WindEurope’s board of directors has elected Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy CEO Andreas Nauen as its chairman until March 2022.
He replaces former MHI Vestas CEO Philippe Kavafyan, who had been named as WindEurope chair in September 2020.
The board replaced Kavafyan following his departure from MHI Vestas. Kavafyan left the offshore wind turbine manufacturer as Vestas agreed to buy out MHI in October.
A spokesman explained: “Since our chairman needs to be a representative of one of the leading industry players (leading member category at WindEurope) it was necessary to vote for a new chairman.”
Nauen is a mechanical engineer by background, and has been Siemens Gamesa CEO since June. He had previously served as the company’s offshore CEO, led Senvion (then Repower) and been CEO of Siemens Wind Power. He had also headed the wind energy section of German machine tool manufacturers association VDMA.
He described the path towards a just and sustainable energy transition as a “collective task” and added: “Renewables have proven to be the most resilient source of energy amid the pandemic.
“Besides, the ambitious renewable objectives that governments are deploying around the world, such as the recently launched European Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy by 2050, makes us positive for an economic recovery based on clean energy”.
Nauen will lead the association with EDF Renewables’ executive vice president Nicolas Couderc.
WindEurope had announced Couderc as its new vice-chair in September.
