One of Bluewater Wind's top officers is leaving to join a competing offshore wind farm developer.

Jim Lanard, Bluewater's head of strategic planning and one of the most visible figures in the effort to develop a wind farm off the coast of Rehoboth Beach, will be moving to Deepwater Wind next week.

The move will be a promotion for Lanard, as he will serve as one of three managing partners who report only to the company's board of directors. Like Bluewater, Deepwater is based in Hoboken, N.J.

Lanard represented Bluewater in its long negotiations with Delmarva Power for a power-purchase contract until its late stages. That's when an official from Bluewater's parent company, Babcock and Brown, ironed out the final details with lawmakers and Delmarva.

With pressure from lawmakers, Bluewater and Delmarva agreed to a scaled-down wind-power purchase contract.

For months, the parties deadlocked over the length of the contract and the price of offshore wind power, which is higher than electricity from onshore turbines. The resulting price was widely considered low for an offshore wind farm.

"I admire what Delmarva was able to do. They struck a hard bargain," Lanard said Friday, noting that the tense relationship became warm once the parties closed the deal.

But the future of the project depends on Bluewater finding investors, now that bankers have taken control of the debt-laden Babcock, which was supposed to be its primary financial backer. Lanard declined to discuss the impact of the uncertainty on his decision. Bluewater can cancel the deal without penalty until June 2010.

"I'm leaving because I was offered a promotion that was very attractive to me," Lanard said, noting that he was approached by Deepwater.

He called Bluewater the "most remarkable collaboration and cooperation I've ever experienced in a company. It's hard to leave that."

Deepwater has been selected by state governments to develop wind projects off the coast of New Jersey and Rhode Island. Bluewater's Delaware project features the only contract with an electric utility so far to buy power from an offshore wind farm in the country. Bluewater is also working with New Jersey in hopes of building another wind farm.

Chris Wissemann, who has been chief operating officer for Deepwater, will also become one of the three managing partners. They will add the third partner later. Wissemann said he had worked with Lanard in an effort to help the state of New Jersey plan for offshore wind projects.

"It seemed like there was good chemistry," Wissemann said. "Deepwater Wind was interested in putting together a team that can go after this industry. It was more than I could pull off alone. He's one of the key guys who knows the industry and was effective moving it forward."

Bluewater President Peter Mandelstam could not be reached for comment.