By Dominic Chopping


Orsted proposed Trond Westlie as group chief financial officer and Patrick Harnett as chief operational officer, filling two key roles following last year's management reshuffle to contend with increasingly challenging conditions in the wind industry.

Westlie has served as group CFO at A.P. Moller-Maersk, Veon, Telenor, and Aker Kvaerner, and is currently chair at Norwegian industrial investment company Arendals Fossekompani and a board member at maritime group Wilhelmsen.

Harnett is currently head of European execution programs at Orsted and in charge of project development and construction of the U.K.'s Hornsea 3 project.

Both appointments are effective from April 1.

The Danish renewable-energy company has been struggling with surging costs at some of its offshore development projects as supplier delays, higher funding costs, and insufficient government subsidies have seen some projects become unfeasible. Earlier this month it launched a comprehensive new plan with cost cuts, a pause in dividends, asset sales and new business priorities.

In November, chief financial officer Daniel Lerup and chief operating officer Richard Hunter stepped down, with the CEO of Orsted's Europe division, Rasmus Errboe, stepping in to serve as interim CFO and board member Andrew Brown named interim COO.

Errboe will return to his position as CEO of Europe and Brown, who has been proposed as deputy chair, will step down by the end of March.


Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-27-24 0216ET