JE Dunn expands renewable energy sector

JE Dunn recently announced the onboarding of three renewable energy executives as it pursues the rapidly expanding renewable energy sector in the United States. The team, led by Bill Morrow, will augment JE Dunn’s construction and EPC delivery capability in solar, battery energy storage systems, and wind energy.

Bill Hargett joins as director of business development located in the company’s Denver office. Mathew Ricci, joins as the director of preconstruction services located in Phoenix. Kasperi Pohjonen is the new director of engineering, supporting the West region. Together these professionals bring more than 50 years of industry expertise to the company which recently ranked top 16^th utility solar contractor and top 19^th solar contractor in North America according to Solar Power World Magazine.

With an extensive portfolio of renewable energy experience, Bill Morrow will lead his team to help grow the company’s solar and renewable energy efforts across the country. Leveraging business development in the solar industry for more than 10 years, Bill Hargett will work to bring the JE Dunn brand and experience to more customers across the renewables space. Matt Ricci brings his 25+ years of construction experience with 14+ years in renewables to the leadership position of our renewable energy preconstruction team. Lastly, Kasperi Pohjonen will be leading our renewable energy-focused engineering team. His 10+ year portfolio includes renewable energy projects for independent power producers like Iberdrola Renewables, Atlantic Power and Enel Green Power.

The United States solar energy industry achieved an installed capacity of 11.8 GW in 2017, and total overall installed capacity in the United States is expected to double in the next five years. Wind energy has also hit multi-year milestones, adding over 20 MW of capacity over the last three years alone. The need for renewable energy construction and EPC expertise and multi-million-dollar bonding capacity is becoming increasingly critical in keeping up with the fastest-growing energy sources domestically.

“We continue to see positive headwinds for renewables with numerous market indicators predicting sustained sector growth,” says Rodd Merchant, president of the West region. “Our continued expansion into renewables offers a primary vehicle for market diversification, company growth and opportunity for our talented construction professionals.”

Adds Group Manager Bill Morrow, “My team and I are thrilled to be part of a growing team at JE Dunn and to contribute to the long history of successfully delivering renewable energy projects.” Bill added, “as the use of sustainable energy continues to grow at increasing rates, we plan to use our areas of expertise help JE Dunn to become a market leader in all aspects of renewable energy as we work to enhance our surrounding environments.”

With a highly diverse set of skills, the JE Dunn renewables team will work to help create a more clean, reliable and safe environment across the country.

Open for solar and wind personnel interested in learning more about the JE Dunn renewables market, the team will be attending a few of the largest renewable energy conferences in the country. These events include the AWEA Windpower on May 7-10 in Chicago, Intersolar on July 10-12 in San Francisco, Calif., and Solar Power International on September 24-27 in Anaheim, Calif., The team will also attend Solar Power Southeast on May 15 in Atlanta, Ga., and ESNA on November 16 in Pasadena, Calif.

JE Dunn is a proud member of both the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). The team will commence construction on multiple projects in Colorado, Minnesota, and New York in the 2^nd Quarter of this year.