Tenaska, one of the leading independent energy companies in the United States, announced that Justin Vala has been named senior vice president, engineering and construction. Vala manages Tenaska’s engineering and construction team, which is responsible for engineering and construction management of power generation and other energy projects, technology assessment and evaluation, environmental services, and transmission analysis.
“Justin has been a key contributor to Tenaska since he joined the company and has contributed his engineering expertise to a number of different business initiatives, including clean coal projects, efforts to promote natural gas fuels and, most recently, renewables,” said Jerry Crouse, Tenaska CEO and vice chairman. “We are excited to have him in this leadership role.”
Vala joined the company in 2008 and was originally involved in technology selection, plant configuration and management of front-end engineering and design studies for clean coal project development. Most recently he led the engineering efforts for the construction of two Tenaska-developed wind energy projects.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue working with our outstanding team of professionals to bring profitable projects and acquisitions to fruition in the rapidly evolving energy sector,” added Vala, who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the UNL College of Engineering in 2003. He’s also a registered professional engineer and a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Prior to joining Tenaska, Vala worked for ExxonMobil Chemical, primarily in the Olefins Group, as a technology engineer, plant engineer and energy coordinator.
