Kevin B. Smith, SolarReserve’s CEO, has been selected as Acquisition International’s 2015 CEO of the Year, California within the energy sector.
The CEO of the Year awards were founded to identify and recognize the outstanding leadership of CEOs across all industries and jurisdictions. In terms of determining those most deserving of this coveted accolade, Acquisition International takes into consideration significant achievements from the past calendar year, other accolades won, length of service, and company performance since founding the business.
Kevin Smith joined SolarReserve as one of its founding executives in 2008. Under his leadership, the company has $1.8 billion of projects currently in operation worldwide, with a development portfolio of over 8,000 megawatts in more than 25 countries, with long-term power contracts representing $2.8 billion of project capital. In addition, the company has commercialized its proprietary advanced solar thermal technology with integrated energy storage that delivers renewable baseload and dispatchable power that can compete with traditional fossil-fired and nuclear electricity generation.
Smith brings 30 years of energy industry experience to his role as SolarReserve’s CEO. He has held senior executive positions with many successful energy companies aimed at developing solar and wind energy projects as well as natural gas, oil and biomass-fueled electricity facilities. Throughout his career, Smith has actively led the development, financing and construction of privately-owned energy projects in fifteen countries and five continents around the world. These constructed projects total more than 5,000 megawatts with long-term electricity sales contracts in excess of $55 billion.
Smith earned his MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago and his Mechanical Engineering degree from Purdue University. A licensed Professional Engineer, Smith was honored with the Outstanding Mechanical Engineer Award from Purdue University in 2008, and in 2012 Platts Energy awarded him the Rising Star Award for vision and leadership in the worldwide energy industry.