Siemens Gamesa has appointed Morten Pilgaard Rasmussen to the newly created position of global chief technology officer (CTO), tasking him with speeding up the harmonisation and standardisation of technologies under the company’s Mistral turnaround programme.
As head of offshore technology Pilgaard Rasmussen since 2017 had been in charge of developing new products and technologies for wind at sea, but already worked very closely with the onshore side in an effort to find synergies and joint solutions, the company said.
“Morten brings a comprehensive overview of both sides of our business: offshore and onshore,” Siemens Gamesa chief executive Jochen Eickholt said.
“Combined with extensive experience in R&D and in leading teams in complex, international environments, that makes him the best candidate to successfully harmonise and standardise our technologies, providing stability to the development process and product quality.”
Eickholt himself in February had replaced former CEO Andreas Nauen amid continuing difficulties to get the troubled onshore wind business back on track and make it profitable.
Another victim of the ongoing onshore wind troubles was onshore wind CEO Lars Bondo Krogsgaard – an industry veteran who had worked as CEO of turbine-maker Nordex and co-CEO at offshore OEM MHI Vestas – who was sacked earlier this month days after the company announced there will be almost 3,000 job cuts as part of a wide-ranging restructuring instigated by Eickholt.
Pilgaard Rasmussen will be a member of the executive committee and report directly to Eickholt. He will be based in Pamplona, Spain, from next year on.
The new CTO will be in charge of bringing together onshore and offshore technology teams to develop a common way of working and joint technology solutions for both types of wind turbines.
Unlike in onshore, Siemens Gamesa has been very successful in its offshore wind turbine business, leading all Western OEMs by a wide margin.
