Record of success
Anacapa’s leadership built Zond Systems (1980 to 1996) and Clipper Windpower (2001 to 2010), helping take wind energy from prototype to global industry. We are now applying that experience, and decades of hard-won lessons, to wave.
Leaders of the transition
Anacapa’s management lineage begins in the early days of wind energy, when the technology was unproven and the market did not yet exist. James Dehlsen founded Zond Systems in 1980 and, over the following decade, helped create the scale market that established wind as a credible global energy source. With Clipper Windpower, the team pioneered distributed drivetrain technology and brought variable-speed wind to mainstream commercial deployment. James was inducted into the National Environmental Hall of Fame as the Father of Wind Energy in the United States.
… Virtually on the spot, he [Dehlsen] put in an order for 150 turbines, far more than Vestas had produced till then. Over the decade [1980’s], Zond bought almost all Vestas’ output. Dehlsen did as much as anyone to create the scale market that nurtured the Danish industry.
That history is the foundation of our conviction that wave energy can follow the same path, and our understanding of exactly what it takes to get there.
A blue frontier
Ocean renewable energy presents a major opportunity for 21st century power needs, both for grid offtake and for blue economy applications. Anacapa’s first deployment pathway runs through the blue economy. As part of the Ecomerit group, we are strategically aligned with sister companies developing floating desalination and subsea data infrastructure, both of which benefit directly from a reliable, distributed source of marine energy. These relationships give Anacapa a clear line of sight to early-deployment opportunities ahead of broader utility grid offtake.
Team
Alan McCall
Alan holds an MSc. with a focus in Offshore Renewable Energy from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toledo. Alan has been in the marine renewable energy sector for over a decade. In his role leading the Anacapa Wavepower program, he manages the efforts of technology development, funding, and project management, to drive the business towards commercialization.
Timma Flanagan
Timma received her Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree in Renewable Energies in the Marine Environment, principally at Oregon State University. Her thesis focused on modelling wave energy converter arrays. In the field, Timma holds a wealth of offshore experience serving as a research assistant on several multi-week whale research expeditions from 2018-2022. Since joining the Anacapa team full-time in 2022, she has led mooring analysis and environmental risk within the team.
Dr. Alix S. Haider
Alix received his PhD in Electrical Engineering at Oregon State University, with a previous MSc. In Systems Engineering. His research interests included system modelling, control, power electronics, and electric drives with application to renewable energy systems. His PhD and post-doc work included collaboration with the Anacapa team furthering the development of WEC control system for the 4 years prior to joining the Anacapa team full-time in 2022.
James “Brent” Dehlsen
Prior to Anacapa, Brent co-founded Clipper Windpower and participated in Clipper’s path from engineering concept through development stage to commercialization, serving as Executive Vice President of Operations and COO.
James G.P. Dehlsen
James is a pioneering figure in wind power and renewable energy development. Prior to launching Anacapa, James founded Zond Systems and Clipper Windpower. In 2008, he was inducted into the National Environmental Hall of Fame as “Father of Wind Energy in the U.S.”
David Arthurs
David has over 20 years of finance and operations experience, having previously served as Chief Financial Officer of a real estate investment fund and Principal and CFO of a water treatment business, which grew from start-up to sale to GE Water under his stewardship.