Renewable Energy Veteran Joins KCE as Company Poised for Growth

Key Capture Energy, LLC (“KCE”), a leading developer, owner and operator of battery energy storage systems in the United States, together with its owner, SK E&S Co., Ltd. (“SK E&S”), a global clean energy & solutions provider headquartered in South Korea, announced today that renewable energy industry veteran Brian Hayes will become the company’s new CEO on January 8, 2024.

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Key Capture Energy's Newly Announced CEO, Brian Hayes (Photo: Business Wire)

“Throughout my career I've watched battery energy storage go from a hypothetical technology to being installed in markets across the country,” said Brian Hayes, KCE’s incoming CEO. “Energy storage will be critical for transforming the grid of today to the renewable energy enabled grid of tomorrow. I am excited to be joining KCE to support its vital mission of providing the grid with the flexibility and reliability it needs. I can’t wait to get started with this industry-leading team.”

Brian Hayes joins KCE from EDP Renewables as the current Executive Vice President of Asset Operations & Transmission, managing a team of 500 employees. Since joining the company, then Horizon Wind, in 2006, Brian’s managed portfolio has grown from 500 MW to over 9,000 MW of clean energy projects. Brian holds a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

“Since purchasing KCE in 2021, we have been focused on becoming the most innovative battery energy storage company in the United States,” said Kyungyeol Song, Chief Operating Officer of Passkey, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SK E&S. “Brian is joining the KCE team at an opportune time. His decades of experience building and leading teams in the renewable energy industry make him an ideal fit for KCE’s next phase of growth in the years ahead. I also want to thank Jeff Bishop for his leadership of KCE during SK E&S’s two years of ownership, during which operational capacity has increased eightfold and the development portfolio has grown to over 9,000 megawatts across the United States.”

“In 2016, Dan Fitzgerald and I started Key Capture Energy to build the grid of tomorrow, today,” said Jeff Bishop, KCE’s co-founder and CEO. “With over 600 MWs of battery storage projects in construction and operations, the KCE team started small, learned and grew. Now, Key Capture Energy is ready for its next stage of growth. It’s been the privilege of my lifetime to help grow a rockstar team and a new industry. There is no one better than Brian to carry on the mission.”

Key Capture Energy

Founded in 2016 with offices in Albany, New York and Houston, Texas, Key Capture Energy is a leading developer, owner, and operator of battery energy storage systems and energy solution services across the United States, implementing market optimization software to create a more advanced and resilient electric grid. KCE has 623 megawatts (MW) of standalone energy storage projects in construction and operations and a development pipeline of over 9,000 MW of storage projects across the United States. Learn more at keycaptureenergy.com.

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