juwi international GmbH: Solar Expert Stephan Hansen New Managing Director

The German juwi group restructures its international project development business. Prospectively, all business activities in Europe (with the exception of Germany), the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will be merged in the newly structured juwi international GmbH. The division’s business activities will jointly be managed by Dirk Retzlaff and Stephan Hansen. The business entities for North-, Central-, and South America (Americas) as well as for Asia-Pacific (APAC) have already been successfully established and will remain under the umbrella of juwi AG.

“We are delighted to have Stephan Hansen on board for this responsible position”, says juwi-COO Jochen Magerfleisch. “Dirk Retzlaff, who is very acquainted with the EMEA-Region, and Stephan Hansen, an internationally experienced Manager from the solar industry, will form a very dynamic and experienced duo that will further boost juwi’s internationalization strategy.”

From July 2004 to June 2012, Stephan Hansen was Managing Director of First Solar GmbH & Vice President Business Development EMEA. Before joining juwi, he took care of NANOSOLAR INC.’s worldwide sales of innovative thin-film photovoltaic technology. Between 1996 and 2004, he worked in various senior management positions within the SCHOTT group. Amongst other positions he was responsible for procurement, service, logistics and finance as COO of the US Solar business. Stephan Hansen holds a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. Dirk Retzlaff has been with juwi since March 2009. He started as Regional Director for juwi Solar. Since January 2011, he has been based in the juwi Holding AG and has developed juwi’s international strategy. Since the beginning of 2013, he has been Regional Director for the area Southern Europe/Africa. Dirk Retzlaff has extensive international management experience, particularly in the EMEA region. Before joining juwi, he worked in various telecommunications companies such Teleste and Nokia. He holds a Diploma in physics.