RWE names chief operating officer for offshore wind in newly created role

German energy company RWE has announced offshore wind veteran Thomas Michel as its new chief operating officer for offshore wind. 

by Orlando Jenkinson 27 June 2023

Thomas Michel has been named as the new COO for offshore wind at RWE

Thomas Michel was named as the COO for offshore wind at the company in a newly created role he is due to take up on 1 September. 

Michel will take a seat on the company’s board of directors as part of his remit to oversee the growing number of offshore wind projects currently being managed and developed by the German utility. 

Michel has 15 years of wind industry experience and has dedicated most of his career to ensuring safe operations at offshore wind farms in addition to the commissioning of new ones, according to the company. 

He has previously worked on RWE’s 342MW Kaskasi offshore wind farm off Heligoland in the German North Sea and 857MW Triton Knoll (in which RWE has a 506MW stake) off the Lincolnshire coast in UK waters. 

RWE has stakes (some fully owned) in 19 installed offshore wind farms totalling 6.6GW and is currently pursuing numerous offshore wind projects, including the planned 2800MW Community Offshore Wind project off the New York and New Jersey, and the 1600MW Södra Midsjöbanken 100km of the coast of Lamar county in Sweden. 

Markus Krebber, chief executive of RWE, said he was “delighted” that Michel was taking on the newly created role at the company. 

“For many years, Thomas and his operations team have been ensuring the reliable operation of our offshore fleet, ensuring that millions of households in Europe are supplied with green electricity from offshore wind farms,” he said.