Danish green energy major Orsted has named Varun Sivaram, a senior Biden administration official with a background in physics, as its new senior vice president for strategy and innovation.
Sivaram, who while be based out of the developer Washington, DC, offices, was most recently senior advisor to John Kerry, the US’ special presidential envoy for climate, and previous to that was CTO of India’s ReNew Power.
At faculty member at both Columbia and Georgetown university, Sivram’s academic CV includes positions as director of the energy programme at the US Council on Foreign Relations, and as senior energy advisor to the Los Angeles mayor and New York governor.
During his time on the Biden administration, Sivaram led the First Movers Coalition, a partnership between the US government and the World Economic Forum that match-made with 70 companies to invest in the “next generation of innovative climate technologies”.
“Varun brings proven expertise in the next generation of clean technologies, as well as the strategic and regulatory landscape in which the clean energy industry operates. We value his service to the Biden-Harris administration and I am confident that Varun will advance our aspiration to lead the global green transformation and further establish Orsted as a world-leading innovator,” said Orsted CEO Mads Nipper.
Sivaram stated: “Orsted has distinguished itself as a global first mover in offshore wind, the digital transformation, sustainability leadership, and so much more.
“Setting the right strategic vision for clean energy leadership and scaling the next generation of emerging technologies go hand in hand, which is why I believe this new portfolio of strategy and innovation [at Orsted] can be so impactful.”
Among his accolodes, Sivaram has been named to the TIME 100 Next influencer list and the MIT Technology Review’s top innovators under 35.
Sivaram, a Rhodes and Truman scholar, holds a PhD from Oxford University in condensed matter physics.
