Development

Jonathan Selwyn is the Managing Director of Bluefield Renewable Development (BRD), part of the Bluefield Group. The company develops large-scale solar and battery storage projects in-house and works with development partners in the UK and across Europe.

To date, BRD and its partners have achieved planning permission for over 450MWp of UK solar projects and have a late-stage development pipeline of 500MWp of solar projects and 350MW of battery storage projects.

Jonathan is one of the most experienced solar developers in the UK, having previously worked together with Bluefield’s Development Director, Alan Connolly, in the successful development of 350MWp of projects for Lark Energy and 150MWp of projects for Lightsource bp.

Prior to joining Bluefield, Jonathan chaired Downing LLP’s Indian funds which invested £35m in the development, construction, and operation of 4 solar farms in India. He also advised an investor on the development of a portfolio of Ukranian solar assets. Jonathan is the former Chairman of Solar Energy UK, the solar industry trade body, and is also a Director of FVEnergia, a Polish solar developer.

Alan Connolly BSc (Hons) MRICS is the Development Director of Bluefield Renewable Developments (BRD).

Working through his consultancy services company, Connolly Land & Developments Ltd, Alan’s focus is on UK development, with 14 years’ experience in Large Scale Solar and Battery Storage development and more than 17 years’ experience in Residential Development.

Alan is one of the UKs most experienced solar developers, having developed the UKs first large-scale solar farm to be energised (5MWp, energised in 2011) together with the first large solar ROC project (35MWp, energised in early 2013). To date, he has developed approximately 1 GWp of solar and battery storage projects for Bluefield and other developers.

Alan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Planning and Residential Development (2005), is a qualified Residential Land Buyer (2007) and also a Chartered Planning & Development Surveyor (2012) with a core background in both Residential Development and Large Scale Solar PV.

Prior to working in renewable energy, Alan worked for several national PLC UK house builders and subsequently set his up his own Chartered Development Consultancy in 2009. He has since acted on multiple land acquisitions and general development for various national PLC and regional UK house builders and also a number of leading solar developers.

Julie Rankin is Programme Director for Bluefield Renewable Development (BRD), part of the Bluefield Group. The company develops large-scale solar and battery storage projects in-house and works with development partners in the UK and across Europe.

Julie has over 10 years’ experience of working in the renewable and waste management sectors and before joining Bluefield worked with both Jonathan Selwyn and Bluefield’s Development Director, Alan Connolly, in the successful development of 350MWp of projects for Lark Energy.

Julie has a strong track record in environmental policy, compliance and sustainability working for a wide range of government agencies, local authorities and private sector businesses.

Ben Packham is a Programme Manager at Bluefield Renewable Development. Ben has a wealth of experience working on development projects for several years across a variety of technologies including Solar, Battery, Wind, Anaerobic Digestion and Hydro. Ben has been an integral member of successful development teams contributing to planning applications for renewable technologies and has taken a leading role in identifying suitable locations for the deployment of renewable technologies and design and feasibility work. While working as a consultant, Ben performed a series of data analysis exercises for local authorities to encourage developers to investigate renewable technology deployment, with the ambition of achieving net zero and to contribute to the decarbonisation of the energy industry.

Rose Rusbridge is the Planning & Design Manager at Bluefield Renewable Development. Rose has worked in the Renewables industry for the last 10 years, focusing on Solar PV, Battery and Low Carbon Glasshouse design for large scale projects across the UK and abroad.

As well as leading on project design, she has also worked closely with Communities, Local Planning Authorities and Stakeholders at all stages of Project Development, to facilitate smooth running of the planning process.

Rose has a background across various disciplines in the renewables industry, having worked as a consultant in energy yield and irradiation assessments, as well as project compliance and due diligence.