Company: EDP Renewables North America
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Industry: Energy
Hometown:Â Houston, Texas
Notable in 2023: Leveraged the Inflation Reduction Act to drive a clean energy transition with diverse leadership.
Sandhya Ganapathy sees her mission as helping to create a cleaner nation – and a cleaner world.
Ganapathy took over the helm at EDP Renewables North America as CEO in 2022. The Houston-based company is one of the top five renewable energy operators in the U.S., operating 60 wind farms and 12 utility-scale solar parks. The company's projects generate close to nine gigawatts of clean energy annually, enough to power about 2 million homes.
EDP Renewables North America signed a framework agreement with Google last April to develop and install 80 distributed solar projects with about 650 megawatts of peak power. It is the largest distributed generation sponsorship signed between two companies in the U.S.
I’m fortunate to have many women role models in my life. My grandmother and my mother have always inspired me and continue to be great role models for me in challenging the status quo and pursuing a career in renewable energy.Sandhya GanapathyChief Executive Officer, EDP Renewables North America
"Every day when we wake up we try to see how we can put more steel into the ground and really harness the powers of the sun and the wind and make a difference for a better tomorrow," Ganapathy said in a company video.
Ganapathy previously worked as an investment banker at HSBC and Morgan Stanley. Prior to her appointment as CEO, she led EDP Renewables investments and M&A team in North America.
Last August, EDP Renewables North America opened its first facility to train technicians to operate and maintain its installations. The training center is located in the heart of the industrial Midwest in Bloomington, Illinois.
EDP Renewables North America has created more than 1,000 jobs in the U.S. and invested $17 billion in capital in local communities across the U.S., according to the company.
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