Veteran wind executive Philippe Kavafyan will take over as CEO of Venterra Group, the offshore wind services specialist with member companies spanning multiple areas of the sector’s value chain
Kavafyan – a former CEO of offshore turbine OEM MHI Vestas and most recently with Aker Horizons – will from October replace current Venterra chief Rob Jewkes, who is retiring.
Venterra executive chairman Ayman Asfari said the company had secured “one of the industry’s most senior and respected executives to lead us in delivering our vision for wind power’s vital role in the energy transition. Philippe has been a pioneer and leader in onshore and offshore wind from its inception in Europe, and has experience of rapid industry transformation”.
Kavafyan led MHI Vestas from 2018 and 2020, when wind giant Vestas bought out the share of the joint venture owned by former partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Kavafyan – who has also previously worked for GE and Areva Wind – added: “Offshore wind is now facing a fantastic step change in growth and the industry will scale up through strategic partnerships.
“The market’s volume growth is global and sits against a backdrop of fast changing technology putting the entire value chain under pressure, from engineering to supply chain and logistics.”
Venterra’s eight member companies include Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions, FoundOcean and Naver Energy.
