KEY PERSONNEL
K&M’s
unique accomplishments in the infrastructure arena are largely attributable to
the firm’s highly qualified and diverse personnel. K&M’s
professional staff of over 400 talented individuals represents numerous unique disciplines
and capabilities in over 20 languages. Among K&M’s professionals are
electrical, mechanical, civil, chemical, and environmental engineers; financial
analysts and economists; regulatory and international legal experts; project
and construction managers; procurement professionals; and privatization and
public policy experts. This spectrum of capabilities affords K&M a
well-rounded resource base with sufficient depth to address the diverse
infrastructure challenges in the developing world. Having the capability to
draw upon this broad mix of skills provides innovative and well orchestrated
solutions for K&M’s clients. K&M’s employees are the
firm’s most valuable asset and K&M prides itself on having some of
the world’s most renowned experts in their respective fields available to
serve client needs.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Michael H. Kappaz
In a career spanning over 35 years of senior-level executive experience in both
engineering and finance, including his tenure as Vice President of
International Operations at Bechtel Power Corporation, Mr. Kappaz has managed
and developed both private and public infrastructure projects. As a founder of K&M,
Mr. Kappaz has led the company in the structuring of over $10 billion worth of
private power projects throughout the world. He has acted as Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of several subordinate project consortia in the development
of over 10,000 MW of power worldwide. He is an internationally recognized
authority in the areas of privatization, private project development, and
infrastructure project finance in the energy, telecommunications and
environmental sectors. Mr. Kappaz is a frequent consultant to multilateral
development and commercial banks, foreign and domestic government agencies, and
the private sector. Fluent in five languages, Mr. Kappaz holds a B.S.I.E. from
Polytechnic Institute of New York, an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University, and
has completed post-graduate studies at the Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania and at Stanford University.
Vice
President
Leonid Golbin, P.E.
As K&M’s Vice President, Mr. Golbin is responsible for consulting and
project development activities. He applies over 27 years of experience in
directing projects in the areas of advising commercial and multilateral lending
institutions on IPP project development, preparing requests for proposal, and
developing of private power projects in developing countries. He has
participated in preparation of feasibility studies, conducting site selection,
size optimization, fuel selection and strategic options for a variety of power
projects including leading edge clean coal technologies. He has developed energy efficiency programs,
performed due diligence reviews, contract analysis, economic and financial
modeling, tariff calculations, power plant environmental impact analysis and
mitigation, drafting and negotiating power purchase agreements and fuel supply
agreements, development and design of cogeneration systems and conceptual and
detailed design of different power plant systems and equipment. Mr. Golbin has
a Master of Science degree in Thermal Power Plant Design, Operation and
Maintenance from the Polytechnic University in Minsk, Belarus.
Manager
of Projects
Denis J. King, P.E.
Mr. Denis King has extensive domestic and international experience in the
utility and independent power industry involving large coal, gas and oil fired
power plants utilizing a variety of technologies. He has extensive experience
advising governments and private clients on the development of private power
plants and negotiating project agreements with a special emphasis on EPC
contacts. His experience includes work on all project phases from site
feasibility studies and selection, supporting development, and leading project
teams through construction and commercial operation. In addition, he has
experience with all coal, gas, and oil-fired power technologies including
circulating fluidized bed, combined cycle and reciprocating engines. Finally,
Mr. King has significant experience in contract implementation, construction
oversight and coordination, claims negotiation, startup and testing oversight,
O&M oversight. Mr. King has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Maryland, an M.S. in Engineering from the Catholic University of
America and an MBA from Golden Gate University.
Senior
Project Manager
William C. Drotleff, P.E.
As K&M’s Senior Project Manager, Mr. Drotleff
is responsible for the firm's consulting and project management activities.
Throughout his career he has managed the implementation of over $10 billion,
10,000MW of gas-, oil-, coal- and nuclear-fired generation and transmission
capacity worldwide including combined cycle and cogeneration facilities. He has
provided expert testimony on power plants. He applies over 40 years of senior
executive experience in engineering, design, project development including
advising on the technical as well as the financing of agreements, tender
evaluation process and selection criteria. His background includes experience
in engineering, privatizations, restructurings and greenfield projects. He is
an expert in the structuring of international competitive bids, project agreements
(PPA, LLA, ECA, FSA, and EPC), financial models and tariff structures for
independent private power (IPP) projects. Prior to joining K&M, Mr.
Drotleff served as the President and CEO of Cogeneration Partners of America,
where he directed project development and financing efforts which led to the
successful construction and operation of three domestic gas-fired combined
cycle power plants valued at over $200 million. Earlier in his career, served
as Vice President of Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation. B.S., U.S.
Naval Academy; Business Management certificate, Northeastern University.
Registered Professional Engineer.
Senior
Development Executive
Paul Clements
Mr. Clements leads K&M’s business
development and financial planning activities. He is a seasoned international
business executive with over 20 years experience in the electric power
generation marketplace. In addition, Mr. Clements is responsible for the
development, management and operation of projects internationally. Projects
include both fossil and renewable fuel sources such as geothermal,
hydroelectric, biomass, landfill gas and waste-to-energy. Mr. Clements has a
B.A. in Government, Economics and Business and an MBA from the College of
William and Mary in Virginia.
Senior
Project Manager
E. Worth Edwards, P.E.
Mr. Edwards is Senior Project Manager and Manager of
Construction with over 30 years of project and construction management
experience. Mr. Edwards has implemented over $8 billion of international
infrastructure projects in a variety of positions ranging from field engineer
and site construction manager to project manager. Mr. Edwards has been integrally involved
in all phases of these projects from initial site development through testing
and commercial operation. He has worked closely with plant operating and
maintenance personnel during initial plant operation and subsequent commercial
operation. Currently, his
responsibilities include technical assistance for projects in design, under construction
and in operation. In the design
phase, Mr. Edwards provides plant layout assistance, construction reviews of
design, cost/schedule synthesis and analysis and construction subcontract
development. Mr. Edwards performs
pre-award audits of construction companies and fabrication industry reviews of
QA, safety and project management programs and procedures. During construction,
project schedule and quality are managed against the contract requirements, and
in plant operation, Mr. Edwards provides project due diligence, reviews and
trouble shooting expertise. Earlier in his career, Mr. Edwards served as
Construction Manager for the Bechtel Corporation where he was responsible for
all of Bechtel Eastern Power's domestic and international power station
engineering and construction management assignments. Mr. Edwards has a B.S. in
Electrical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, an MBA from Golden Gate
University and has taken Construction and Project Management courses at
Stanford University.
Senior
Development Executive
Ralph Fairbanks
Mr. Fairbanks has over 15 years experience in
infrastructure project development. He has been directly responsible for
development activities for nearly 4,000 MW independent power and water projects
(IPPs/IWPs) in Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Russia. Having played a
major role in the first non-recourse financed project in Latin America and the
first IPP to utilize an innovative insurance guarantee Mr. Fairbanks has a
thorough understanding of the policies and procedures involved in structuring
sound projects that reach financial close utilizing a
Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) or Build-Own-Operate (BOO) methodology.
Specifically, he is an expert in public service regulations and has worked
closely with relevant government ministries, utility representatives and legal
advisors as well as commercial and multilateral lenders. In the water sector,
he is currently serving as Senior Project Manager supervising a K&M-led
team conducting a feasibility study for the proposed Pereira BOT Wastewater Treatment
facility in Colombia. He has expertise in all aspects of infrastructure project
structuring, financing, construction and operation,. As an expert in
structuring various innovative financing schemes, he has been responsible for
debt financing and syndication for nearly 700 MW private power and water
projects valued at $500M that have achieved financial close and commercial
operation. He has a thorough knowledge of the International Competitive Bid
(ICB) process and participates in bid document preparation, tendering and
evaluation activities. He performs economic and feasibility analyses, legal,
regulatory and tax structure reviews, as well as financial modeling, interest
rate hedging and secures political/commercial risk insurance coverage. He has
experience in site selection and acquisition, permitting, construction
management, claims management, start-up and operations supervision. Prior to
joining K&M and KMR, Mr. Fairbanks served as an Economist and Project
Manager with Nathan & Associates, performing economic analyses on many
infrastructure sectors, including power and water. Mr. Fairbanks has a B.S. in
Business Economics from Brown University.
Consulting
Engineer
Martin T. Tormey, P.E.
In a career that spans over 40 years, Mr. Tormey has
broad experience in energy projects worldwide. His experience includes
technical and management roles in Project management, international competitive
bidding (ICB), IPP project structuring, engineering, design, EPC turnkey
contracts, feasibility studies, owner’s and banker’s engineer due
diligence reviews, and commercial/technical evaluations for a wide range of
technologies. He has successfully
led large central engineering staffs as well as complex project teams, small
studies and individual consulting assignments. Mr. Tormey was Resident Manager,
Assistant Project Manager and Project Manger on the K&M Consultancy
Services for private power development of the Phu My 2, Phase 2 IPP/BOT in
Vietnam. Functions in this assignment project include policy and regulatory review,
identification of terms of bidding (ICB), preparation of project technical bid
documents and input to the Project Agreements. Mr. Tormey led the bid process,
bid evaluation and selection of winning bid. Negotiation support was provided
to MOI/GOV in the initial sessions with the project developer. Mr. Tormey has
served as Chief Mechanical Engineer and Technical Director for K&M
responsible for management and technical direction of the engineering division.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Tormey served as Chief Mechanical Engineer for Stone
& Webster Engineering Corporation where he was responsible for managing
technical, consulting, and administrative activities, including technical
adequacy, quality, and timely performance of the Mechanical Engineering Division.
During his career at Stone & Webster he held a variety of positions
including Assistant Chief Engineer Project Engineer and Project Manager. Also
he was the Project Engineer for Stone & Webster’s Reference Coal
Plant design work and organized the Company's 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments
business program. He developed a multi-discipline program to evaluate business
opportunities, strengthen and select resources, prepare proposal strategies
including selection of teaming partners and organization of projects. Mr.
Tormey has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and an M.S.
in Engineering Management from Northeastern University.
Consulting
Engineer
Daniel Grimsbo, P.E.
Mr. Grimsbo has over 40 years experience as a senior
mechanical engineer in the thermal and nuclear power sector and other
industrial infrastructure facilities. He has performed due diligence
evaluations and technical reviews of power projects in the United States, Asia
and Africa. His background includes experience in evaluating O&M
procedures, site characteristics, fuel and water issues, plant major equipment
including turbines, auxiliary mechanical systems, electrical systems, control
systems, functioning and reliability of the on-site facilities, environmental
issues, contractual issues and plant economics, tariffs, future expansion
needs/plans, electricity demand projections. Earlier in his career, Mr. Grimsbo
served as startup and commissioning manager, maintenance manager, plant manager
and senior engineer for leading engineering firms.
Senior
Project Manager
Augusto Pagano, P.E.
Mr. Pagano has 40 years of experience in the design and construction of power
and industrial facilities worldwide. His expertise includes civil engineering,
design, procurement and construction oversight, testing and commissioning. In
addition, he provides independent project assessments and technical due
diligence services, including analysis of schedule delays, cost overruns and
failure to meet performance guarantees. He leads a multi-disciplined team of
engineers, cost estimators, schedulers and speciality process engineers. As a
power facility civil engineer for Bechtel Corporation for 30 years, he
completed coal-, gas-, and oil-fired industrial and utility steam power plants
in the United States, Egypt, Colombia, the United Arab Emirates and India;
nuclear power plants in the United States; hydroelectric power plants in
Canada; coal-based gasification complex in the United States; petrochemical and
metal refineries in Canada, Mauritania, Ireland, Australia, and the United
States. B.S. Civil Engineering, Messina Institute of Techonology, Messina,
Italy. Registered Professional Engineer.
Resident
Manager, Americas
José Kappaz
Mr. Kappaz serves as K&M’s Latin America regional representative. He
is an expert in project management and quality control. Previously, he was
responsible for day-to-day management of three major power projects in Colombia
developed, constructed, owned and operated by a former K&M affiliated
company. Moreover, he managed the Colombia side of activities leading to
financial close of those transactions, provided logistical support for
construction activities, served as in-country liaison during start up and
operation, and provided oversight for the operation and management contracts.
In addition, Mr. Kappaz served as legal representative to KMTel, assisting the
company to develop a new private digital telecommunications system in
Cartagena. Prior to joining K&M, he was a senior corporate executive,
private practice attorney, independent businessman and professor. J.D., Law,
University of Cartagena.
Resident
Manager, Russia
Lawrence Rotondo
Mr. Rotondo is a project management professional with
extensive experience on major power projects. His experience includes simple
and combined cycle combustion turbine plants; coal-fired power plants
(pulverized, stoker and waste coal); circulating fluidized bed boilers; PWR and
BWR nuclear plants, and chemical plants. Mr. Rotondo has hands on expertise in
project controls; construction management; project development of independent
power plants; business development; project management; and management of
engineering and procurement. In addition, he has worked in locations such as
the USA, Egypt, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong
Kong. Mr. Rotondo has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Toledo
and an MBA from the University of Akron.
Resident
Construction Manager, Russia
Richard D. Jeffress
Mr. Jeffress has over twenty-five years of foreign and
domestic experience in construction management, project controls, and business
development in the power generation, power plant environmental controls,
defense, mine development, mining and metal refinery industries including
working in conflict and post-conflict environment. He has worked on major
government and private projects such as construction of a coal-fired power
plant to replace one of Russia’s weapons grade plutonium producing
reactors at Zheleznogorsk, Siberia, (ZPPEP) for the National Nuclear Security
Administration; power sector reconstruction in Iraq; modernization of 1300 MW
coal-fired power plant owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, construction of
Seabrook and Perry nuclear plants, petroleum pump stations in Russia, US.
Customs border station facilities expansion for the GSA, JACADS Chemical
Disposal, Johnston Atoll, missile launch and early warning systems in AZ, AK
and Greenland, as well as mining and metal extraction refinery projects in
North and South America, Europe and Australia. Mr. Jeffress has a successful
track record initiating, leading and helping plan, organize, manage and
complete projects accurately and safely, on schedule and within budget. Mr.
Jeffress has a B.S. in Physics for the University of Missouri and the
University of Alaska and has taken Management, Account, and Aeronautics courses
at San Mateo College.
Controller
Stanley Horne
Mr. Stanley Horne, K&M’s Controller, has
significant corporate and public experience in all aspects of accounting and
finance including controllership functions such as financial reporting, general
accounting, accounts payable, billing, payroll and budgeting. In addition, Mr.
Horne has significant government contracting and accounting as well as treasury
functions including cashflow management, collections, risk management,
procurement and capital budgeting.
President & CEO, K&M International Power
William Kappaz
Mr. Kappaz
joined K&M in 1992 and today is the President and CEO of K&M
International Power (KMIP), a successful spinoff of K&M established to own
and operate power projects worldwide. Today, KMIP owns and operates the
205MW Termovalle Power Project in Cali, Colombia [www.termovalle.com]. As a senior executive of K&M, Mr.
Kappaz has led the structuring and development of over 15 additional IPPs
around the world including the first ever private power projects in Jordan,
Vietnam, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Tunisia, Ivory Coast,
Senegal, Kenya and Mauritius. He has structured and negotiated numerous
Power Purchase Agreements, Fuel Supply Agreements, Non-Recourse Project
Financed Credit Facilities, EPC Contracts, O&M Agreements, Land Lease,
Water Supply and Project Insurance agreements for over US$10 Billion of
projects in the global power sector. Mr. Kappaz has developed and
published new rules and regulations governing various countries’ electric
sectors, unbundling vertically integrated state-owned utilities and
establishing wholesale electricity markets. Mr. Kappaz was hired by the
Government of Indonesia as their lead financial advisor to state-owned electric
utility PLN to direct a team renegotiating 19 PPAs which resulted in direct
savings to the Government of Indonesia in excess of US$8 Billion. Mr. Kappaz is
recognized as a pioneer and leader in infrastructure project development and
finance and a business leader. He co-founded K&M’s construction
company, K&M Global Construction, and subsequently led the negotiation and
implementation of a $110 Million turnkey contract for the engineering,
procurement and construction of a 330MW power plant; he successfully bid and
acquired wireless telecommunications spectrum in the U.S. and subsequently sold
the license at a considerable profit to an affiliate of AT&T Wireless; he
has structured and restructured corporate banking facilities and negotiated and
settled major construction and operations claims. Mr. Kappaz served as the
K&M Group’s President and Chief Financial Officer for several years
where he was responsible for all corporate financing, banking, tax, accounting
and management matters.
Mr. Kappaz has been an invited speaker and lecturer at numerous project
finance, energy and infrastructure conferences, meetings and training events
hosted by the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank, the U.S.
Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Energy
Association, various foreign governments, and numerous industry trade and
finance publications. He received his B.S. in Finance from the University
of Maryland and is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Human
Resources Manager
Fedor A. Yelicie
Financial
Analyst
Eugene Golbin
Mr. Eugene Golbin is a business professional with
experience in international finance and business development, with an emphasis
on energy and infrastructure projects in developing countries worldwide. Mr.
Golbin has worked on projects in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Jordan,
Lebanon, Russia, Colombia and Yemen among others. In addition, Mr. Golbin has
worked closely with multilateral financial organizations, government ministries
in developing countries and national power utilities towards the implementation
of power and infrastructure projects. Mr. Golbin has experience in structuring
electricity tariffs, developing pro-forma statements, conducting sensitivity
analysis, producing financial analyses of EPC and O&M contractors and
performing market research for energy commodities. Mr. Golbin also has an
excellent accounting background and is proficient with all functions of Deltek
GCS Premier including accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll. He has
a B.S in Finance from the University of Maryland.
Human
Resources/Marketing Specialist
Ester De Aguiar
Ms. De Aguiar is a HR/Marketing Specialist with international experience in
Business Development with an emphasis on energy and infrastructure projects in
developing countries throughout the world, including EMEA, Africa and Latin
America. She provides proposal development, project assistance and research
studies activities for the company. Within the Energy sector, Ms. De Aguiar
conducts market research and analysis to ensure the company remains a prominent
player within the Energy Consulting world. Ms. De Aguiar also acts as a
country liaison improving and expanding the company’s relationships with
bilateral and multilateral banks, and broader international government
communities. With international cross-sector, project development experience in
over 25 countries, she has learned to think broadly and strategically about a
broad range of infrastructure development issues. She is fluent in Portuguese,
English and Spanish.
