David Halligan, chief executive of Goldwind Americas for the past four years, will leave the Chinese wind-turbine company to form a new company that will partner with Goldwind in an as-yet-unspecified capacity.

Goldwind Americas, the Chicago-based division of Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, China’s leading wind turbine maker, did not immediately announce a replacement CEO.

Halligan, a native of Canada, will launch a new renewables venture focused on “distributed and digital energy solutions”.