U.S.-based offshore wind developer Vineyard Offshore on Monday announced it has named Alicia Barton as the company’s new CEO, starting in January.
Barton will take over for Lars T. Pedersen, who has led the company since it was founded in 2022 and before that led the team developing Vineyard Wind, the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the United States, now under construction.
“I had the pleasure of working with Alicia during the very early days of the Vineyard Wind project and know she brings an outstanding mix of skills and talent to Vineyard Offshore,” Pedersen said. “Widely known and highly respected across the industry, she is the ideal candidate to guide the company to greater success in the offshore wind industry, which is critical to achieving state and federal goals for a clean electric power system. Alicia will make Vineyard Offshore the national leader in offshore wind.”
“I am thrilled to be joining Vineyard Offshore at this critical point in its growth and a critical time for the offshore wind industry as we face the imperative to deliver clean energy at an unprecedented scale in the years ahead,” Barton said. “Vineyard Offshore is poised to lead the North American offshore wind market by combining the global pipeline and expertise of its sponsor at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners with the team who has pioneered the delivery of large scale offshore wind in the U.S. I am excited to take on the challenge of helping the company achieve even greater success ahead on both the East and West Coasts.”
For the past three years, Barton has served as CEO of FirstLight Power. Previously, she managed operations for the Global Utility Group at SunEdison, and she also served as CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Earlier in her career, Barton practiced law and served in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources from the Ohio State University and a J.D. from Boston College Law School.
Barton sits on the boards of directors of several climate focused organizations and companies, including the Environmental League of Massachusetts, the Advisory Board for the New England Women in Energy and Environment (NEWIEE) and formerly Chaired the Board for Greentown Labs.
Vineyard Offshore, the exclusive U.S. developer of offshore wind projects in lease areas owned by funds administered by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), recently won its first project, the 1.3 gigawatt (GW) Excelsior Wind, in the latest offshore wind procurement by the State of New York. The company is also pursuing development of an additional lease area on the East Coast, south of the current Vineyard Wind site, and a newly acquired lease area off the Northern California coast, which will require floating wind turbines.
“We are very excited to bring Alicia to the team to lead our efforts at Vineyard Offshore,” said Tim Evans, Partner and Head of North America for CIP. “Her experience in business and policy make her a true leader in this field and will help us achieve our ambitious goals for growth in the coming years.”