Founded and managed by John Harper, Birch Tree Capital offers demonstrated financing expertise for renewable power generation projects. Since 1990, Mr. Harper has been a developer, lender, and equity advisor in arranging, extending, and advising in financing of several gigawatts of power projects, including over 1,500 MW of renewable power projects since 2000.

John has over two decades of experience in structuring equity and debt financing. For Ze-gen, a Birch Tree Capital client, Mr. Harper was the start-up company’s first finance professional and closed venture debt and Series B equity financing in support of Ze-gen’s operations and first commercial project. Prior to Birch Tree Capital, Mr. Harper led the project financing team for enXco, a leading wind power developer where he combined third party tax investor equity with syndicated bank debt for the first time for a portfolio of new wind projects,. For ABB Financial Services, Mr. Harper crafted the lending unit’s wind sector business strategy and closed debt financing for several projects. For Wartsila, a Finnish engine manufacturer, Mr. Harper joined multilateral and foreign government agency debt and insurance with private international equity to finance power projects in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Kenya. At the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, an independent agency of the U.S. Government, he led teams that extended loans for energy, telecom, oil & gas production, and other projects in over two dozen emerging markets.

Mr. Harper has advised Federal, state, regional, and municipal entities on financing for renewable power projects. He co-authored a landmark report on wind financing structures for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (available via our Resources page) and a study on a regional renewable power project fund for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. He advised the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and its predecessor firm on financing for community wind projects. He regularly advises on financing issues for various clean power advocacy groups and at industry conferences.

A Well Rounded Team
Birch Tree Capital draws upon a network of consultants experienced in the evaluation and financial structuring of investments in the clean power sector. Through that network, these consultants extend their expertise to Birch Tree Capital clients.

Birch Tree Capital consulting partners include:

• Accuress (www.accuress.com)
• Blue Oak Energy (www.blueoakenergy.com)
• Deacon Harbor Financial (www.deaconharbor.com)
• DJL Abilene LLC (www.linkedin.com/pub/daniel-lupfer/b/682/363)
• Klavens Law Group (www.klavenslawgroup.com)
• La Capra Associates (www.lacapra.com)
• Loria Emerging Energy Consulting (www.loriaeec.com)
• McCauley Lyman (www.mccauleylyman.com)
• Meister Consulting Group (www.mc-group.com)
• New Energy Opportunities (www.newenergyopps.com)
• Richard E. Gross, P.E.
• StrateGen Consulting (www.strategenconsulting.com)
• Sustainable Energy Advantage (www.seadvantage.com)