SMP 136: Accelerating The Adoption Of Renewable Energy In The Pacific Islands
Solar Maverick Podcast
The Importance of Being Transparent in Life
Workforce development is a huge issue in the kingdom of Tonga, especially. There are people ages 16, 17, 18, 20 and above going from Tonga to New Zealand to pick fruit for next to nothing. That money makes up almost 40% of the nation's GDP. If they were able to work at home as renewable energy installers, operators, designers, engineers, that kind of money would be such a game changer.
Episode Summary
In this episode of Solar Maverick Podcast, Benoy speaks to Sierra Jackovics who is Government and Energy Policy Specialist for Mana Pacific. Mana Pacific is a social impact company and benefit corporation that develops, finances, and de-risks scalable island resiliency projects in Hawaii and the 22 Pacific Island Territories and Countries. Sierra speaks about developing projects in the Pacific islands, how community engagement is so important when developing a solar project, and the Community Solar Prize that Mana Pacific won.
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 Environmental Commodities 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 Tesla 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.
Sierra Jackovics
Sierra Jackovics is Government Affairs and Energy Policy Specialist and also the UN Energy Policy, and Project Manager for Mana Pacific. Sierra is Accelerating renewable energy development through project management, environmental policy, and community engagement. She is committed to working towards a global reality that prioritizes sustainability, long-term resilience, and equitable access to energy. Sierra speaks about how to develop solar projects in the Pacific Islands, how community buy in is so important when developing projects, and
Stay connected:
Benoy Thanjan
Website: www.reneuenergy.com
Email: info@renewenergy.com
LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan
Facebook: Reneu Energy
Sierra Jackovics
Email: sierra.jackovics@manapacific.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sierra-jackovics/
Mana Pacific’s website: https://www.manapacific.com/
Solar Project Development Book discussed on the podcast.
Project Development in the Solar Industry by Albie Fong (Editor), Jesse Tippett (Editor)
Below is the Amazon Link.
https://www.amazon.com/Project-Development-Solar-Industry-Albie/dp/0367576619/ref=sr_1_5?crid=36MI64HYLEMYV&keywords=solar+project+development&qid=1687177550&sprefix=solar+project+development%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18630bbb-fcbb-42f8-9767-857e17e03685
Solar Maverick Podcast and Reneu Energy Summer Solstice Party
It is almost the Summer Solstice which is the longest day of sunlight of the year!! Reneu Energy and the Solar Maverick Podcast will be celebrating the Summer Solstice on Thursday, June 21rd from 6pm to 10pm in Jersey City. It will be held at Hudson Hall which is a beer hall and Benoy is one of the owners of Hudson Hall. The details are below.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/summer-solstice-networking-event-tickets-629223292807
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