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Vestas appoints new Chief Sales Officer

Published by , Editorial Assistant
Energy Global,


The world needs a historical surge in investments in renewable energy to reach net-zero by 20501, and as a global leader in sustainable energy solutions, Vestas seeks to play an instrumental part in helping the world eliminate CO2 emissions. The acceleration of deployment of renewables is key to these efforts, and the company is therefore taking steps to scale and structure its organisation efficiently to support customers across the globe and meet current and future demand for sustainable energy solutions.

As a next step in this evolution, and with Juan Araluce y Martinez de Azagra deciding to leave Vestas by end of June 2021 to continue his career outside Denmark, Vestas is strengthening its commercial setup and operating model to improve customer focus and intimacy. Specifically, this includes the creation of a new region within Vestas, Vestas Latin America, per 1 January 2022, and a simplification of the company’s reporting setup that entails that all Regional Presidents will immediately be reporting directly into Vestas’ Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Henrik Andersen. To successfully fulfill the growing requirements from local and global customers, the strengthened commercial setup also includes changes in Vestas’ top management, most prominently that Juan Araluce after almost 10 years as Vestas’ Chief Sales Officer will be succeeded by Javier Rodriguez Diez, who currently serves as President of Vestas Mediterranean.

“The wind industry would not have grown at the speed it has in the last decade without Juan Araluce’s tremendous contribution to making wind projects more profitable, which has been key to making Vestas a global leader in sustainable energy solutions. Replacing Juan is tough and big shoes to fill, but we are excited that we have such a strong internal replacement in Javier Rodriguez Diez who has the track record, experience, and business acumen to lead Vestas’ commercial and sales organisation towards our vision. A key part of this journey is getting even closer to our customers than we are today, and with the establishment of Vestas Latin America, we want to grow profitably by strengthening our footprint and reach in the region to the benefit of our customers. Last but not least, I want to thank Eduardo Medina Sanchez for his great contribution to Vestas, most recently leading Vestas North America through a difficult period and creating a strong foundation for Laura Beane to build upon”, said Henrik Andersen, Group President and Chief Executive Officer.

Juan Araluce has spent almost 15 years at Vestas and played a key part in recreating customers’ trust in the company during its turnaround in 2012 - 2014. Since then, he has lead Vestas’ sales and construction business, growing order intake from 7.4 GW in 2011 to 17.2 GW in 2020 and deliveries from 5.2 GW to 17.2 GW during the same period. The appointment of Javier Rodriguez Diez as Vestas’ new Chief Sales Officer is effective by 1 July 2021 and follows the company’s succession planning, entailing Javier Rodriguez Diez will become part of Vestas’ Executive Management with commercial and sales responsibility across onshore and offshore wind globally, as well as relocate to Copenhagen, Denmark, with immediate effect.

“Vestas has been on a tremendous journey since I joined the company, and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved together in the last 10 years. The outlook for Vestas and renewables is tremendous and that makes it very hard to leave Vestas, but with the integration of offshore, our strengthened commercial setup, and an internal successor in Javier Rodriguez Diez, who I have worked closely with for the last 15 years, I feel the time is right. In that regard, I am excited that we found another strong internal candidate in Jose Luis Jimeno to replace Javier as President of Vestas Mediterranean, while I’m truly proud we have found a proven American renewables executive as Laura Beane to become head of Vestas North America after Eduardo Medina Sanchez who has done a great job preparing the Region for the future”, said outgoing Chief Sales Officer, Juan Araluce y Martinez de Azagra.

As President of Vestas Mediterranean, Javier Rodriguez Diez will be replaced by Jose Luis Jimeno, currently Senior Vice President of Global Service Commercial, who has previously served as Senior Vice President of Service in Vestas Mediterranean. At the same time, Laura Beane, currently Chief Renewables Officer of Engie North America, will become President of Vestas North America on 1 July 2021, succeeding Eduardo Medina Sanchez, who will leave the company by end of August 2021. The appointment of Laura Beane follows a period of preparing Vestas North America for the expected future growth in the US market in the coming years. She joins Vestas from leadership roles in Engie, Avangrid and PacifiCorp and begins her onboarding and succession with Eduardo Medina Sanchez immediately. Eduardo Ricotta Torres Costa, who currently serves as Head of Sales for Latin America, has been appointed Regional President of Vestas Latin America from 1 January 2022.

“Having started as Sales Director in Vestas 20 years ago, I am extremely proud to be offered the opportunity to take over from an industry leader such as Juan Araluce, who has been a close colleague throughout my time in Vestas, both in Madrid and Copenhagen. We are in a race to reach net zero by 2050 and with wind energy an integral part of achieving this goal, I’m really excited to join the Executive Management Team and work closely with our Regional Presidents as well as the rest of team Vestas to accelerate the deployment of renewables together with our customers. In that regard, I’m happy to welcome Laura Beane, who we already know well from her executive roles within key customers, to Vestas, and I’m delighted that our succession planning ensures that Jose Luis Jimeno will succeed me as President of Vestas Mediterranean and Eduardo Ricotta Torres Costa will become President of Vestas Latin America”, said Javier Rodriguez Diez, incoming Chief Sales Officer, Vestas.

1 IEA: Net Zero by 2050 - A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, 18 May 2021.

 

 

For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry, read the latest issue of Energy Global magazine.

Energy Global's Spring 2021 issue

The Spring issue of Energy Global features a varied spectrum of in-depth technical articles detailing recent projects, future projections, and technological advancements in the renewables sector, from companies including GlobalData, Atlas Copco, Watlow, QED Naval, TRACTO, AB Energy, and more.

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