New OEE Co-Presidents and Directors elected at Ocean Energy Europe’s latest Annual General Assembly
28.03.2024
Ocean Energy Europe (OEE) has appointed Guillaume Gréau, Head of Business development for HydroQuest, France, and Patrik Möller, CEO of CorPower Ocean, Sweden, as Co-Presidents. Both companies are global leaders in tidal and wave energy respectively, bringing a wealth of experience in ocean energy technology and project development to the Association.
The Co-Presidents will represent the ocean energy sector during a crucial transitional period, as the industry moves from prototypes and pilots to pre-commercial farms. Their respective projects are amongst the flagship farms that will showcase the sector’s electric and economic potential for Europe and the World.
The Board also welcomes seven new directors, elected yesterday by the OEE General Assembly. This election brings representation from all sides of the ocean energy industry, with directors who all have been instrumental in getting the industry where it is today.
The newly elected Directors are:
- Matthew Finn, Commercial Director, European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC)
- Marlène Kiersnowski, SEENEOH Director, OPEN-C Foundation
- Tony Lewis, Chief Technology Officer, OceanEnergy Ireland
- Patrik Möller, CEO, CorPower Ocean
- Pablo Ruiz Minguela, Head of Wave Energy, Tecnalia
- Benjamin Lehner, CEO, Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC)
- Marcelle Askew, Vice President of Business Development, Seabased
Guilllaume Gréau, Head of Business Development, HydroQuest, and OEE Co-President said: “I am delighted to have been elected, alongside Patrik, as Co-President of OEE. Thanks to the efforts of the OEE team, clear, ambitious but realistic objectives have been set at European level for marine energy. We now need to turn these objectives into reality in the energy programmes of EU countries, while ensuring that Europe continues to support our projects through to commercial maturity. Quite a challenge!”
Patrik Möller, CEO of Corpower Ocean, Sweden, and OEE Co-President said: “I am looking forward to continuing supporting Ocean Energy Europe and Remi Gruet’s excellent team, who are working relentlessly to bring ocean energy to the world. This is possibly the largest untapped source of clean energy on earth, so an important mission. It is a very exciting time seeing the first ocean energy farms getting financed in Europe, and the growing pipeline of commercial projects in development. Our key ask to Europe and member states is to put in place the revenue support schemes to scale up the industry and have the first 1 GW installed, as per the EU Offshore Renewable Strategy target. With current technological leadership, Europe has a unique opportunity to build out a new sustainable industry creating qualified jobs, economic development and energy security”
Rémi Gruet, CEO of Ocean Energy Europe added: “Our new Directors and Co-Presidents have been instrumental in getting the ocean energy sector where it is today. HydroQuest and CorPower Ocean will see their farms among the first in Europe – and the world – to hit the water in the coming years. The last wave of EU funding is enabling ocean energy projects to attract private finance for projects. Though financing is never easy, this paves the way for a fully-fledged thriving new sector in the Blue economy, bringing energy security and zero-emission, home-grown jobs to Europe.”