Vargronn – the renewables joint venture between oil group Eni and Norway’s HitecVision – has hired Equinor’s US offshore wind chief to lead its own foray into the sector.

Christer Af Geijerstam will join Vargronn by 1 July at the latest, moving from his current role as president of Equinor Wind US.

His time in the US saw the Norwegian oil & gas group emerge as the biggest force in American offshore wind through two big wins in procurement rounds staged by New York State, before selling a 50% stake in its projects there to new partner BP.

Geijerstam said of the move back to Norway: “Vargronn is a unique opportunity where I will be able to use my expertise and experience to help build a new and exciting company. I have first-hand experience of how fast things are developing in offshore wind and look forward to starting in Vargronn.”

Geijerstam’s first priority will be to establish Vargronn as a force in Norway’s domestic offshore wind market, where it is set to take part in debut tendering.

Vargronn was formed last year by Eni, which owns 69.6% of the venture, and HitecVision with a remit to develop 1GW of renewables by 2030.

The company also named Erik Dugstad, formerly DNV’s director of renewables for the Nordics and Baltic, as its senior vice president for public affairs and market analysis.

Geijerstam is the second Equinor offshore wind pioneer to announce a departure in recent months.

Stephen Bull, currently Equinor’s senior vice president for the North Sea region, is leaving to join Aker Solutions as executive vice president for its renewables division.

Bull recently gave an insight into his time helping steer the North Sea energy transition in an exclusive piece for Recharge.

Note: Corrects earlier error to name of Erik Dugstad

Wind

'Unique opportunity': Eni-led renewables start-up bags Equinor US offshore wind chief