its platform strategy while maintaining focus on disciplined investment, consistent project delivery, and operational management across its national portfolio of distributed solar and energy storage assets.
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