Ørsted, a leading renewable energy company with the world’s largest offshore wind energy portfolio, appoints Dr. Varun Sivaram, senior Biden administration official, physicist, and clean technology expert, as Group Senior Vice President for Strategy and Innovation.
BOSTON – Ørsted today announced Dr. Varun Sivaram as its new Group Senior Vice President for Strategy and Innovation. In this global leadership role, Sivaram will oversee Ørsted Group’s corporate strategy and lead the development and deployment of transformative technologies and digital innovations. He brings to Ørsted experience at senior levels across the corporate, government, and academic sectors.
Dr. Sivaram comes to Ørsted from the Biden-Harris Administration in the U.S., where he served as Managing Director for Clean Energy and Innovation and Senior Advisor to Secretary John F. Kerry, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. He has also served as Chief Technology Officer of ReNew Power (NASDAQ: RNW), India’s largest renewable energy company; on the faculty of Columbia University and Georgetown University; as director of the energy program at the Council on Foreign Relations; as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.; and as senior energy advisor to the Los Angeles Mayor and New York Governor. During his tenure with the Biden-Harris administration, Dr. Sivaram built and led the First Movers Coalition, a partnership between the U.S. government and the World Economic Forum that has convened more than 70 world-leading companies to invest in the next generation of innovative climate technologies.
“I am delighted to welcome Varun to Ørsted, after having worked with him to create the powerful First Movers Coalition, of which Ørsted is a founding member,” said Mads Nipper, CEO of Ørsted. “Varun brings proven expertise in the next generation of clean technologies, as well as the strategic and regulatory landscape in which the clean energy industry operates. We value his service to the Biden-Harris Administration, which has made historic progress on climate, and I am confident that Varun will advance our aspiration to lead the global green transformation and further establish Ørsted as a world-leading innovator.”
“I’m proud to join Ørsted, which has distinguished itself as a global first mover in offshore wind, the digital transformation, sustainability leadership, and so much more,” said Dr. Sivaram. “I’m grateful to President Biden and Secretary Kerry for the opportunity to serve my country during a pivotal moment in tackling the climate crisis, and I’m excited to continue that work at a global green energy leader. Setting the right strategic vision for clean energy leadership and scaling the next generation of emerging technologies go hand in hand, which is why I believe this new portfolio of Strategy and Innovation can be so impactful.”
Dr. Sivaram brings a track record of authoritative scholarship to this role. His academic papers have earned thousands of citations, and his books include “Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet,” “Energizing America: A Roadmap to Launch a National Energy Innovation Mission,” and “Digital Decarbonization: Promoting Digital Innovations to Advance Clean Energy Systems.” TIME Magazine named him to its TIME 100 Next list of the next hundred most influential people in the world, and MIT Technology Review named him one of the top 35 innovators under 35. His TED Talk on India’s energy transition has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. A Rhodes and Truman Scholar, he holds a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from Oxford University and undergraduate degrees from Stanford University. Dr. Sivaram will be based out of Ørsted’s Washington, D.C. office and will lead a global team across Europe and the United States.
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About Ørsted
The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs, and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, renewable hydrogen and green fuels facilities, and bioenergy plants. Moreover, Ørsted provides energy products to its customers. Ørsted is the only energy company in the world with a science-based net-zero emissions target as validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and Ørsted aims to deliver a net-positive biodiversity impact from all new renewable energy projects it commissions from 2030 at the latest. Ørsted ranks as the world’s most sustainable energy company in Corporate Knights' 2022 index of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world and is recognized on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 7,292 people. Ørsted's shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2021, the group's revenue was DKK 77.7 billion (EUR 10.4 billion). Visit orsted.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
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Ryan Ferguson
RYFER@orsted.com