German transmission system operator (TSO) 50Hertz has appointed Stefan Kapferer, former head of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), as its new CEO.
Kapferer took over the position on 1 December from Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Frank Golletz, who was in charge of the CEO tasks on top of his job after Boris Schucht left the company in March.
According to Kapferer, since the expansion of onshore wind becomes more difficult, it is even more important to make the right decisions when it comes to offshore wind power, on top of that it is necessary to take care of the supplementary gas plants.
“The next phase of the realisation of the energy transition is an even greater challenge in terms of entrepreneurship and the European side of things. TSOs play an essential role here – and 50Hertz in particular is extremely well prepared – as a part of the Elia Group and when it comes to being a pioneer in the integration of energy from renewable sources into our grids,” said Kapferer .
In Kapferer’s opinion, the greatest challenges will be the coal phase-out, the implementation of the so-called Klimapaket (a bundle of legislative initiatives by the German federal government) and the grid extension.
“The Energy Transition is without a doubt a great challenge for our society. In order to make the next phase happen with benefits for everyone involved and affected, we need high level executive staff and skilled managers,” said Chris Peeters , Head of the 50Hertz supervisory board and Elia Group CEO.
“That is why we are very pleased to be able to welcome Stefan Kapferer amongst us at Elia Group as the new 50Hertz-CEO. His experience as state secretary and head of BDEW show that he has great knowledge in the field of energy as well as concerning the political developments, which we are all going through.”