New President and 3 new Board Members at SolarPower Europe

Following the Board elections of SolarPower Europe on 26 March, held remotely, Aristotelis Chantavas, Head of Europe for Enel Green Power, has been elected as the new President of the association, replacing the outgoing Christian Westermeier from Wacker Chemie.

Aristotelis Chantavas is an experienced Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the renewables industry both in USA and in Europe. He served as Head of Europe area at Enel Green Power since November 2018. A graduate of the Democritus University of Thrace in Greece with and MSc and BSc in Civil Engineering, and a further MSc in Engineering Business Management from the University of Warwick, he started his career in Athens as a civil engineer and a project director, before becoming the country manager for Global Energy Services Siemsa S.A. (2009-2012) Afterwards, Aristotelis became the head of South-East Europe (2012-2015) and head of USA (2015-2017) at the same company. Before coming into his current role at Enel Green Power, he was Head of North America for BIGUES ENERGY (2017-2018) and ROBUR USA (2018). He also holds a degree in Entrepreneurship from Harvard Business School.

Commenting on the outcome, Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said: “We are delighted that Aristotelis Chantavas has been elected President of SolarPower Europe, and are confident that he will continue the excellent work of the association, leading us through an essential period for solar power in Europe. Mr Chantavas’ vast experience as Head of Europe for Enel Green Power, one of the largest European players in renewables, makes him well-equipped to position solar as the primary energy technology in the transition.” Hemetsberger added “I would also like to thank Christian Westermeier for his leadership as President over the last years.”

President Chantavas said: “It is an honor to lead the Board of SolarPower Europe at this crucial time, as the European Green Deal represents a unique opportunity to promote the role of solar power in the European energy market. The association will reinforce its relationship with European institutions, so as to ensure that solar plays a key role in the Green Deal framework, empowering innovative technologies and shared know-how to accelerate the energy transition.”

Two Vice Presidents were also elected, Jochen Hauff from BayWa r.e. and Christian Westermeier from Wacker Chemie. Vincenzo Costanzelli from Trina Solar and three new directors were elected to the board, including Alexandra Sombsthay from Akuo Energy, Jörg Ebel from IBC Solar and Martin Hackl from Fronius International.

Walburga Hemetsberger commented: “Our new board members represent strong and diverse European solar market players, bringing a wide range of competencies to our association. Their expertise will help maintain our momentum in ensuring our vision that more energy is generated by solar than any other energy source by 2030.”