Vargronn picks Stephen Bull to lead offshore wind charge

Vargronn – an offshore wind developer part-owned by Italian oil group Eni — has appointed Stephen Bull, a former executive with Oslo-listed contracting giant Aker Solutions, as its new CEO.

Vargronn is a Norway-based joint venture between Eni's power and renewables offshoot Plenitude and Norwegian investment firm HitecVision.

Bull's most recent position at Aker Solutions was as executive vice president for strategy, portfolio & sustainability.

Vargronn described him as having played a central role in building up the renewables business of a company that provides integrated solutions, products and services to the global energy industry.

Bull has also served as the chair of industry group RenewableUK, where he remains on the strategic advisory council.

He held senior positions at Norwegian oil major Equinor for almost 15 years, including the most recent six years as senior vice president within the company’s renewables and low carbon business.

He will take up his position at Vargronn on 1 June.

Alessandro della Zoppa, head of renewables at Plenitude and chair with Vargronn, said: “Stephen brings an extensive experience and track-record from the renewables and offshore wind industries, both from developing projects through their entire life cycle and more recently from a supply chain perspective – a crucial skillset for the further development of our offshore wind venture."

The Vargronn chair also thanked former CEO Olav Hetland, who was leaving after three years to "pursue other opportunities".

Erlend Basmo Ellingsen, senior partner and head of the investment team at HitecVision, added: “Stephen is a strong and proven leader. With this recruitment, we will accelerate the roll-out of Vargronn’s development towards reaching 5GW in sanctioned or operational projects before 2030 and building a profitable offshore wind company.”