Natel Energy Adds Former GE Hydro Executive to Its Executive Team Amid Company Growth

ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Natel Energy, a supplier of sustainable hydropower solutions, today announced it has appointed Nicolas Serrie, former VP of product management for General Electric (GE) Hydro and president of GE Hydro France, as its general manager of hydro. Nicolas brings nearly two decades of high-caliber experience to Natel and aims to further accelerate growth for the company, which earlier this year raised $20 million in a Series B round of funding.

"What drew me to Natel is the combination of joining a successful company at a key moment, and the fact that Natel is unique in the hydro space. Natel not only provides eco-friendly turbines, but is also positioned for developing small hydro projects thanks to its Energy Platform ," said Serrie. "Being an OEM AND an IPP is truly unique. The future of hydro is distributed and fish-friendly, and Natel has the potential to disrupt this market. I look forward to positioning Natel for growth in North America and in the international market in the coming months."

Serrie recently led the GE Hydro business in France as well as product management for the GE Hydro business, where he oversaw the development and improvement of all products and solutions. Prior to that role, he was an executive key account leader for GE and concluded onshore wind, offshore wind and hydro business deals. Serrie joined GE from Alstom, where he managed their French offshore wind activities, developed the floating offshore wind initiative, which culminated in the award of two pilot wind farm projects, and contributed to the company's growth from a startup to a global leader in offshore wind.

"We are thrilled that Nicolas is joining our team," said Gia Schneider, CEO and co-founder of Natel. "His business and leadership experience in hydro will accelerate our ability to deploy our fish-safe turbine technology, effectively expanding the scale and impact of Natel's modern, sustainable hydro solutions."

Before joining Alstom, Nicolas led transportation and energy initiatives for the French Development Agency and for the World Bank. Serrie earned two master's degrees in engineering, one from Ecole Polytechnique and another from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. He served as an officer in the French Navy and fluently speaks French, English and Spanish.

"It is a great pleasure to welcome Nicolas to Natel," said Yves Rannou, Natel board member and former CEO of GE Hydropower. "As an experienced senior executive in Hydro power, Nicolas will greatly contribute to the growth roadmap and international expansion of Natel. I wish Nicolas success in his new role."

About Natel Energy

Natel Energy is a California-based company with a mission to mitigate climate change and build climate resilience by providing hardware and software solutions that enable a 100% renewable grid via a hydropower backbone. Climate change is water change, and hydropower is situated at the confluence of climate mitigation and adaptation. Hydropower is a crucial component of a low-carbon, renewable grid because of its reliability, flexibility and complementary generation characteristics to wind and solar. Hydropower projects are also integrally dependent upon and have substantial impact on watershed function. Natel's solutions address cost, operations and environmental performance challenges at the heart of unlocking additional sustainable, reliable  hydropower generation – both from the existing fleet and from new project development.

SOURCE Natel Energy