General – Appointment Vineyard Offshore
A former state regulator and power company executive who helped lay the groundwork for the offshore wind industry in the U.S. is set to become the new CEO at Vineyard Offshore, one of America’s largest wind developers.
Alicia Barton will take over in January from Lars Pedersen, a Danish executive who shepherded the United States’ first major offshore wind project, Vineyard Wind, through development. The 800-megawatt project is under construction in the Atlantic Ocean south of Martha’s Vineyard and scheduled to be completed next year.
In selecting Barton, Vineyard Offshore turned to an industry veteran who was instrumental in the embrace of offshore wind in Massachusetts and New York. As the CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Barton oversaw development of a key staging port in New Bedford, Massachusetts, that is now being used in the construction of Vineyard Wind.
She later played a similar role at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, where she helped set a goal of buying vast amounts of electricity from offshore wind as one way to meet the state’s climate goals.
“I’m taking on this new role clear-eyed about the challenges, but also confident that we’ve got the right ingredients to be successful for the long term,” Barton said. “For offshore wind in North America, I do think Vineyard Offshore is really well-positioned to be the leader in this market.”
Pedersen is leaving the company so he can lead global development at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the Danish-based parent of Vineyard Offshore. The company saw rapid expansion in the U.S. under his eight-year tenure as CEO. It went from a relatively unknown player to a company with leases off New England, New York and California.
