Ørsted appoints railways expert as chief operating officer

Ørsted has appointed Richard Hunter as chief operating officer (COO) from 1 June 2021, a new role that will bbe responsible for all of the company’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and operations, except for onshore wind.

Ørsted said it created the COO position to “position for future growth”. The company has 28 offshore wind farms in operation and a network of combined heat and power plants in Denmark.

Hunter has a background in the railway industry, including a 17-year stint at Bombardier Transportation. He will be based in Gentofte, Denmark.

“Having worked for many years in businesses delivering the most environmentally friendly and sustainable forms of transportation, I’m honoured to take this role with one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world with a clear ambition to be a leader in the global energy transformation,” Hunter said.

Mads Nipper, Ørsted’s CEO and group president, said Hunter’s appointment would “continue the development of EPC & Operations as a crucial part of our actions to create a world that runs entirely on green energy”.