Orsted’s Board of Directors has appointed Trond Westlie as the company’s next chief financial officer and member of the Executive Board and the Group Executive Team effective as of 1 April 2024.
On the same date, Patrick Harnett will join Orsted’s group executive team as chief operational officer.
Westlie (pictured) has served as group chief financial officer at AP Moller-Maersk, VEON, Telenor and Aker Kvaerner.
Westlie said: “I am happy to join a very capable company with an important purpose, and I look forward to working with the team to successfully execute the newly launched plan and further strengthen Orsted’s financial position.”
Harnett is Head of European Execution Programmes at Orsted and in charge of project development and construction of Hornsea 3, off the UK coast.
He joined Orsted in 2016 as senior project director and became senior programme director for Hornsea 2 in 2020.
Before joining Orsted, he held positions within projects and operations at the energy companies Centrica and EDF Energy.
Chair of the board of directors of Orsted A/S Thomas Thune Andersen said: “On behalf of the board, I am very pleased to announce Trond Westlie as our next group chief financial officer and Patrick Harnett as our next chief operational officer.
“They’ll bring strong international financial skills and execution skills to the group executive team and support the successful implementation of the strategy plan we announced on 7 February 2024.”
group president and chief executive of Orsted Mads Nipper added: “Trond Westlie has very strong competences from an impressive career as chief financial officer in several global, listed companies, while Patrick has already demonstrated his strong skills in project execution by building Hornsea 2.
“I look forward to welcoming both Trond and Patrick to the team.”
Harnett said: “I’m very grateful for the trust the board and chief executive have extended to me, and I look forward to continuing the implementation of our new project operating model, which will ensure stronger risk management, contingency planning, and governance when executing projects.”
Rasmus Errboe, who has acted as interim chief financial officer since 14 November 2023, will return to his position as chief executive of Region Europe by the end of March 2024.
As previously announced, Andy Brown, who has acted as interim chief operational officer since 14 November 2023, will step down by the end of March 2024.
The board of directors has recommended Andy Brown be elected as its deputy chair at Orsted’s annual general meeting on 5 March 2024.
Nipper said: “I would like to extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude for the immense work both Rasmus and Andy have done in their interim periods.
“Under their strong leadership, we have progressed substantially in both the establishment of our new business plan and in developing our new project operating model.”