James Dehlsen

James G.P. Dehlsen (born April 27, 1937) is an American businessman, inventor, and entrepreneur. He is a pioneering figure in wind power and renewable energy development in the United States and holds 25 patents.[2][3][4][5]

James Dehlsen
Dehlsen in 2010
Born (1937-04-27) April 27, 1937[1]
Guadalajara, Mexico
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Southern California (BS, MBA)
Known forPioneer in wind power and renewable energy innovation in the U.S.

Early life and career

Dehlsen was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. His father was a Danish businessman and engineer who worked for Southern Pacific Railroad.[6] As a young man, he served in the U.S. Air Force.[7] Dehlsen subsequently earned a BS and MBA from the University of Southern California.[8]

Dehlsen developed a fluid lubricant called Tri-Flon which utilized micron-sized Teflon particles. He sold the company in 1980.[7]

Windpower and renewable energy career

Zond

In 1980, Dehlsen founded the wind power company Zond Systems Inc.,[7] which became the first company to commercially provide wind power to Southern California Edison.[9]

Dehlsen collaborated with the Danish company Vestas, from which Zond purchased wind turbines. During the 1980s, Zond purchased nearly all the turbines Vestas produced. As a result, "California became the birthplace of the modern wind industry."[10]

In the 1990s, Zond began manufacturing its own wind turbines in order further lower the cost of energy. With support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the U.S. Department of Energy, Zond produced a 550kW turbine. Zond's work on variable-speed technology subsequently enabled turbine scaling to 1.5MW.[11]

In 1997, Enron acquired Zond and formed Enron Wind.[12] GE subsequently acquired Enron Wind in 2002 to form GE Wind Energy.[13]

Clipper Windpower

In 2001, Dehlsen and his son James Brenton ("Brent") established Clipper Windpower.[14] In partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and NREL, the company developed the 2.5-MW Liberty Wind Turbine, featuring advanced drive train and controls architecture. Commercial sales for the Liberty Wind Turbine began in 2006, then the largest wind turbine manufactured in the United States.[15] Clipper's IPO on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange launched in September 2005.[16]

In 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy bestowed on Clipper its "Outstanding Research and Development Partnership Award" for its "outstanding contribution toward industry advancements," including attaining "unparalleled levels of efficiency and reliability and reduced cost of energy" with the Liberty Wind Turbine.[17][18]

Clipper also worked on developing offshore wind power. In 2007, the company began design and development of the 10MW, 150m rotor "Britannia" offshore wind turbine in the United Kingdom.[19][20][21]

In December 2009, United Technologies Corporation (UTC) announced it was acquiring a 49.5% stake in Clipper Windpower.[22] By December 2010, UTC had acquired the rest of the company.[23]

Aquantis

Dehlsen has worked on developing marine renewable energy. In 2011, he established Aquantis, which has developed underwater turbine technology to harness marine currents for utility-scale electric power generation. The company is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.[24] Aquantis has received U.S. Department of Energy grants and venture capital from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.[25] Dehlsen is also developing wave energy electric generators through his "Centipod" program.[26]

Awards and recognition

Controversies

In January 2021, New Zealand's Employment Relations Authority awarded seven former employees of Bayside café $136,800 in damages for being unfairly and unjustifiably dismissed. Dehlsen and his wife, Deanna, who own the Snells Beach business, "failed to meet the minimum requirements of a fair and reasonable employer" by invoking a new "unforeseen events" clause in their employment contracts that terminated their staff's employment on March 19, days before the country went into lockdown, and denying the staff access to the government's wage subsidy scheme.[34]

References
  1. Who's Who in California. Who's Who Historical Society. 1992. p. 86. ISBN 9781880142004.
  2. "Alternative Energy's Fortunes Shift With the Winds". The Wall Street Journal. May 1, 2009.
  3. "A Mightier Wind". Newsweek. September 5, 2004.
  4. "Wind Power Pioneer Interview: Jim Dehlsen, Clipper Windpower". U.S. Department of Energy. October 1, 2003. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013.
  5. "Management". Aquantis. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  6. Reaping the Wind: How Mechanical Wizards, Visionaries, and Profiteers Helped Shape Our Energy Future. Island Press. 2000. p. 104. ISBN 9781597262606.
  7. The Wind Power Story: A Century of Innovation that Reshaped the Global Energy Landscape. John Wiley & Sons. 2019. p. 193. ISBN 9781118794302.
  8. Cases in Technical Communication. Wadsworth. 1999. p. 33. ISBN 9780534515072.
  9. Historic Kern County: An Illustrated History of Bakersfield and Kern County. HPN Books. 2001. pp. 134–137. ISBN 9781893619142.
  10. Yergin, Daniel. The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World. Penguin Books. pp. 603–606. ISBN 978-0143121947.
  11. Wind Power: The Struggle for Control of a New Global Industry. Routledge. 2014. pp. 26–27. ISBN 9781317685418.
  12. "Enron Acquires Zond, a Major Wind-Power Company". The New York Times. January 7, 1997.
  13. "GE Seeks Refund From Enron Wind". Los Angeles Times. November 15, 2002.
  14. "2010 Innovators in Wind Power". Windpower Engineering & Development. April 9, 2010.
  15. "Largest Wind Turbine Manufactured in U.S. Gets Energy Award". IndustryWeek. September 11, 2007. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011.
  16. "Plenty of buyers provide capital -- Clipper's IPO". Wind Power Monthly. October 1, 2005.
  17. Winds of Change: The Environmental Movement and the Global Development of the Wind Energy Industry. Oxford University Press. 2011. pp. 161–163. ISBN 9780199842582.
  18. "Unique Dynamometer Enables Rapid Advancement of Industry Leader" (PDF). National Renewable Energy Laboratory. June 1, 2010.
  19. "Clipper To Develop 7.5 MW Britannia Offshore Wind Turbine". Renewable Energy World. October 10, 2007.
  20. "Windfarm blade plant to open on Tyneside". The Independent. February 19, 2010.
  21. "Clipper sinks Britannia in refocus". Wind Power Monthly. October 1, 2011.
  22. "Clipper says UTC to buy 49.5 percent stake". Reuters. December 10, 2009.
  23. "United Technologies Completes Clipper Windpower Acquisition". UTC. December 15, 2010.
  24. "About Us". Aquantis. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  25. "What Works for Wind Power Could Also Work Under the Sea". Bloomberg. June 2, 2016.
  26. "Wave Energy Exploration Continues". Santa Barbara Independent. January 10, 2016.
  27. "James Dehlsen". University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  28. "Global Warming and Its Implications for California". United States Government Publishing Office. May 20, 1989.
  29. "Heading for Kyoto with a united delegation". Windpower Monthly. 1 December 1997.
  30. "Dehlsen endowment to UCSB". Windpower Monthly. 1 May 1998.
  31. "2011 Excellence in Renewable Energy Awards – Leadership". Renewable Energy World. 11 March 2011.
  32. "Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Hearing - Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Technology: Finding the Path to Commercialization". House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. December 3, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  33. "Clean Energy and the US Handicap: One Man's Story". Pacific Standard. July 25, 2010.
  34. "Snells Beach cafe to pay staff $136,000 after abruptly sacking them before lockdown". Stuff. 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
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