Seaborne winds will be a driving force in the global energy transition, being the power source that can best supplant a large part of the nuclear and fossil-fuel plant fleet that the world will need to bring offline in the coming decades, believes Philippe Kavafyan, the incoming chief executive at offshore turbine maker MHI Vestas.

Kavafyan — who replaced predecessor Jens Tommerup in April, adding to a CV that includes stints at developer EDF and OEMs GE, Areva and Adwen — is convinced offshore wind will be a “main engine” of this transformation in the global energy system.