About Us
UPC RENEWABLES
UPC-formed companies have developed more than 5,000 MW of now operating wind and solar projects globally. In the Asia Pacific region, UPC has a 593MW portfolio of jointly owned operating and in construction assets in Indonesia, India and Vietnam and a +10GW development portfolio in Indonesia, Vietnam, Mongolia, India, Taiwan and Korea.
UPC jointly owns operating projects in China with other investors. UPC has a proven history of being a successful early entrant in new markets and tackling complex projects. Utilizing advanced technology and tailored business strategies, UPC has been helping many countries accelerate their renewable energy ambitions.
WHO WE ARE
Our team consists of more than 150 renewable energy professionals and is led by experienced management teams, complete with fully staffed resource assessment, development, procurement, construction contracting, finance, construction management, engineering, operating, and administrative teams.
WHAT WE DO
We supply renewable energy at the lowest price possible in a socially and environmentally responsible way by utilizing innovative wind turbine technology and photovoltaic systems.
UPC develops, builds, owns, and operates wind and solar farms as an Independent Power Producer at the highest international standards.
- Brian Caffyn Chairman & Group CEOBrian Caffyn Chairman & Group CEO
- Chairman & CEO of the UPC Solar & UPC Renewables Group of Companies.
- The founder and initial Chairman of UPC Wind (subsequently First Wind and acquired by Sun Edison for $2.4Bn in 2015)
- Oversaw the establishment and construction of the largest wind energy company in Italy at the time (IVPC).
- Founding Partner of UPC Capital Ventures.
- Brian spent the first part of his career in project financing for wind, cogeneration, hydro, solar, geothermal, waste-to-energy and biomass energy projects with GE Capital, Heller Financial, Inc., and several private companies.
- He served as the President of Cannon Energy managing over 50 people involved in developing, constructing, & operating over 700 WTGs.
- Invested in and served as Chairman of publicly listed Solar Integrated Technologies, a solar BIPV company prior to its sale.
- Brian received a BA in Finance and Quantitative Methods from Babson College.
- Andrew Sutherland Director & Group COOAndrew Sutherland Director & Group COO
- Joined UPC in 2008; former Chief Environmental Officer of UPC China, and Director of UPC Indonesia, among others.
- Andrew has been deeply involved in the development of UPC Renewables business in Asia.
- Led UPC Indonesia to the successful financial close of the first utility scale wind project in the country, the 75MW Sidrap Project.
- Founded multiple investment companies and has extensive experience in bioenergy plants and fuels.
- Andrew started his career as a Process Engineer at John Brown Engineering in Scotland, before moving to Asia.
- He currently resides in Hong Kong.
- Steven Zwaan DirectorSteven Zwaan Director
- Steven is a founder of UPC Renewables and serves as Director focusing on identifying strategic opportunities for the Group since 2011.
- He has a background as an entrepreneur and investment banker and has extensive experience in the financing of renewable energy projects around Asia and Australia.
- He is a founder and Director of Philippines Urban Living Solutions (PULS), the largest developer of co-living communities in the Philippines through its MyTown brand (mytown.ph). Prior to that he was a Managing Director in Investment Banking in Hong Kong.
- Steven holds a Masters degree in Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands
- Anton Rohner Director & CEO AustraliaAnton Rohner Director & CEO Australia
- Anton has held CFO roles in listed ASX200 and unlisted entities in Australia.
- Previously, Anton was Managing Director Renewables and Utilities for Macquarie Bank in Hong Kong where he was responsible for advising and securing developments in Asia and Africa.
- Before this role, Anton was the Managing Director Asia for Roaring 40s, a joint development and asset management company between Hydro Tasmania and China Light and Power based out of Hong Kong.
- The Roaring 40s partnership developed over 2000MW’s of wind projects in Asia and Australia.
- Dacre Purchase Director & CEO IndonesiaDacre Purchase Director & CEO Indonesia
- Joined UPC in 2016 and has been deeply involved in the contracting strategy and execution for the 75MW Sidrap 1 project.
- Led the development and deployment of the UPC Sidrap 1 Team to deliver the project to COD in Q1 2018.
- Dacre is a Chartered Surveyor by profession with a core expertise in the asset development process, contracting strategies and execution of projects.
- Commenced his career in Scotland with Scottish Resource Group; roles included Development Director, Managing Director and Group Managing Director, developing and delivering Mining, Property and Renewable energy assets.
- Previously the COO of Regent Pacific Group, developing mining assets within mainland China and former Group MD of Scottish Coal.
- In 2010 Dacre moved to Indonesia leading the expansion of one of Asia’s largest international general contractors, Leighton Asia, securing >$2bn of new works in South East Asia over a 5-year period.
- Dacre has an excellent working knowledge and an extensive network in Indonesia / South East Asia. Currently residing in Kuala Lumpur, working across UPC’s Indonesian assets.
- Logan Knox Director & CEO VietnamLogan Knox Director & CEO Vietnam
- Logan Joined UPC Group in 2013 and has nearly a decade of experience in the renewables industry.
- Currently serves as the CEO of UPC Renewables Vietnam, and was previously the VP of Operations of UPC Renewables Philippines.
- He has participated in the development of over 450 MW of projects in the Philippines, Indonesia and India.
- Prior to joining UPC, he held various positions at Siemens Wind Power in sales and project management.
- Logan graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville with a BA in International Business and Mandarin Chinese.
- David Sutton CEO PhilippinesDavid Sutton CEO Philippines
- David started his career in the investment banking division of the Barclays Group in project and structured finance with assignments in Johannesburg, Sydney, Hong Kong and London.
- In 1994 he joined GE Capital in Singapore and moved back to London in 1997 to take responsibility for GE Capital's structured finance advisory activities for Europe and Asia.
- In 2002 he co-founded EFA, a boutique financial advisory firm focused on raising capital for RE projects.
- Among other mandates, David led the advisory team which arranged the financing for the IVPC2000 project - the first non-recourse financing for an un-contracted green certificate wind project.
- In 2005, EFA led the restructuring, monetization and sale of the IVPC wind projects in Italy using a range of innovative financing techniques.
- In 2006, David co-founded UPC Renewables with four other partners.
- In 2009, he relocated to Manila on a full time basis to oversee UPC projects in the Philippines. David has been closely involved in the implementation of over UPC’s projects in Italy, China, North Africa and most recently the Philippines – totaling approximately 1,000MW in generating capacity.
- David has been based in the Philippines since 2009 and has overseen the development and management of UPC’s project portfolio.
- He has considerable experience in structuring contractual arrangements with investors, lenders and construction counterparties together with the requirements of central and local government agencies in relation to the implementation of renewable energy projects.
- David Pollington Director & COO AustraliaDavid Pollington Director & COO Australia
- David Pollington has been involved with the renewable energy sector for more than 25 years in roles as an asset owner and as a consultant. David’s experience covers feasibility studies, design, construction, commissioning, operations, maintenance and end of life assessments wind, solar and hydro.
- Prior to joining UPC David has held key roles in the renewables industry most recently as the Technical Director for Renewables at SKM/Jacobs. Before this David was the General Manager Construction for Roaring 40s responsible for Roaring 40s construction activities in China, India and Australia.
- David holds a Bachelor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from the University of Tasmania and is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers.
- Pranab Sarmah Director & CEO SolarPranab Sarmah Director & CEO Solar
- Pranab Kumar Sarmah is the CEO of UPC Solar Asia Pacific.
- Co-founded UPC Solar Asia Pacific in early 2017.
- Pranab also founded GreenAge Capital Limited in 2016, an Asia focused renewables investment company.
- Pranab is a solar industry veteran and prior to UPC has worked as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of OCI Global until 2016.
- Previously was the Chairman of OCI Solar (China) and Director of OCI Solar (India).
- He started this business in 2015 and successfully made OCI as leading foreign owned DG solar power developer in China.
- Pranab has also been the Head of Solar and Regional Head of Tech at Daiwa Capital Markets and AM Capital.
- Prior to these positions, Pranab worked at L&T, Alcatel, and Siemens.
- Mr. Sarmah is a graduate in Electronic & Communication Engineering at National Institute of Technology India, and an MBA graduate at the Asian Institute of Management Philippines. He holds a CFA charter.
- JP Park CEO Solar KoreaJP Park CEO Solar Korea
- JP Park is the CEO of UPC Solar Korea. JP is a solar business development specialist with 12 years experience and joined UPC in 2018.
- JP is one of early movers in the solar PV projects development business. He has successful track-records in developing projects since 2006 when he was working at LG CNS, Korea.
- In 2010, he moved to lead business development in SunEdison Korea. In 2012, he joined OCI Company, the 2nd largest poly-silicon manufacturer to join its newly established solar PV project business.
- He successfully establish an OCI subsidiary in New Delhi, and built a new development team.
- Later he returned to Korea and started to develop another new business for OCI focusing on solar EPC/O&M works including arrangement of project fund.
- JP has strong skill set in project evaluation, risk identification and project financing.
- JP earned a Bachelor degree from Seoul Nat'l University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from University of Seoul.
- Yossy Sulistyorini Director & Head of Legal, IndonesiaYossy Sulistyorini Director & Head of Legal, Indonesia
- Yossy Sulistyorini is a Director and the Head of Legal of UPC Renewables Indonesia.
- Yossy has been handling legal matters of UPC entities in Indonesia, and she was deeply involved in the financial closing of the Sidrap project, being the first utility scale wind power project in Indonesia that reaches financial closing.
- Prior to joining UPC, Yossy was a senior associate of the finance and project practice group of Baker & McKenzie Indonesia, and she has various experiences in handling major projects transactions.
- Yossy holds a bachelor degree from the University of Padjadjaran, Indonesia, and as a member of PERADI (the Indonesian Bar Association), she is admitted to practice law in Indonesia.
- John Wallington Shareholder: UPC Renewables Asia Pacific Ltd, Chief Operating Officer: UPC Management, LLC, Managing Partner: UPC Capital Ventures, LLCJohn Wallington Shareholder: UPC Renewables Asia Pacific Ltd, Chief Operating Officer: UPC Management, LLC, Managing Partner: UPC Capital Ventures, LLC
- John Wallington is a qualified accountant with over 25 years experience in senior management positions in large global manufacturing and service-based industries. John trained as an accountant with Unilever PLC working in several accounting and financial management roles in different business entities across the UK and Europe. In 2000, John joined Clifford Chance LLP as the Global Head of Financial Planning and Business Analysis providing analytical support to various client teams in various industry sectors including Banking & Finance, Energy and Technology. In 2005 John co-founded and was appointed the CFO of a technology startup, which secured seed capital funding from the UPC Energy Group. In November 2006, John formally joined the UPC Group and was appointed Group Corporate Controller, managing the finances and accounting for an international business portfolio of renewable energy related companies, property & energy and technology investments. In addition to his role as Managing Partner of UPC Capital Ventures, John is Chief Operating Officer of UPC Management, CFO of UPC Solar and a Shareholder in UPC Renewables Asia Pacific Holdings. John is a Director of the K2 Wind Foundation, which supports philanthropic endeavors in Sustainability, Energy Efficiency and the Environment, an advisory Board Member of the UBS Sustainable Trends Group, a Board Member of the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association (C.C.I.A) and a Board Director of Llanllyr Water Company, Ltd, Plastics for Change Ltd, TripHero, LLC, Tilled, Inc and Mindpass, LLC. John received his BA (Hons) degree in Geography from Exeter University (U.K.), is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA) and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and currently resides in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
- Chris Caffyn Shareholder; UPC Renewables USA, Vice President, DevelopmentChris Caffyn Shareholder; UPC Renewables USA, Vice President, Development
- Chris has over fifteen year’s renewable energy field project development and executive experience in the renewables industry nationally and internationally. Chris’ wider career for over 26 years revolved around project creation, development, and management in the energy intensive sectors of the manufacturing industry and then brought his experience from that competitive sector to the renewables market. Chris has been in ownership of 4 companies, founded the Indonesia Division of UPC Renewables in Jakarta, Indonesia as the VP of Development and led the Development Team that has brought the first large scale wind project in Indonesia to completion, the 75MW Sidrap wind farm worth 140 million USD in investment. UPC had to create the first mover opportunity through government and national utility lobbying in a challenging business environment, for a “Wind Program” in the National Plan and then lead the wind industry with the first utility scale wind project in that country. Previously Chris was a Development Manager with First Wind and Community Energy Inc. In the US he prospected and then led the development, land acquisition and permitting of over 1500MW of greenfield wind and solar projects. Prior to his renewables experience Mr. Caffyn founded and owned businesses that processed waste to energy and supplied large industrial capital equipment projects to the metal working industry.