UNIQUELY QUALIFIED + DIVERSELY SPECIALIZED

We are a team of developers, builders, and operators with hundreds of years of combined renewables experience, backed by the scale and financial strength of Excelsior Energy Capital.

Driven by a passion for doing better by our partners and planet, we have the people, relationships, and capital required to bring essential projects to exceptional ends.

OUR TEAM

EMRE ERSENKAL

  • Emre co-founded Lydian with Excelsior Energy Capital in 2023 and serves as CEO, bringing more than 20 years of experience across energy infrastructure, investing, financing, development, project management, and leadership. Previously, Emre led renewables investing at Castlelake where he managed more than 10 GW of wind, solar, hydro, and battery investments across North America, Asia, and Latin America, and served as Castlelake’s lead Board representative for numerous renewable energy companies and partnerships. Emre also held various commercial leadership roles with Vientos Energy, TerraForm Global, and Beowulf Energy. Before shifting his focus to renewables, Emre was a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia and project manager at the international development firm DAI. Emre received his M.B.A. from the Wharton School, at the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Hartford, summa cum laude.

STACEY WOODS

  • As Lydian’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Stacey shapes and leads the organization’s human resources strategy. Prior to joining Lydian, Stacey was SVP of HR Operations at $17B LTL and truck brokerage services leader XPO Logistics where she oversaw Global HR Operations, including Learning and Talent, Workforce Analytics, HR PMO, Talent Acquisition & Compensation Operations, North America Payroll, HR Service Center, and HR Technology Audit and Compliance. Stacey earned a B.S. in Information Management from the University of South Carolina, and an Advanced Certificate in Strategic HR Management from Cornell University. She also completed the Black/African Leaders Program at UCLA Anderson School of Management and Human Resource Information Professional (HRIP) certification from International Association for HR Information Management. She sits on Apparo’s Board as a leader of the Governance Committee, and is a member of Forbes HR Council, Chief, Pipeline Angels, iHRIM, and SHRM.

REN GAFFNEY (they/she)

  • Ren serves the goal of an inclusive Energy Transition through lawyering and leadership, presently as General Counsel of Lydian Energy, a renewable energy platform company of Excelsior Energy Capital. Ren has advised on over $2.8 billion of closed energy and infrastructure transactions across four continents and has 13 years of experience in energy storage, renewable power, infrastructure, impact investment, and economic development. They are an alum of Skadden, Georgetown Law, Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies, and Wellesley College. As General Counsel, Ren created and grew the legal function at Convergent Energy and Power, an early-mover energy storage company. Prior to the pandemic, Ren was living in West Africa and working as Deputy General Counsel and co-head of the Power & Infrastructure Advisory for the CrossBoundary Group, a mission-driven investment facilitator, C&I developer, mini-grid financing facility, and asset manager. Ren’s first in-house role was at TerraForm Power, the publicly traded SunEdison yieldco, where they led international renewables M&A, legal asset management and a $475M portfolio refinancing and disposition. Ren strives always to be a responsible steward of our planet and trusted ally to the people who live on it. They served as a founding Steering Committee member of Transgender Legal Advocates of Washington DC, and currently, as career coach for the Posse Foundation’s ‘extraordinary potential’ grantees.

TARA DHIMITRI

  • Tara joined Lydian in 2024 as its COO with 20 years of experience in the energy sector, including asset management, operations, power marketing and regulatory roles. Prior to joining Lydian, Tara built and led the commercial asset management function at Generate with ~2,000 operating assets across six asset classes. Before that, Tara held commercial or regulatory positions at Longroad Energy, Terraform, First Wind and Capital Power. Tara began her career in Washington building coalitions to comment on technical federal regulations for the Electric Power Supply Association. Tara holds a bachelor’s degree in History and Applied Physics from American University.

BASILIO GUERRERO

  • Basilio Guerrero joined Lydian as its Chief Financial Officer in 2024. He comes to Lydian from Acciona Energy US & Canada, where he was also a CFO and responsible for all financial reporting, accounting, corporate and project financing, and asset management. During his tenure at ACCIONA, Basilio secured more than $3 Billion of capital investments and completed the acquisition of development portfolios of more than 5,000 MW of wind, solar PV and energy storage, positioning ACCIONA as major player in North America’s renewable energy sector.

    Prior to joining ACCIONA, Basilio was Head of Structured Finance and Projects at EBN Banco de Negocios, S.A. where he managed a portfolio of over €500 million across the energy, textile, and services sectors, negotiated debt restructuring transactions on more than €100 million, and led the origination of more than 30 renewable energy project finance deals. He was also a Senior Treasury Analyst for the Electricity Supply Board of Ireland, where he was part of the group funding and cash management team.

    Basilio received his Bachelor of Sciences degree in Business  and  Information Technology at Trinity College Dublin and his Post-graduate degree in Structured Finance and Private Equity at IE Business School, Spain.

RYAN FLYNN-KASUBA

  • Ryan serves as the Senior Vice President of M&A and Structured Finance, bringing over 10 years of professional and academic experience in renewable energy investing and development.  Prior to joining Lydian, Ryan led the Acquisitions and Structuring team at Enel Green Power North America, focusing on both the buy and sell side of wind, solar and battery projects across various markets in the US and Canada.  Ryan has helped monetize over 5.7GW of solar, wind and battery assets across North America, totaling over $5.6B worth of investments.  Ryan received an M.B.A from the Bologna Business School, at the University of Bologna (Italy) with a concentration in Green Energy and Sustainable Businesses and a B.B.A in Finance from the Isenberg School of Management, at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

ED CHERIAN

  • Ed Cherian is the National Director, Construction for Lydian Energy, responsible for execution on all energy projects through COD. Prior to joining Lydian, he served as Managing Director at Walden Renewables, where he led the development of over 2 GW of utility-scale solar pipeline across MISO, PJM, ISO-NE, and SoCo markets, and was responsible for primary procurement contracts. Mr. Cherian also served as Vice President-Development at Competitive Power Ventures, where he established and led the utility-scale solar development team, including EPC negotiations, procurement, PPA negotiations for over 500 MWs of solar. As Portfolio Manager at General Electric Solar, Mr. Cherian led deal teams on engineering, permitting, EPC RFPs and project management on over 40 solar projects through COD. At Iberdrola Renewables (Avangrid) Ed was the New England Development Director, directing multiple wind projects throughout the development and design process through COD, including New Hampshire’s first grid connected wind farm, and the first wind farm located within a National Forest. Ed holds a BA from Syracuse University and an MPA from Virginia Tech.

MO QARA

  • Mo Al Qaraghuli serves as Engineering Director for Lydian Energy, bringing more than 20 years of experience In Electrical Engineering, Renewable Energy, Project development, project construction, and leadership. Previously, Mo led the technical Federal team for Trane Technologies and Engineering team at GE Solar where he managed more than 5 GW of Solar, BESS, Distributed Energy Generations and Microgrid systems across North America, Asia, middle east and Latin America. Mo also held various Engineering roles at Parsons Brinckerhoff and Dar Gorup Before shifting his focus to renewables. Mo received his BSE and MSE in Electrical engineering from Baghdad University, Mo is holding Professional engineer license (PE) in multiple states across Noth America.

RAMON REGAN

  • Ramon serves as HR Director, bringing over 13 years of experience in HR management, having worked in the corporate sector with a focus on employee services, leaves administration, HR technology, and audit and compliance. Prior to joining Lydian, Ramon led the compliance function in HR Operations for a global Fortune 500 transportation company with over 100,000 employees. He has obtained a professional certification from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), demonstrating his commitment to excellence in the field. Ramon holds a M.S. in Human Resources Management from North Carolina A&T State University.

JOHN ALBERCHT

  • John is the Controller for Lydian Energy with over 20 years experience in accounting and finance across some of the world’s largest solar, wind, and traditional power companies.  Prior to joining Lydian, he held senior roles at Canadian Solar, Recurrent Energy, SolarCity, Babcock & Brown, El Paso Corporation, and started his career working in public accounting at EY.  John has a proven track record of delivering value solving for challenges in the constantly evolving renewables space and is adept at the development of high performance teams and processes.  John is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia and a licensed CPA in California. 

BRYON CANTRELL

MEREDITH SUNSHINE

  • Meredith serves as Lydian’s Assistant General Counsel, bringing over seven years of experience in the renewable energy industry primarily focused on the development and financing of utility scale solar facilities.  Prior to joining Lydian, Meredith served as Senior Counsel at Pine Gate Renewables where she primarily focused on the financing of solar and storage facilities. Meredith started her career as an Associate at Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP in the Capital Projects & Infrastructure group representing developers and institutional investors in the acquisition, development, and finance of renewable energy assets.  Throughout her career, Meredith has represented clients in over $1 billion dollars of tax equity and debt financing transactions. Meredith holds an LL.M. (Master of Laws) in Taxation from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law. Meredith earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Affairs from the University of Georgia. She is licensed to practice in Georgia.    

YIFAN LI

  • Yifan joined Lydian in 2024 as the Director and Head of Transmission & Interconnection, with 15 years of experience in transmission planning, renewable interconnection, and electricity market modeling. Previously, Yifan was a Director of Transmission at Strata Clean Energy, managing transmission analysis and interconnection studies for GWs of renewable projects across multiple regions. Yifan also has extensive system planning and renewable experience at MISO and CAISO; and worked towards cutting-edge clean energy modeling initiatives and policy analysis at Gates Foundation. Yifan Li holds a PhD from Iowa State University with lasting academic influence as IEEE senior member and currently serves as an IEEE transaction editor. 

LARA YOUNES

  • Lara leverages nearly a decade in the clean energy industry as Director of M&A and Structured Finance at Lydian, with expertise in policy, investing, and development. Her career began at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), advising emerging economies on transformative clean energy policies, significantly contributing to Egypt's competitive bidding transition. Lara has worked with international IPPs across Latin America and North Africa. She helped close an 850 MW wind project in Morocco with Enel and supported X-Elio’s U.S. market entry, navigating innovative financing structures and offtake strategies. Before Lydian, Lara focused on de-risking financing for 200+ MW of New York community solar projects as an Investment Manager with 38 Degrees North. She was instrumental in managing developer relations and driving deal execution. Lara holds a Master's in International Affairs, focusing on energy policy and finance, from Columbia University.

TRISTAN VAN KOTE

  • Tristan is the Director of M&A and Structured Finance at Lydian, with expertise in finance and energy markets. Prior to joining, Tristan worked at Galehead Development where he engaged in divesting early to mid-stage utility-scale and DG renewable energy projects. Tristan also worked on the Transaction and Structuring team at Enel Green Power, where he successfully brought to investment committee over 1 GW of utility-scale wind, solar and storage. On the Climate and Energy team at Berkeley Research Group, Tristan provided commercial and financial advisory in electricity and global energy markets, project finance, and international arbitration disputes. Tristan holds a Master’s in International Economics, Energy Resource and Environment from Johns Hopkins, School of Advanced International Studies. 

DYLAN LUCAS

  • As an Electrical Engineer at Lydian, Dylan applies his experience in electrical design and project optimization to support projects from origination and underwriting through construction and operations. He started his career at ReVision Energy working on 100% home and business electrification with rooftop solar before moving to develop solar and battery ground mounted power plants for Borrego Solar (now New Leaf Energy). He eventually took his experience to DSD where he developed engineering and commercial pathways to sell electricity from solar carport canopies in parking lots directly to consumers via electric vehicle chargers backed up by stationary storage. Dylan earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University.

WESTON STANDISH

  • As a Civil Engineer at Lydian, Weston applies his experience in design, development, and construction of utility scale PV and battery power plants to support projects from origination to operation. His expertise lies in providing complete facility civil designs with a focus on performance and sustainability for solar PV and battery energy storage system projects. He is an advanced stormwater management designer with expert ACAD C3D drafting capabilities, and has a solid understanding of PV electrical design and energy engineering. Weston is committed to providing best-in-class, sustainable designs and supporting engineering analysis for all the projects he works on. Weston graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and Minor in Energy Engineering.

ERIN GIGLIA

  • Erin serves as Senior Project Manager, bringing 27 years of construction project management experience to the Lydian team.  Prior to joining Lydian, Erin led a large Energy Savings Performance Contract in Northern Japan for Trane Technologies.  Erin has also managed numerous large commercial projects for various companies in the Midwest.  Erin studied Construction Management at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

ERIK ANDERSON

  • Erik joined Lydian Energy in June of 2024 as the Manager of Procurement, bringing nearly 18 years of varied experience in the solar industry across sectors and market verticals.  From the early days of advancing residential solar & building the largest wholesale solar distribution network in the industry, to manufacturing & large C&I distributed generation deployment, Erik has a unique background that provides an invaluable view of the industry landscape and ability to strategically plan and execute through the ups and downs of the solar coaster.  Before jumping feet first into the solar industry in 2007, Erik worked as an environmental educator for SoundWaters, a non-profit in Stamford CT dedicated to educating children of all ages on the wonders of the natural world and has held BOD seats in Solar CT, a local trade organization as well as Twende Solar, a Portland OR based group focused on small, international microgrid deployment for communities who would otherwise never gain access to electricity.  In addition to numerous certifications that Erik has held through the years, including the NABCEP Technical Sales Certificate, Erik graduated with a B.S. in Conservation Biology from the University of Rhode Island in 2004. 

PATRICK PALANGI

  • Patrick serves as an M&A and Structured Finance Associate, bringing three years of experience in project acquisitions, project finance, and renewable development. Prior to joining Lydian, Patrick held roles on Pine Gate Renewables M&A and Project Finance teams. In those roles he closed 500 MWs of acquisitions and project financing with a focus on the Southeast and ERCOT. Patrick holds a Bachelor of Science in Financial Mathematics and Statistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

NICK FRANKLIN

  • Nick joined Lydian in 2024 as the senior commissioning engineer, bringing more than 15 years of experience in program and project management, engineering, and manufacturing. Prior to joining Lydian, he led lithium-ion battery programs at AESC and Microvast with focus on new plant industrialization, lifecycle profitability control, and customer contract management. Before shifting his focus to batteries and renewables, Nick spent extensive time in the automotive manufacturing field with roles in die casting, shop floor operations, and regional industrial strategy. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University and an M.B.A. from Western Governors University.

JUSTIN WALTERS

  • Justin serves as Sr Electrical Development Engineer, supporting the M&A and Execution teams for development projects. He brings 15 years of experience in Electrical and Renewable Energy Engineering.  Prior to joining Lydian, Justin worked at Qcells, LRE, and First Solar, working in Project Development Engineering and Project Management, supporting over 10 GW of PV, Wind, and BESS projects. Justin is a registered Professional Engineer in Texas, and he holds a BS Degree in Electrical Engineering from Lamar University (TX).

WILL POWERS

  • William is an Associate on the M&A and Structured Finance team at Lydian, with expertise in finance and renewable energy transactions. Prior to joining, William worked at Enel Green Power in various roles, including Financial Valuation and Transactions & Structuring (M&A). William worked directly on the financial valuation and analysis of over 15 utility scale wind, solar and battery storage projects successfully approved at investment committee. William supported project development through analyzing offtake solutions, financings and procurement related activities. William was also involved in the support of individual and portfolio level asset divestitures during his time at the company. William holds a Bachelors degree in Finance and Economics from Bentley University.

AIMEE DUFFY

  • Aimee serves as Lydian’s Operations Director, bringing eight years of renewable energy experience into focus on company planning, operational efficiency, organizational development, and risk management. Prior to joining Lydian, she was the Director of Asset Management at Apex Clean Energy, where she oversaw commercial operations for more than 650 MW of wind, solar, and storage projects across multiple ISOs. Aimee received an EMBA in Energy from the University of Oklahoma, and a BA in History from the College of William & Mary.