Vestas to strengthen commercial setup and appoint Javier Rodriguez Diez to succeed Juan Araluce as Chief Sales Officer

As a next step in this evolution, and with Juan Araluce y Martinez de Azagra deciding to leave Vestas by end of June to continue his career outside Denmark, Vestas is strengthening our commercial setup and operating model to improve customer focus and intimacy. Specifically, this includes the creation of a new region within Vestas, Vestas Latin America, per 1 January 2022, and a simplification of Vestas’ reporting setup that entails that from today all Regional Presidents will be reporting directly into Vestas’ Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Henrik Andersen. To successfully fulfill the growing requirements from local and global customers, the strengthened commercial setup also includes changes in Vestas’ top management, most prominently that Juan Araluce after almost ten years as Vestas’ Chief Sales Officer will be succeeded by Javier Rodriguez Diez, who currently serves as President of Vestas Mediterranean.

“The wind industry would not have grown at the speed it has in the last decade without Juan Araluce’s tremendous contribution to making wind projects more profitable, which has been key to making Vestas a global leader in sustainable energy solutions. Replacing Juan is tough and big shoes to fill, but we are excited that we have such a strong internal replacement in Javier Rodriguez Diez who has the track record, experience, and business acumen to lead Vestas’ commercial and sales organisation towards our vision. A key part of this journey is getting even closer to our customers than we are today, and with the establishment of Vestas Latin America, we want to grow profitably by strengthening our footprint and reach in the region to the benefit of our customers. Last but not least, I want to thank Eduardo Medina Sanchez for his great contribution to Vestas, most recently leading Vestas North America through a difficult period and creating a strong foundation for Laura Beane to build upon”, said Henrik Andersen, Group President and Chief Executive Officer.

Juan Araluce has spent almost 15 years in Vestas and played a key part in recreating customers’ trust in the company during our turnaround in 2012-2014. Since then, Juan Araluce has lead Vestas’ sales and construction business, growing order intake from 7.4 GW in 2011 to 17.2 GW in 2020 and deliveries from 5.2 GW to 17.2 GW during the same period. The appointment of Javier Rodriguez Diez as Vestas’ new Chief Sales Officer is effective by 1 July and follows our succession planning, entailing Javier Rodriguez Diez will become part of Vestas’ Executive Management with commercial and sales responsibility across onshore and offshore wind globally as well as relocate to Copenhagen with immediate effect.

“Vestas has been on a tremendous journey since I joined the company, and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved together in the last 10 years. The outlook for Vestas and renewables is tremendous and that makes it very hard to leave Vestas, but with the integration of offshore, our strengthened commercial setup, and an internal successor in Javier Rodriguez Diez, who I have worked closely with for the last 15 years, I feel the time is right. In that regard, I’m excited that we found another strong internal candidate in Jose Luis Jimeno to replace Javier as President of Vestas Mediterranean, while I’m truly proud we have found a proven American renewables executive as Laura Beane to become head of Vestas North America after Eduardo Medina Sanchez who has done a great job preparing the Region for the future”, said outgoing Chief Sales Officer, Juan Araluce y Martinez de Azagra.

As President of Vestas Mediterranean, Javier Rodriguez Diez will be replaced by Jose Luis Jimeno, currently SVP of Global Service Commercial, who have previously served as SVP of Service in Vestas Mediterranean. At the same time, Laura Beane, currently Chief Renewables Officer of Engie North America, will become President of Vestas North America on 1 July, succeeding Eduardo Medina Sanchez, who will leave the company by end of August. The appointment of Laura Beane follows a period of preparing Vestas North America for the expected future growth in the US market in the coming years. Laura Beane joins Vestas from leadership roles in Engie, Avangrid and PacifiCorp and begins her onboarding and succession with Eduardo Medina Sanchez immediately. Eduardo Ricotta Torres Costa, who currently serves as Head of Sales for Latin America, has been appointed Regional President of Vestas Latin America from 1 January 2022.

“Having started as Sales Director in Vestas 20 years ago, I am extremely proud to be offered the opportunity to take over from an industry leader like Juan Araluce, who have been a close colleague throughout my time in Vestas, both in Madrid and Copenhagen. We are in a race to reach net zero by 2050 and with wind energy an integral part of achieving this goal, I’m really excited to join the Executive Management Team and work closely with our Regional Presidents as well as the rest of team Vestas to accelerate the deployment of renewables together with our customers. In that regard, I’m happy to welcome Laura Beane, who we already know well from her executive roles within key customers, to Vestas, and I’m delighted that our succession planning ensures that Jose Luis Jimeno will succeed me as President of Vestas Mediterranean and Eduardo Ricotta Torres Costa will become President of Vestas Latin America”, said Javier Rodriguez Diez, incoming Chief Sales Officer, Vestas.