Brentan Alexander, PhD

Dr. Brentan Alexander joined New Energy Risk in 2012 as chief science officer and began serving also as chief commercial officer in 2019 and then president in 2021. He now serves as an advisor to New Energy Risk, supporting the team in the areas of technical diligence and deal structuring.

Brentan’s entrepreneurial background and deep expertise in the fields of electrochemistry and thermochemistry allow him to engage with project development and project finance at a foundational level, wrapping underlying technical breakthroughs in the required commercial structures to enable financing. Throughout his nearly 10 years at NER, Brentan used his knowledge of technical and commercial financing needs to underwrite the applicability of technology performance insurance to NER clients, as well as each client’s likelihood of success. By the end of his tenure with NER, Brentan had overseen the underwriting, structuring, and execution of every deal that New Energy Risk closed, representing over $2 billion in deployed insurance capital and $3 billion in total project capital.  

In addition to his work with NER, Brentan has experience as an independent engineer, tackling projects in failure root-cause analysis, manufacturing quality control, validation test design, engineering design review, and technology R&D for clients including Shell, Microsoft, BP, General Motors, and Columbia Sportswear. His entrepreneurial endeavors include founding Swift Calcs, a web-based technical computing platform for faster and more reliable engineering calculations, as well as EnergyFolks, a nonprofit professional network connecting energy students and professionals in their area. 

Brentan received his PhD from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering, where he focused on solid fuel gasification and syngas utilization using solid-oxide fuel cell technology. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications, has presented at a variety of technical symposia, and has been honored as an NDSEG Fellow (2009-2012) and a Rohsenow Fellow (2007-2008). He holds MS and BS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

When he’s not geeking out on the latest gasification kinetic models, you can find him outside, hiking the East Bay hills or lounging on the deck with his daughters.