Our leadership team

Nathalie is CEO of JERA Nex bp. Nathalie has 20 years of experience in the energy and infrastructure sector and has been involved in project development and management of companies and multi-technology generation assets and teams. Previously, Nathalie was CEO of JERA Nex, the global renewable energy developer, investor and operator launched by JERA in 2024. Nathalie joined JERA in 2021 to lead its global offshore wind business, before stepping into the leadership of the global renewables business and launching JERA Nex.

Before joining JERA, she served as the CEO of Otary where she was responsible for the development, construction, execution and operation of offshore wind, playing an active role in shaping the regulatory framework for renewables and offshore wind in Europe, and management of stakeholders and government relations. She also headed the Special Projects division at Deme Group, a world leader in marine contracting and engineering, where she was responsible for the offshore renewable portfolio, decarbonization projects and innovation. Earlier in her career she held leadership positions and management roles in finance, M&A and technology start-ups.

She takes an active role in championing cross cultural collaboration, innovation and mentorship of young professionals.

Ioanna Exarchou is CFO Offshore Wind at JERA Nex bp and has more than 18 years of experience in the energy sector across banking, consulting and industry having held roles in finance and control, M&A, equity research and business development.

Ioanna worked at ExxonMobil, Wood Mackenzie and Citigroup before joining bp’s Mergers & Acquisitions team in 2013.

In 2019, Ioanna moved to bp’s renewables finance team, supporting the implementation of bp renewables strategy through the systematic monitoring and shaping of the renewables capital allocation framework. As VP renewables deal structuring, Ioanna was project director and commercial negotiator in a number of offshore wind business development opportunities across Europe, Asia Pacific and the US. In 2022 Ioanna joined the bp Offshore Wind leadership team as Vice President Business Excellence, responsible for market intelligence and bid solutions, partnerships and deal structuring and offshore wind portfolio development.

In 2024 Ioanna was appointed Business Advisor to the Executive Vice President of Gas & Low Carbon Energy and held responsibility for management of the EVP office across all activities including investment governance, business performance reviews, and strategic project execution.

Ioanna holds an MBA from SDA Bocconi and an MSc and BEng in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College and the University of Surrey respectively.

Richard Sandford is Chief Development Officer at JERA Nex bp. Richard leads the development of projects globally at JERA Nex bp, which has approximately 7.5GW in the development pipeline and 4.5GW potential generative capacity from additional secured leases.

Richard Sandford has over 35 years of experience in the energy industry. An engineer by background, Richard started his career as an apprentice at the CEGB, holding roles in engineering, operations, and maintenance before moving into the renewables sector in 2008. He was Project Director for Gwynt-y-Mor offshore wind farm and has held various global offshore wind leadership roles since.

He is a recognised leader within the offshore wind industry, Richard is the Chairman of the World Forum Offshore Wind, dedicated to fostering the global growth of offshore wind energy. Previously, he was Co-Chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) from 2023 to 2025.

In July 2022, Richard joined bp as Vice President of offshore wind in the UK, responsible for bp’s UK activities including the portfolio of projects, Flora, Morgan, Mona, and Morven.

Zlati Christov is the Chief Investment Officer at JERA Nex bp. In his role, Zlati is responsible for investment and portfolio strategy, energy portfolio, M&A and partnerships.

Previously, Zlati was Chief Investment Officer at JERA Nex, bringing 20 years’ experience in corporate finance, investment banking, M&A and private equity to JERA Nex’s leadership team. Zlati joined JERA Nex in September 2024 and was responsible for overseeing JERA Nex’ investment strategy for its growing asset portfolio across geographies and technologies as well as leading its M&A and partnerships execution team.

Prior to joining JERA Nex, he was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley where he led the renewable energy and energy transition investment banking client coverage in EMEA. Over the course of his career Zlati has worked closely with many of the leading European and international utilities, renewable energy and clean technology companies, including advising JERA on the acquisition of Parkwind in 2023.

Zlati has an MBA degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and BA degrees in Economics and Business Administration from the American University in Bulgaria.

Alfonso Montero López is the Chief Technical Officer for JERA Nex bp, the 50:50 joint venture between JERA Nex and bp focused on developing offshore wind globally.

Alfonso has spent more than 20 years working on major energy projects in engineering and project management positions. He most recently served as Vice President of Offshore Wind Engineering at bp, where he established a world-class engineering function and built a best-in-class engineering team in global offshore wind. During his time at bp, Alfonso was globally accountable to provide the engineering and technical capabilities and solutions to support offshore wind development teams deliver optimised asset designs.

Before joining bp in 2022, Alfonso worked at Iberdrola for 14 years across a range of businesses including offshore wind. In his role as Offshore Project Services Director, he was responsible for engineering, construction, contracts management, quality, health and safety, and resources management across Iberdrola’s offshore wind business. With a proven track record of success in the offshore wind industry, Alfonso continues to drive innovation and excellence in the renewable energy sector.

Alfonso has an MBA in the Global Energy Sector from Stratchclyde University and Comillas University, in addition to an Industrial Engineering degree in Spain.

Eric Antoons is the Chief Operating Officer for JERA Nex bp, the 50:50 joint venture between JERA Nex and bp focused on developing offshore wind globally. Eric is responsible for O&M, Asset Management and IT services across the global business.

Previous to the formation of JERA Nex bp, Eric was the co-CEO of Parkwind, the offshore wind developer based in Belgium acquired by JERA in 2023, which became part of JERA Nex. Parkwind has been a pioneer of offshore wind in Europe, developing projects including Arcadis Ost 1, Belwind, Northwester 2 and Nobelwind which together account for nearly 1GW net generating capacity. Before joining the company in 2013, he worked for one of the largest power and gas suppliers in Belgium, in both operational and executive functions. Between 2013 and 2016, Eric was COO at Parkwind. In that period Parkwind was transformed into a successful integrated platform focusing on development, construction and operations of offshore wind farms and successfully developed several offshore wind projects in Belgium and Germany.

Before joining the company in 2013, he worked for a large power and gas supplier in Belgium where he was member of the executive committee, leading the power generation department. In that role he was responsible for both CAPEX projects and the operations of a power generation fleet. He has been a pioneer in European renewables, initiating the development of onshore wind in the late 90s.

Ben Hunt is SVP Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainability at JERA Nex bp. Ben was previously VP of Communications and Public Affairs at JERA Nex, having joined JERA in September 2023. He serves on the board of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). Ben has more than 15 years’ experience in senior communications and public affairs roles. Prior to joining JERA he was Global Head of Corporate Affairs at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Director of Communications at Amadeus SA and Head of External Communications at Nokia. Ben was formerly a Financial Times journalist covering the technology and telecommunications sectors. Ben has a degree in Law and Politics from the University of London and an MA in Middle East Politics from Exeter University.

Mr. Yamada is SVP Japan at JERA Nex bp. He is responsible for the offshore wind business in Japan as well as the one operational and two development stage offshore wind projects in the country. Before the company’s launch, Mr. Yamada was Managing Executive Officer, Domestic Offshore Wind Power, at JERA, joining in April 2025.

Mr. Yamada joined JERA from MHI Vestas Japan Co., Ltd., the sole distributor of Vestas in Japan, where he was CEO. He joined MHI Vestas Offshore Wind (MVOW) in Denmark in 2014 as Chief Strategy Officer after leading the establishment of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, an equally owned joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Vestas. He oversaw company strategy, marketing and communications, and public affairs for six years. In April 2020, he returned to Japan to serve as Vice President, Regional Manager of Asia Pacific before being appointed CEO of MHI Vestas Japan Co., Ltd., Mr. Yamada started his career at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. in 1987, working in sales for large-scale thermal power plants, and sales, business strategy and business development for wind turbines in MHI.

Since June 2020, he has served as Senior Vice President of the Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA).