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Peter Thomas

Senior Development Manager

Pete is a Senior Development Manager for Belltown Power UK and leads on all of the technical and construction aspects of our projects.

Pete has been with Belltown for 6 years and lead the construction team that delivered Belltown’s portfolio of over 200MW of government supported wind, solar and hydro in the UK. Since 2019 Pete has been focussed on the development of new unsubsidised onshore wind projects in the UK, with a particular specialty in grid access and technical design. Pete has 15 years of experience in the renewable energy industry having previously worked for 9 years at DNV-GL where he provided technical and project management services for wind and solar energy projects in the UK and other major global markets.

Pete is a Chartered Engineer and has an MEng in Aerospace Engineering from Liverpool University.

Jeff Clay

Co-Founder and Non-executive Member, Belltown Power Texas

Prior to Belltown, Jeff led strategy and corporate development for Roofing Supply Group (RSG), a $1bn national distributor of building products owned by private equity firm CD&R. Over three-years, Jeff opened 26 new locations delivering over $170M in revenue and $12M in EBITDA. Prior to RSG, Jeff served as the COO of Buck Consultants, a $400M HR consulting and outsourcing business unit at Xerox. Jeff started his career as a consultant with Bain & Company in the US, Europe and Central America and has extensive commercial construction and development experience. Jeff has a BBA in Accounting and MS in Finance from Texas A&M University, an MBA from INSEAD and holds an active CPA license.

Hernán Farace

CEO, Belltown Power USA

Hernan is CEO of Belltown Power USA and heads up all of Belltown’s US activities.

Hernan joined Belltown in 2017 to lead the expansion into the US and subsequently became CEO of Belltown Power USA. Hernan has over 14 years of experience in the renewable energy industry, spending 9 years at Deutsche Bank (London and NY), and 3 years as a member of the senior management team at Greenwood Energy. Hernan has extensive experience in structuring, raising and deploying capital into renewable energy projects in the US, Europe and Latin America.

Hernan holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with honours, and an Baccalaureate in Economics from Universidad de San Andres in Argentina, graduating magna cum laude.

Dan Allen

Head of M&A and Project Finance, Belltown Power USA

Dan leads the M&A and project finance activities at Belltown Power USA. Dan has worked in infrastructure and energy investment for 15 years and was central in building Belltown’s UK portfolio. Since 2018, Dan has been in the US, focused on optimizing the US development portfolio. Prior to Belltown, Dan was at John Laing, sourcing and closing investments and project finance in Europe, North America and Australia. He has also worked as a financial/commercial advisor to sponsors on infrastructure projects globally.

Dan has a MEng in Aerospace Engineering from Liverpool University.

Ed Perrin

Senior Development Manager, PJM

Since joining Belltown in 2017, Ed has been responsible for leading development of our pipeline of solar PV projects in the US Mid-Atlantic region.  His responsibilities include permit management, landowner engagement, interconnection applications and PPA negotiation. Ed has worked in renewable energy development for over 10 years for several leading international development companies.  Prior to Belltown, Ed worked in offshore wind at RES supporting the development of a 2GW project in North Wales, UK.  This was followed by a period at Solarcentury delivering a pipeline of over 200MW of solar PV projects in the UK and Europe.

Lloyd Pope

President, Belltown Power Texas

Lloyd co-founded Belltown Power Texas in 2016. Prior to Belltown, Lloyd was VP Supply Chain at Roofing Supply Group (RSG). Prior to RSG, he was a Director in the Enterprise Improvement Group at AlixPartners; a global consulting firm specializing in improving corporate financial and operational performance. He has also worked as a consultant with ICG Commerce (now Accenture), and in the operations group at Centex Homes (now Pulte Homes).

Lloyd earned his BBA in Marketing and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Joel Hutchinson

Head of Development, UK

Joel is Head of Development for Belltown Power UK and leads our on the ground development activities in the UK.

Joel joined Belltown in 2014. His initial focus was on the delivery of Belltown’s pipeline of ROC and CfD onshore wind and solar assets, ensuring projects were completed on-time, under-budget and met the required quality standards. Since 2019 Joel has been focussed on the development of new unsubsidised onshore wind projects, with a particular specialty in managing the community engagement and planning process. Joel has a total of 13 years’ experience in the renewables industry, with previous roles including the development of GW-scale offshore wind farms at RWE Innogy and the engineering of biogas energy systems in rural, developing communities in India.

Joel has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Wind Turbine Blade Design and Manufacture, both from the University of Nottingham.

Paul Hewett

CEO, Belltown Power UK

Paul is CEO of Belltown Power UK and heads up all of Belltown’s new UK activities.

Paul has been at Belltown since it’s foundation in 2013. He acted initially as an Investment Director leading investments across wind, solar and hydro, then for two years as Managing Director of the group and since 2020 as CEO of Belltown Power UK, fully focussed on developing new projects across the UK and Europe. Paul has built experience across multiple technologies, multiple geographies and across the full renewable energy project lifecycle.

Prior to Belltown, Paul worked at the Boston Consulting Group, primarily in the Private Equity and Energy practice areas. Paul holds an MBA from Berkeley-Haas School of Business, graduating with honors, and an MA in Mathematics from The University of Edinburgh, graduating top of class.

Andy Black

 COO, Belltown Power UK

Andy is COO of Belltown Power UK and is responsible for all operational aspects of our new UK activities. Andy co-founded Belltown Power in 2013 alongside Mike Kaplan and Tom Hill-Norton.

Andy has over 20 years of experience in the renewable energy industry.  He started his career working for DNV-GL, the world’s leading independent renewable energy consultancy, where he provided a wide range of technical and project management services across most major markets throughout the world, leading to the successful deployment of over 5GW of installed capacity. In the four years before starting Belltown, Andy set up and ran the Project Development Service Group at DNV-GL providing turnkey and bespoke Project development services to UK developers.

Andy has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and Management from Birmingham University, UK.

Matt Yard

Head of Asset Management 

Matthew has been advising the renewable energy sector for over 10 years, where he held an Associate Director role in EY’s Energy Corporate Finance team. He has advised on the investment of over 1GW of onshore wind, solar PV, hydro, biomass and energy from waste projects. This involved the raising of equity and senior debt project finance, including a large proportion of the assets that Belltown now manage on behalf of investors. Prior to EY he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. At Belltown, Matthew is responsible for leading the asset management team and providing a comprehensive and proactive service to our clients.

Charles Webster

Legal Counsel

Charles is a corporate lawyer with over 10 years’ experience advising on renewable energy projects in the UK and abroad.  He has worked in private practice in Australia and the UK, including as part of the corporate legal team at Withers LLP in London for four years. In 2012 Charles became General Counsel of Green Hedge which developed and financed over 20 utility-scale solar farms. Charles joined Belltown as General Counsel in 2016 and manages Belltown’s legal affairs. He is also involved in project development, acquisitions, financings, and disposals, as well as assisting with asset management and investor relations. Charles is dual qualified and admitted as a solicitor in England and Australia. Charles has a B.Laws from the University of Technology in Sydney.

Danielle Scholl

Finance Director 

Prior to Belltown, Dani spent 8 years at John Laing and HCP, the leading provider of infrastructure management services in the UK. At John Laing, Dani was Senior Finance Manager for Renewable Infrastructure. She was responsible for the delivery of all financial services for a portfolio of renewable projects in the UK and Europe, as well as providing support on the acquisition and financing of all John Laing’s Renewable Energy investments. Dani has a degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Cape Town and gained the CIMA qualification at BPP London.

At Belltown, Dani is responsible for the management of the finance function including accounts, treasury, forecasting and financial reporting for Belltown and its clients.

Tom Hill-Norton

Founder and Director

Tom has been investing in renewable energy projects since the end of 2006. Prior to Belltown he raised and invested a series of renewable energy funds for Guinness Asset Management and worked with the energy investment team at Actis on renewable energy investments in emerging markets. Prior to 2006, Tom worked in corporate finance (with JP Morgan, Flemings and Fredericks Michael) and strategy consultancy with The Boston Consulting Group. Tom has an MA (Hons) from The University of Edinburgh and an MBA from INSEAD.

Michael Kaplan

Founder and Director

Prior to Belltown, Michael was a partner at Albion Ventures LLP. Between 2009 and 2013 Michael helped to establish Albion as one of the pioneering investors in the UK’s community scale renewable energy sector. Prior to Albion, Michael worked at The Boston Consulting Group and before that, the Chief Financial Officer of Widevine Technologies, a security software company (sold to Google in 2010). Michael has a BA from the University of Washington and an MBA from INSEAD.

Philip Duggan

Philip has been involved in the renewable energy sector for the past 14 years. He has investment experience across technologies from wind farms and solar parks at Consensus Business Group to fuel cells at Conduit Ventures. Philip has a track record both as a Principal Investor and as a Structured Finance Advisor, having most recently led Excalibur Group’s Offset Investment Business, which including aircraft, automotive, and communications asset finance. Philip has a BSc from the London School of Economics. At Belltown, Philip is responsible for deal sourcing, execution and managing fundraising.

David Johnson

Prior to Belltown, David was Chief Financial Officer of multiple VC backed companies which he led to IPO or trade sale. In 2005 he co-founded BlueGlue, a revolutionary recruitment concept for the technology market, which was sold in 2014 to a US PE backed recruitment company. David began his career at Unilever and is a Chartered Management Accountant.

At Belltown, David is responsible for management of the finance function including accounts, treasury, forecasting, and financial reporting.