The current CEO of Vårgrønn, Olav Hetland, is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities, according to a press release from Vårgrønn. 

Instead, Stephen Bull will take over the role. He joins Vårgrønn from supplier company Aker Solutions, where he has been central to developing the company’s renewable energy program since 2021. 

Until recently, he was executive vice president for strategy, portfolio and sustainability at Aker Solutions. Vårgreen’s new CEO has also held senior positions in Equinor for a period of almost 15 years. Bull has previously served as chairman of the board of the industry organization RenewableUK and as a member of RenewableUK’s strategic advisory council. 

In 2023, he was awarded an Order of the British Empire for his contribution to the UK’s green transition and the UK-Norway relationship.

Bull will now lead an offshore wind company that is a joint venture between Plenitude (a company controlled by Eni) and HitecVision. 

Alessandro della Zoppa, head of renewable energy at Plenitude and chairman of Vårgrønn, is delighted with the new agreement:

”Stephen brings an extensive experience and track-record from the renewables and offshore wind industries, both from developing projects through their entire life cycle and more recently from a supply chain perspective – a crucial skillset for the further development of our offshore wind venture.”

Erlend Basmo Ellingsen - partner and manager of the investment team at HitecVision - adds that Bull ”is a strong and proven leader. With this recruitment, we will accelerate the roll-out of Vårgrønn’s development towards reaching 5 GW in sanctioned or operational projects before 2030 and building a profitable offshore wind company.”

Bull himself says he’s looking forward to June 1.

”I appreciate the highly ambitious targets the company is pursuing. Vårgrønn has over the last years established an exciting project pipeline, strong partnerships and an expert team, which puts the company in an excellent position to take a leading role in the offshore wind sector in Northern Europe,” states Bull. 

Della Zoppa also praises the outgoing chief exec.

”We would like to thank Olav Hetland for his contribution to Vårgrønn over the last three years, and for his role in developing the strong company culture and position established by the company to date,” he says. 

Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Kristoffer Grønbæk