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  • HomeAbout UsLeadership John Zamlen

    Leadership

    John Zamlen

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    John Zamlen

    Vice President, Construction, Development and Asset Management

    Mr. Zamlen has more than 30 years of industrial and power plant experience including over 21 years in the construction, operation, maintenance and asset management of coal and gas-fired generating plants, 5 years of which were in China. Prior to joining Panda Energy in July, 1996, Mr. Zamlen worked for Constellation Energy, Inc. as the ACE Facility Manager, bringing this 108MW fluidized bed coal-fired California Commercial Demonstration Project from groundbreaking through construction, final staffing, commissioning and commercial operation over a 5-year period complete with P&L responsibilities for ACE Cogeneration Co. This employment was preceded by 6 years with United States Steel Corporation and 9 years with Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation in various engineering, operating and maintenance management positions with continually expanding areas of responsibility collectively covering mining operations, heavy industrial production facilities, chemical operations and power generation via oil, gas, coal and petroleum coke fuel sources. Upon joining Panda, Mr. Zamlen was expatriated to Hebei Province, China as the General Manager of Panda’s joint venture companies to lead the in-country effort to build a 100MW pulverized coal cogen facility. Over a 5-year period Mr. Zamlen took the project from EPC contract NTP through construction, staffing of the joint venture company, commissioning and commercial operation, and then supported the ultimate sale of the asset in 2001. Upon repatriation, Mr. Zamlen represented Panda Energy on the Management Committee of Texas Independent Energy, a 50/50 partnership with PSEG Global that owned and operated two 1,000MW combined-cycle merchant plants in Texas. Activities included power sales origination, fuel, energy and risk management, day-ahead trading and scheduling, P&L, sponsor/lender relations, staffing, budgets and plant O&M oversight and technical guidance. Following the sale of this asset in 2004, Mr. Zamlen worked as Senior Director – Mergers & Acquisitions and actively pursued the acquisition of a number of power generation assets including several potential partnerships and various biomass-fueled renewable energy project opportunities in California. Having spent some time in Nepal during his employment in China, Mr. Zamlen was instrumental in completing the sale by Panda of its 75% interest in the 36MW Bhote Koshi hydroelectric project to the local Nepalese partner in March, 2006. Mr. Zamlen directed the in-house efforts to bring Panda Hereford Ethanol, L.P. to a successful financial closing in July, 2006 and is currently working on a similar organized approach to prepare Panda Ethanol’s Yuma & Haskell projects for financial closing. Mr. Zamlen holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering with Distinction from the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology graduating in June, 1975 in the field of power systems.

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