Corio Generation has built one of the world’s largest offshore wind development pipelines with projects in a diverse line-up of locations including the UK, South Korea and Brazil among others, which is overseen by its procurement team.
The company is a specialist offshore wind developer dedicated to harnessing renewable energy. It helps countries transform their economies with clean, green and reliable offshore wind energy. Corio works in established and emerging markets, with innovative floating and fixed-bottom technologies. Its projects support local economies while meeting the energy needs of communities and customers sustainably, reliably, safely and responsibly.
A portfolio company of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group operating on a standalone basis, Corio offers a blend of leading sector expertise and deep access to long-term capital with its next generation of offshore wind projects helping to form the backbone of the net-zero global energy system. Its global team of offshore wind specialists take projects from origination, through development and construction.
Benoit Lavinal joined the Green Investment Group in December 2021 and is now Head of Procurement and Contract Management. In this role, Lavinal leads the team through four focus areas: procurement development, supply chain development, category management and project procurement. Lavinal previously worked for 10 years at Vattenfall where he built and led the procurement for all renewable activities.
Forming Corio
One of the most important aspects of building Corio from the ground up was recruiting the right talent. Lavinal explains that he used his salesmanship to attract those initial hires which would help shape the business. “The biggest selling point is starting from the ground up, where business as usual is not a thing,” he explains.
However, Lavinal admits that joining a start-up “isn’t for everyone”, but that’s also where its advantage lies…. “A speed boat is going to go around and do circles around the cruise ship which is how we’re going to differentiate ourselves. But you have to know that the cruise ship will have luxuries like a canteen but in a speedboat prepare your sandwich and bring a packed lunch.”
Lavinal believes that fostering an innovative environment gives Corio greater room to manoeuvre and determine what works. “It’s about building that space where there is that opportunity and people can break few things along the way. In such a relatively small organisation, everyone works hard to deliver results. But what is much worse is people working hard and not really understanding how the impact of their hard work. That’s not the case here.”
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