David B. Sherman

Director, Wind Performance Engineering at Clearway Energy

Austin, Texas, United States

About

I am a wind resource expert with 14 years of experience in renewable energy. Studying climate change in graduate school, I emerged with a determination to “work the problem” in private industry, knowing that a sustainable world could only be built if done so profitably. I carry this passion into all that I do, and my career has spanned both consulting and development, with experience in solar, hydro, BESS, and green hydrogen, though my first love continues to be wind. At Clearway, I work on wind projects from prospecting through development, construction, and into operation, ensuring that at each stage the wind resource is accurately quantified and the project optimized for production. I approach layout design as a challenge that balances science and art, and I have devised creative solutions to particularly complex layouts with overlapping siting requirements. Early in my career, I was introduced to GIS and the capabilities it can provide to renewable energy development. This ignited in me a second passion for cartography as a visual communication medium. My work has been featured in the ESRI MapBook, and in 2021 I was honored to win ‘Best Recreation or Travel Map’ in the Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) Map Design Competition and ‘Best Map Series or Atlas’ in the ESRI User Conference Map Gallery. More recently, my role has expanded to include personnel management, a discipline I have approached with a focus on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in my organization and industry. I am a proud supporter of WRISE (Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy) and several Employee Inclusion Groups within Clearway.

Experience

  • Clearway Energy Group (7 yrs 7 mos)
    • Director, Wind Performance Engineering
      Feb 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 6 mos

      Lead team overseeing wind resource assessment, layout design and optimization, and power performance testing for Clearway's 10+ GW development pipeline

    • Senior Manager, Wind Engineering
      Feb 2023 - Feb 2024 · 1 yr 1 mo

    • Manager, Wind Engineering
      Aug 2021 - Feb 2023 · 1 yr 7 mos

  • Executive, Resource and Technology at Macquarie Group
    Sep 2014 - Jan 2019 · 4 yrs 5 mos

    • Developed Canadian Breaks, a 200 MW wind project now operating in Texas. Primary responsibilities included: o Meteorological data campaign and energy production report o Layout design, FAA permitting, and RLOS analysis o ALTA survey, crossing agreements, and title insurance policy o Landowner relations and wind lease amendments • Led resource and real estate due diligence on more than 2 GW of development investments • Coordinated technical development of portfolio of 21 utility-scale solar projects • Communicated technical information accessibly to non-technical team members and stakeholders • Authored more than 500 maps for internal decision making, marketing, permits, recorded real estate documents, and display.

  • Senior Meteorologist at AWS Truepower, LLC
    Jul 2011 - Aug 2014 · 3 yrs 2 mos

    • Provided critical review of energy production reports prepared by junior staff • Trained new staff in Bangalore; led initiative to improve product quality for Asian market • Designed and authored quarterly wind resource bulletin for client base of over 1,500 • Engaged customers to provide technical support and develop creative solutions to meet client needs • Assisted research efforts to improve internal processes and expand product offerings • Authored Energy Production Reports for clients globally

  • Research Assistant at Center for Risk and Crisis Management
    Oct 2009 - Jun 2011 · 1 yr 9 mos

    • Managed data collection and analysis of indoor air quality samples • Collaborated in multidisciplinary research project • Assisted in development of science based policy recommendations

  • Research and Teaching Assistant at University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology
    Aug 2009 - Jun 2011 · 1 yr 11 mos

    • Modeled and analyzed potential effects of large scale wind farm development on precipitation and other climate variables in the United States • Created lesson plans and taught sophomore level meteorology laboratory courses