BrightNight Elevates Naveen Khandelwal As CEO

BrightNight has announced the elevation of Naveen Khandelwal as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BrightNight India, effective November 24, 2023. Naveen will be responsible for leading BrightNight India in its next phase of growth, moving the business from project development to construction and operations. He previously served as BrightNight India’s COO & CFO, joining the company in 2021.

“Naveen has a depth of experience in corporate development, business growth, operations, and financing, which will be extremely valuable to us as we scale our buildout in India,” Martin Hermann, CEO of BrightNight, said. “He’s played a critical role in establishing a strong presence in India and leading the introduction of our round-the-clock (RTC), hybrid renewable solutions in one of the largest and fastest growing power markets in the world. As we move into our next phase of growth in India, Naveen has a unique set of capabilities to build, operationalize, and operate our multi-GW India portfolio,” Hermann added.

In his 21 year long energy sector career, Naveen has been a founding team member of two large and reputed Indian renewable energy IPPs with GW-size wind and solar portfolios. Naveen has worked extensively in the areas of corporate development, corporate finance, techno-commercials, growth strategy, capital allocation, and general management. Naveen has also led capital raises for more than $2.75B USD over the last 12 years, across equity and debt, for renewable energy platforms. Most recently, he led BrightNight’s $250M equity partnership with ACEN Corporation to accelerate the development, construction, and operation of BrightNight’s multi-technology renewable portfolio in India.

BrightNight has identified India as a core market for its global platform with a multi-GW portfolio. BrightNight is on track to deliver its first project, a differentiated 100 MW co-located, wind-solar hybrid renewable power project that will deliver clean, high-capacity factor power to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in the State of Maharashtra. BrightNight is using its proprietary software platform PowerAlphaTM to optimize the project’s design for the highest value at the lowest cost. Additionally, BrightNight is actively participating in various utility scale RTC and peak power tenders where it intends to implement multiple large scale CTU connected projects. BrightNight plans to expand its team and portfolio with valuable solutions for its clients, both utilities as well as corporates.

Naveen is taking over the CEO role previously held by Sajay KV, who has been in the position for the last two years. Sajay helped establish BrightNight’s team and portfolio in India.

“I want to thank Sajay for establishing our strong foundation in India and building an exceptional team. He has been a great leader, and this is the right time for this transition. We wish Sajay the very best in his future endeavors,” Hermann added.