LATINOS TRAILBLAZING IN RENEWABLE ENERGY- LUIS CASTILLO, CTO FOR ENERGY ROYALTY PARTNERS

Luis Castillo, CTO for Energy Royalty Partners

RENEWABLE ENERGY is the fastest-growing energy source in the United States. According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, it increased 42% between 2010 and 2020, and the demand will keep growing in the coming years. Renewable energy will boost some segments of the economy and also change the country's landscape in particular areas. The wind industry is now responsible for hiring more than 110 thousand people in the country and the demand will increase in the coming years.

"Today, there are four million acres associated with wind turbines installations in the US. To achieve the goal to cut greenhouse emissions in half by 2030, it is estimated that the land mass required to host the buildout of the necessary renewable energy infrastructure will be approximately forty- seven million acres," explains Luis Castillo, Chief Technology Officer at Energy Royalty Partners, an investment company focused on acquiring and managing energy royalties.

Energy Royalty Partners is based in Texas, a strategic location for the business. Castillo explains that wind is one of the cheapest sources of energy, and in the last seven years, Texas has saved approximately $6 billion on electricity costs by using wind energy.

Luis and two partners founded Energy Royalty Partners in 2019, where he is responsible for the technological vision and the overall execution of the company strategy. He has more than ten years of experience working in the energy industry, and he is no stranger to navigating through different areas in a business, including finance, land, legal and administrative tasks.

The journey that led Castillo to become an entrepreneur in renewable energy started in South America. He was born in Colombia but moved to Venezuela when he was six-year-old, where his father worked in the oil and gas industry. He decided to follow in his father's steps and study Geophysical Engineering at college. In the last year, he decided to do a one-year exchange program at the University of Oklahoma, which would be defining for his career.

When the political crisis in Venezuela started, he decided to start a Master's in Science at Oklahoma University. Luis found a part-time job as an oil and gas operator in a small firm where he had to wear multiple hats. "I got exposure to the whole supply chain. Sometimes you're making the copies, cleaning the office, but then you're exposed to the legal aspect, to the finances, accounting and, of course, technical, which was the main role I was covering," he says.

After that, Castillo was hired by a family office, where he developed other skills. They wanted to invest in diverse assets, and energy was one of them. "They hired me because of my background in oil and gas and also the ability to integrate data science tools into it. I was able to help them grow the family energy portfolio. Initially, we invested up to $50 million, and we were able to multiply that investment by approximately 3X," he says.

"I was the only Latino working for that North American company. For me, it was very interesting that somebody that came from Venezuela was able to sit at the same table with the CEOs from several Texas companies."

While most scientists are detail-oriented in a specific task, Castillo has learned to have a macro vision of a business– something crucial for entrepreneurs. "That only comes with discipline. If you really want to learn it, you can", he says.

For creating Energy Royalty Partners, Luis teamed up with people with skills he lacked. While he is very technical, one of his partners is an attorney and the third one has been working with energy for several years. "You need to be a good team player and trust your partners," says Castillo.